Day 3: Taroko National Park - Shakadang Trail

20 April 2018 (Friday)

My original plan was to visit Qixingtan Beach and explore Hualien city today. The plan was disrupted because the train from Taipei arrived in Hualien late and I missed the 12:00 shuttle bus no. 1133A to Taroko. The next bus at 1:20 p.m. did not allow me sufficient time to go to Shakadang Trail.

Shakadang trail was postponed to today. I checked out of my room early and like yesterday evening, there was no one at the hostel reception desk. There was also no bell at the counter to call the attention of the receptionist. It was really disappointing with such a service. I left the room key on the receptionist desk but I could not open the hostel door. I could no leave. It was frustrating. I waited. I tried the door again and it opened this time after I jerked at the door a few times. I guessed there must be a CCTV camera somewhere and whoever controlled the door opened it remotely.

There was a taxi outside the hostel. I took it and arrived at Hualien bus station by 6:30 a.m. The train station baggage room had not opened. Opening hours were from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. I would have to bring my backpack with me. However, I read in a blog somewhere that visitors could leave their baggage at Taroko National Park Visitor Center but it must be picked up before the office closed for the day at 5:30 p.m. That was my plan.

I took the first shuttle bus out of Hualien bus station at 7:00 a.m. On arriving at the National Park at about 7:50 a.m., I walked to what I thought was the Visitor Center. It was not. It was actually the staff office. An officer told me that I could leave my baggage at the Visitor Center but it would only open at 8:30 a.m. As I walked out of the office, my backpack strap broke. It would be inconvenient to walk around with a broken strap. Instead of exploring the area, I now have to wait for the Visitor Center to open to leave my baggage there before starting out.

I walked over to Visitor Center and waited at the restaurant open dining area behind it. I went to the Visitor Center at 8:30 a.m. and asked for permission to leave my backpack there. The officers there were very helpful and friendly. I was asked to write down my name in a logbook. That was it. No receipt or identification tag was issued to collect my backpack later. 

From the Visitor Center, I walked off to find Shakadang Trail. Again the signage was a little confusing. Walking straight ahead would lead to both left and right paths. Which path should I take? There were no further direction signs at each path. I thought the boardwalk behind the Visitor Center was the trail and took it. After walking a short distant, I stopped. It did not look right. My OSM map on my Garmin eTrex did not have the waypoint to Shakadang Trail head and was not very helpful. Still, I back tracked and walked back to the main road. Then I saw the direction sign to Xiao Zuilu Trail and Shakadang Trail. This brought me to the tunnel and beside the tunnel were the signboards confirming that I was on the right path.

I walked into the tunnel. Five minutes away, another tunnel branched off to the left. This was the trail to Xiao Zuilu. Going straight ahead would lead to Shakadang Bridge. I decided to take Xiao Zuilu Trail.

Shakadang Trail head starts under Shakadang Bridge. Since Xiao Zuilu Trail connects with Shakadang Trail, I continued my trek instead of climbing up the staircase. 

My plan was to reach 5D Cabin and make my return trek back to the Visitor Center from there. By the time I arrived at the Visitor Center, I should be on time to take the 11:10 a.m. shuttle bus back to Hualien bus station. I reached 5D Cabin at about 10:00 a.m. walking slowly and stopping frequently to take photos. Walking back should take less than half hour since the distant was only about 1.5 km. I still had plenty of time. Even if I were to miss the shuttle bus, I could still take the 12:10 p.m. shuttle bus back to Hualien station. My train departed at 2:50 p.m. for Taipei and I should make it on time. Hence, I decided to continue trekking beyond 5D Cabin since a blogger said that she was shown photos with even more beautiful scenery between here and 3D Cabin. I would walk a further 15 minutes before returning. I might just have enough time to get back to Visitor Center to take the 11:10 a.m. bus later. I took my chance.

On arriving back at Shakadang Trail head, I decided not to use Xiao Zuilu trail to return to the Visitor Center. Instead, I opted to use Shakadang Bridge to walk back. I climbed up the staircase and at the landing; I saw two tunnel entrances at both end of the bridge. The one on the right (Shakadang Tunnel) was near the staircase and the other to the left was at the other end of the bridge (Xila'an Tunnel) where the vehicle parking lot and washroom are situated. Which tunnel should I use? There was no direction sign in English pointing to the Visitor Center at the tunnel entrance on the right. My head was not thinking clearly. I should have realised at that time that the tunnel entrance near the staircase was on the same river bank as the Xiao Zuilu trail, hence I should be using this entrance to return to the Visitor Center. Instead, I walked over to the other end of the bridge thinking that there would be a direction sign there. There was also no direction sign there but there was a parking lot and a washroom. I was lost. I walked back to the tunnel entrance near the staircase. I did not know whether I should just take the plunge, but I did. I was thinking that should this be the wrong path, I could still back-track to the bridge and take Xiao Zuilu Trail. I would only lose time and miss the shuttle bus at 11:10 a.m. back to Hualien. I walked, and walked and when I saw the tunnel to Xiao Zuilu Trail, I knew I was on the right trail. What a relief.