Dakengshan 大坑山, Wild Boar Tears Pond 山豬淚湖, Tukuyue 土庫岳 and Tukuyue East Peak 土庫岳東峰

 

Wild Boar Tears Pond

A loop exploring some of the wilder trails near Tuku Mountain: dirt trails, several small peaks; languid, green Wild Boar Tears Pond and the summits of Tukuyue (388 m), and Tukuyue East Peak (368m).  The pond is a hidden place that many day hikers pass, perhaps without even knowing it is there. The flat summit of Tukuyue with benches and a pavilion is a great place for lunch and a rest.  The east peak does not have a view but the spur trail is short and worth visiting when nearby. Tukuyue is number 14 on the list of xiao bai yue--the 100 small mountains of Taiwan. 

Distance/Time: 9.4km/ 4 hours 38 minutes. More details as well as a map can be found  here  on my Ramblr account. 

If I hadn't taken the wrong bus (see below) the walk would have been about 2 km shorter.

What to bring: I took food and 2 liters of water. A hiking pole was very useful. I wore shorts but long pants would have been a good idea.

The Trail:  This a moderate hike. It is not strenuous but the trails are not well-groomed and can be messy. It is suitable for hikers who are comfortable with somewhat rougher trails. It was muddy and slippery and there were areas with standing water. There were lots of bugs including mosquitos that descended whenever I stopped. It had rained a lot in the days before so maybe in drier conditions it would be less muddy and buggy.

The route starts near a temple and climbs over two small hills, Dakengshan (153 m)  and Gengliaojiashan (180 m). Both have nice clearings.  Then joins a road and passes a temple (Jiu Tian Gong) before joining the main Tukuyue path for a short way. 

Points of interest here include an old monorail station, Chuxuan Farm and a landmark known as the Three Generations Wall. 

After this the route leaves the main path again and goes over the summit of Shanjukujian--the south west peak has a decent view--and takes the trail to Wild Boar Tears Pond. This was the main destination I was interested in on this hike. I had half expected a shallow, fetid swamp. But actually it was an attractive pond-- much bigger than I expected-- and the water was surprisingly clean. I read that it got its name because it used to be a wallow for wild pigs.

Finally, I climbed to the summit of Tukuyue for lunch, walked to Tukuyue East Peak and took the main trail back out to a road.

Transportation: I took the blue line to Nangang Exhibition Hall MRT Station and took exit 5.  From there buses 306, 276 and 645 all go stops within walking distance of the trail. You can also take bus 212 from Kunyang MRT Station.

I recommend taking bus 306 Shuttle and getting off at Jiuzhuang Bus Terminal, the last stop. However, there are two 306 buses. I mistakenly took the wrong one and got off at the Lingyun Stop. I was still close enough to walk but it added some distance to my hike. 

The correct bus is called 306 Shuttle and the one I took is just called 306.

On the way back I took bus 212 from Jiuzhuang 2nd Stop to Kunyang MRT Station. This stop is very close to where I finished hiking.

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The hike:  This was my second time going to Tukuyue within a week. I liked it so much the first time that I decided to go back and explore some more. I set out on Monday which was Dragon Boat Festival. Dragon Boat Festival is generally thought to mark the beginning of summer in Taiwan and in this instance it proved to be true. It was hot and extremely humid. Here is a link to my first Tukuyue hike.

I got a late start and began walking at 9:50. I had taken the wrong bus but was still within walking distance of the trail. I walked northeast on Acedemia Road passing Acedemica Sinica and Hushih Park. The road was wide with nice sidewalks. 

When I came to the intersection with Jiuzhuang Street, I turned right and was back on track. I soon passed Jiuzhuang Elementary School and then Jiuzhuang Bus Terminal-- the stop where I had intended to get off. It is under an overpass and next to a police station. 

I kept going straight until I came to Jiuzhuang Street Lane 290 and I turned right. 

I walked next to a stream and came to a temple arch on the other side of a bridge. It took 27 minutes to walk here from the bus stop.

I knew the trail was near the temple but at first had trouble finding it. I walked in a circle in front of the temple and back out to the bridge. The trail was at the top of a flight of steps on the left that passed restrooms. 

Just before reaching an incinerator there was a narrow trail on the other side of a latched metal gate. I climbed over the gate and took the trail. 

The trail was hard to find at first but it was on the other side of this metal gate. 

The trail was unclear at first and covered with leaf litter--maybe because of the recent rain-- and I wondered if it saw much foot traffic. Later it became more distinct.

It climbed but was not steep. I was near a highway which I could hear but did not see. I went along a chain link fence. The trail was generally easy to follow and well marked. I came to an spot where a tree had fallen across the path but it was easy to get around.

A flat clearing was the summit of Dakengshan. Really more of a hill than a mountain. 

I descended, passed through a muddy area with standing water and climbed again to the second summit: Gengliaojiaoshan. 

 After this there were some farms and betel nut trees and before long I arrived at a road.  I got to the road at 11:26.

I turned left on the road and came to a temple, Jiu Tian Gong.  

