shakadang trail

When we go on vacations, we often face dilemmas.

A prime example is when we were in San Diego and the Sunday morning we were going to leave we had a few spare hours. I had read great reviews about the Hash House a Go Go and was dying to try it. The reviews said that the wait at Hash House could be as long as 1.5 hours to 2 hours on a Sunday morning but it was a rainy Sunday morning so we thought maybe the weather would deter the usual brunch patrons. We only had a couple of hours to spare before we had to be at the airport so it was pretty risky. 2 hours to wait to be seated, eat, and then make it to the airport? Yeah, you’ve guessed it, we decided to go. No regrets there. We waited in the rain, inhaled our breakfast (which was served on ginormous serving platters), told our waiter we were in a rush, and made it to the airport in time.

When we were at Taroko National Park, we kept saying to each other how cool it would be if we were able to walk down into the water and dip our feet. Towards the end of our day there, we found Shakadang Trail and a trail marker board that showed photos of people standing in water having a grand old time. The trail stated that the round trip hike was 8.8 kilometers and that it took 3-5 hours to complete. We had 3 hours to spare before we had to head to the airport to fly to Taichung. We looked at each other and both knew what our decision would be. We would hike like crazy people as fast as we could until we hit water. The only problem was, we didn’t know how far down it was until we would hit water. But we both felt it was worth the risk. So we started on the trail.

They had these lion guys all along the bridge to the trail and each one had different facial expressions. This one was the least creepy. Nice bokeh, huh?

Here’s what the trail looks like. It’s a pretty small tunnel (we had to duck our heads at parts) carved into the side of the mountain.

So we’re walking and I’m trying my hardest not to stop and take photos. And before we hit the 45 minute mark, we see this opening! We’re going to get into the water!

The rocks in the water were small, jagged, and painful. But we didn’t care! We were in the water! It’s ridiculous how clear the water was.

I like how colorful the rocks are in the river cliff.

The river cliffs are dwarfed us. I felt very small.

I’m not sure if this row of rocks was natural or manmade. It was neat how distinct the two sides were. Murky green on one side and clean and pure on the other. Kind of like a filter.

As you can see, there was a fairly strong current in some parts of the shallow river.

By the time we had taken our quick dip, a group of giggly teenage girls arrived on the scene and ruined the tranquility. We put our shoes and socks back on and walked back to our car. We didn’t get a chance to see the pool at the end of the trail but that just means we’ll have to go back.

Sometimes you just have to take mini risks on vacations to be rewarded. That’s what I always tell myself. I’m sure one day we’ll get burned and then I’ll write a post about why you should always make conservative decisions on vacations.

--------------------------------------------->