Canyoneering in Taiwan

[recinutah]

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.



This is the canyon, what you can see of it from the road.



At the mouth of the canyon.



A typical narrow obstacle to overcome.



Our Taiwanese host family.



There was always a question of whether it would be easier to cling to the rock walls or fight the current.



Above the narrow part of the canyon.



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.



The boys, climbing down.



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.

[Byron]

Well now...Taiwan certainly looks nice!

[Bootboy]

Taiwan is holding, big time. There are miles of untapped incredible gorge-style canyoneering over there. I wish I could afford to go and spend a month or two exploring.

[pup]

I have temporarily relocated to Taiwan (my canyoneering gear is currently in a plane over the Pacific) and have been to Taroko. How did you find a canyon to explore? Everytime I ask the locals, I am told, "it's very dangerous!" There is very little Beta available.

[Bootboy]

Find a canyon to explore?

Do just that.

Find a canyon, proceed to explore. Beta does note equate to exploration.

Get a map or try google earth.

[Brian in SLC]

Great video!

Music sounds oddly familiar...Blondie "Call Me"? Similar tune at least...

[recinutah]

I have temporarily relocated to Taiwan (my canyoneering gear is currently in a plane over the Pacific) and have been to Taroko. How did you find a canyon to explore? Everytime I ask the locals, I am told, "it's very dangerous!" There is very little Beta available.

Our host had joined a hiking club back in his college days and knows all the hidden treasures. Canyoneering has not really caught on over there, so I'd expect there to be very little beta. We did see a couple people heading up as we came down, but it looked like local young adults. They didn't have any equipment.

What's more popular over there in the larger, deeper rivers is floating. There were huge groups of guided river floaters, all decked out in wet suits and life vests, that would hike up a river and then float back down on their backs. Kinda like kayaking without the kayak. Our boys thought it was fun when they tried it. When I tried it, it was mostly just a lot of dragging the rocky bottom with my non-rocky bottom.

[pup]

Thanks RIU - I've signed up for a hiking club as well. What I'm running up against are access issues. Most of the established trails that are more technical than an Sunday afternoon walk require permits and the hoops for a foreigner make getting a gun permit in DC seem easy. Understanding where we can and can't go is difficult (i.e. it's illegal to go down to the river in Taroko NP). I'll post updates as we explore. Great pics and video btw.

[ratagonia]

I have temporarily relocated to Taiwan (my canyoneering gear is currently in a plane over the Pacific) and have been to Taroko. How did you find a canyon to explore? Everytime I ask the locals, I am told, "it's very dangerous!" There is very little Beta available.

"It's very dangerous". Translation: "It might be really good!"

...

Here's one way to find a canyon to explore:

A. locate all beta about the area.

B. cross those canyons off the list.

C. explore whatever canyons are still on the list.

Tom