9/06/10 Little Gorge

Walking the streets of Hualien had been put on hold.  Space had a lull between the end of summer classes and the start of the school year so we were going hiking in the “little gorge” with Iris.  The Little Gorge is really the foothills of Taroko where a couple of branches of the river lead out to sea.  Not big enough in scale for the park, but perfect for what we had in mind.  Hiking the riverbed, finding a pool so we could swim, relax and eat lunch by the water.

As soon as we stepped out of the car I saw it, the biggest spider that I had ever seen outside of a zoo.  I have no idea what it was but it was big, black and it had yellow spots.  Did I mention that it was big?  Without exaggeration, it was as big as my hand, possibly as big as my father’s hand which is practically monstrous.  I always thought it would be a good idea to have some custom cutlery made for him so that he could eat without having to struggle with utensils that look like they came from a dollhouse.  Or maybe I’ll just let him use an 8” chef’s knife and carving fork at the table.

Where was I, oh yeah, the biggest spider I have ever seen.  Its web was so thick it looked like it was made of yarn!  I tested its strength by tossing a stick at the web… not one strand broke and the spider quickly investigated the disturbance, fangs at the ready.

It didn’t take us long to find a pool in the river.  The water was crystal clear and just cool enough to be refreshing; I jumped right in.  The last time I swam in a river couldn't technically be classified as swimming, we'll call it wading;  Anyways, I was wading in the Humber River behind my parents’ house.  I had taken my dog Casey there because he loved it.  Unfortunately, in his old age he was too arthritic to get there on his own like had had done his whole life.  I loaded him up on the trailer of my father’s lawn tractor and brought him for a ride, his last one to the river as it would turn out.  He had a great time and refused to get out; the water had made the pain in his joints disappear since he no longer had to support his body weight while floating.

Yet another digression… well the Humber River gave me a rash up to my knees, so the prospect of lounging in clean water that had trickled down through the mountains was irresistible.  Space and Iris, being used to this type of beauty, took their time getting in.  It wasn’t a big pool, but it was probably the best we were going to find given the low water levers in the river.  Our brief lunch was the portrait of calm.  Just the three of us and the sound of birds and rolling water.  No people, no cars, no sirens….nothing.

After eating, we engaged in what I like to call “Riverbed Frogger”.  Technically, there was no trail by the river.  You could make your own if you were the bushwacking king of the world, but I’m no Les Stroud, and the three of us had a serious aversion to the poisonous snakes in the area.  Riverbed Frogger requires you to jump along the tops of the rocks that are sticking out of the water, but unlike Frogger where the object is to cross the road, we were headed upstream.  It’s a game of quick decision making.  It’s easier if you manage to maintain your momentum, but risky if you happen to be carrying all of your camera equipment with you.

Riverbed Frogger Video

During the hike I was fortunate enough to have my third macaque sighting.  Space spotted this particular family and insists that seeing them is rare, or at least rarer than albinos.  They were too far up ion the canopy to photograph so we were content to watch them from a distance.



The combination of intense heat and riverbed hiking took its toll quickly and within an hour we had retreated to the comfort of the air conditioned car.  We plan to return, but will hike much further up the river.  Riverbed Frogger round II promises to be spectacular even though Space was more of a Donkey Kong fan.