As I was approaching I saw a man climb down into the ditch beside the road where water was flowing down the hill. He had a bottle of liquid soap or shampoo and was washing his hair. There were two more men standing on the road watching him.  I paused out of curiosity and one of his companions told me it was wushi shui or "noon water." I didn't know what this was at the time but later looked it up and found out that on Dragon Boat Festival it is considered good luck to bathe in or drink water that is collected between 11 am and 1 pm.   

I took steps up the hill to the main temple. There were rows and rows of containers and people were filling them with "noon water." A very welcoming man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies talked to me and explained again that it was wushi shui. He told me not to take pictures of the temple which was fine with me but was a surprise as it was the first time in Taiwan that I had heard of a temple where you could not take pictures. 

I went back down to the road, turned right and passed a stream flowing down the hill. A crowd of people where wading in it and some were standing on the road and patting water on their heads. It looked very inviting but there were too many people so I went on. 

Around a bend I came to a distinctive landmark: two shipping containers stacked on top of one another. There was a trail going downhill on the left and another uphill on the right. This was the main trail leading to Tukuyue.

I took the uphill trail. Around a bend, there was a Y-intersection and I took the right hand path.

I passed an old monorail station, formerly used by farmers to transport agricultural products down the mountain, and came to Chunxuan Farm.

 

On the other side of the farm there is a wall known as the Three Generations Wall. There is a sign (which I overlooked on my last visit) that explains the wall was originally constructed of mud brick by the great-grandfather of the Gao family. Two subsequent generations made repairs to the wall using cement and red brick. 

There were lots of bees flying in and out of holes in the mud brick portion of the wall so I did not linger. 

After this I came to the steepest part of the hike. I climbed up steps for what seemed like a long time. The first time I came here I was not much affected by this climb but maybe the heat was getting to me because I had to stop to rest near the top. 

At the top I came to a shelter house and a junction. 

Here I got off of the main path again. I turned right, passed through the shelter and took a muddy, dirt trail directly on the other side. 

In just a few meters there was an electricity pylon and next to the pylon there were two paths. I ignored the left hand path and took the one straight ahead toward Shanjukujian.

Somehow I passed over the summit of Shanjukujian without noticing it and about 20 minutes after leaving the main path came to Shanjukujiian South West Peak. There was a very small clearing and a boulder that I climbed up for a nice view of the Taipei basin. 

It was getting more overcast and dark and I was worried it might rain so I went on. The path went straight on-- downhill. This was a fun section with some ropes and climbing over rocks. It was slippery.

I came to another pylon and just past the pylon turned left at a junction. 

In a few minutes there was another junction with a white sign pointing toward the pond. It was just a few minutes downhill walking next to trickling water to arrive at the pond. 

I was excited to see the pond. It was far bigger and more impressive than I had expected. It was still and green but the green color came from plants growing in the water and the water was surprisingly clean. There were lots and lot of frogs. As I walked, they leapt off the path into the water, hopped down the path and some even leaped across the path plunging into the pond. I kept a sharp eye out for snakes since they eat frogs. 

 After a while I took the path around the right side of the pond and then another angling away from it. It was just a few minutes walk to the main path that goes between the summit of Tukuyue and the village of Tuku below.

This path is well-maintained and gets a lot more visitors. I turned left and walked to the summit of Tukuyue ignoring two paths on the left.

As I was getting close the the top I heard and then saw the first other hikers I had seen all day. Two groups passed me on their way down and when I got to the summit I was lucky to have it to myself. 

This is a really nice spot. There are rows of benches and a shelter with a table and stools. I had been there before and the previous time had spent quite a bit of time here-- cooking lunch, resting and even dozing a little on a bench. I ate my packed lunch and tried to dry off a little. My shirt and shorts were saturated with sweat because of the humidity.

As I was finishing lunch, a couple from Hsinchu came up. We talked about hiking and I showed them photos of the pond.  It still looked like it might rain so I said goodbye and started down.

I took the first right and then in just a few meters, another right on the spur trail to Tukuyue East Peak. 

It is just 160 meters to the east peak. There is a tumbled pile of mossy boulders with thick roots growing between them.

 

Tukuyue East Peak

From here it was pretty straightforward to hike back down. I went back to the main path and turned right down stone steps. 

I ignored a turn on the right. 

keep straight here

And continued until I got back to the stacked shipping containers. 

I made a sharp turn to the right. Here there was a very enjoyable and gentle section with packed gravel that later turned again to stone steps. 

I passed a farm where there was water flowing into a bucket. The water was too inviting to resist. I rinsed my face and head which felt great. 

  I came to a road went right for a very short distance and then back onto the trail on the other side of the road. 

Then I arrived at a road and turned left on the road. I walked until I came to the Jiuzhuang 2nd Bus stop. The sign said bus 212 was coming in ten minutes so I decided the hike was over and sat under a shelter next to a park to wait.

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Nearby hikes:

Tukuyue 土庫岳  

 Map and GPS coordinates:

Trailhead for Dakengshan: 25.035951, 121.624178

Jiu Tian Temple: 25.027502, 121.633312

Wild Boar Tears Pond: 25.023448, 121.631863

Tukuyue: 25.023146, 121.635625

Tukuyue East Peak: 25.024412, 121.637678

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