Monkey Mountain 猴山岳

Last week-end we escaped the big city and went hiking in the hills south of Taipei. The mountains we hiked were Monkey Mountain (猴山 岳) and Er-Ge Mountain ( 二 格山) . The first one deserved its name - you have to be a monkey to climb it!


Nonetheless, the outlook from Er-Ge Mountain was rewarding, although a bit hazy.

The trails are marked with plastic bands in different colors and with chinese signs. Thus, we did not get lost in the dense and green jungle. For us geologists it was a bitter realization that in these forests, there is no way to walk but on existing paths. The vegetation is incredibly dense covering everything - regardless how steep the slopes and cliffs are. Moss, lichens, grass, bushes and trees will form a dense curtain over every rock surface. In Taiwan, fieldwork is thus restricted to roadsections and rivers.

And beware, in this jungle, the unexpected is waiting for you!

Don't worry, it's not a giant jungle-squid, but a branch of a tree fern.