recinutah
11-08-2014, 04:10 PM
I happened to be in Taiwan for a few weeks in July/August this year and had the opportunity to explore a canyon. Hiking up a narrow canyon against the force of rushing water was a mostly new experience for me. I'm used to rappelling Utah's (mostly) dry slots. My host family with their 12-year-old son and me with my 12-year-old, drove into the mountainous jungles north of Taroko Gorge National Park until the road was narrow, muddy, and utterly devoid of other humans. From there we hiked through only a small bit of the thick vegetation, complete with spiders as big as your hand hanging from orb webs as tall as a man, down to a wide rocky riverbed. The canyon we wanted was on the other side of the river, so we used a hand line to help the boys cross the waist-deep and very fast water. The canyon was most narrow near the bottom entrance, where hiking in the water, fighting against the current, sometimes in water over your head, was unavoidable. The boys wore life jackets to prevent being drowned by the many small churning waterfalls. After hiking up to where the canyon was no longer narrow, we turned back and exited the way we came in. All in all, it was a great adventure. I hope I get a chance to go back some day and explore more canyons.
76756
This is the canyon, what you can see of it from the road.
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At the mouth of the canyon.
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A typical narrow obstacle to overcome.
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Our Taiwanese host family.
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There was always a question of whether it would be easier to cling to the rock walls or fight the current.
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Above the narrow part of the canyon.
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Me, resting on a log on the way back down. The air is warm and moist, so the cool river felt amazingly nice. Not too cold or too warm.
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The boys, climbing down.
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Hitting the beach after canyoneering. The Taiwanese coast is steep and rough here and very beautiful.
It was not easy to cut down over 15 minutes of video to only 3 minutes, but who has time to watch long videos? Sorry for the poor editing. It took me three months just to get this posted, so taking time to add subtitles and transitions was not practical. I included some Taiwanese music though. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYEMDDX6V1A&feature=share
76756
This is the canyon, what you can see of it from the road.
76757
At the mouth of the canyon.
76758
A typical narrow obstacle to overcome.
76759
Our Taiwanese host family.
76760
There was always a question of whether it would be easier to cling to the rock walls or fight the current.
76761
Above the narrow part of the canyon.
76762
Me, resting on a log on the way back down. The air is warm and moist, so the cool river felt amazingly nice. Not too cold or too warm.
76763
The boys, climbing down.
76764
Hitting the beach after canyoneering. The Taiwanese coast is steep and rough here and very beautiful.
It was not easy to cut down over 15 minutes of video to only 3 minutes, but who has time to watch long videos? Sorry for the poor editing. It took me three months just to get this posted, so taking time to add subtitles and transitions was not practical. I included some Taiwanese music though. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYEMDDX6V1A&feature=share