After getting back to my hostel at Hualien from the scooter ride through the Taroko Gorge, I met some US Americans who were about to hike along a river the next day. They didn’t need to ask twice to make me change my plan and go with them instead of driving along the east coast highway.
You can find the hike along the river marked on maps.me, close to Sanzhan. If you get there from Hualien you have to turn left before you reach the Taroko Gorge National Park.
I was expecting a nice hike along the river up to a waterfall, but it turned out to be a hike more or less through the river, with swimming involved. I would have packed a little different if I had known this before, but nothing I could not handle. Repacking and leaving a lot of my stuff in my scooter I managed to make my backpack light enough to carry it through the water.
We started the hike together with a group of Chinese tourists who brought a tour guide along and could not have been better prepared. Everybody wore long sleeve neoprene suits and boots that master even slippery rocks, helmets, life jackets, and a waterproof backpack. Next to them were us, one of the group only in a bikini and sandals, the other didn’t even bother to wear shoes. A small, definitely not waterproof backpack for food and other basics plus my completely oversized daypack.
We tried to climb up the rocks and skip the water as much as possible, while the Chinese group loudly and cheerfully jumped in every possible natural pool and acted like kids in a candy shop. It was quite cute to watch.
The weather cooled down and we enjoyed a nice and relaxed hike with enough time to stop and go swimming along the way. The only problem was that it started to rain half way to the waterfall which made the rocks too slippery for us to continue. We decided to turn around and after the sun came out again we found a big pool with a natural slide included. The slide wasn’t really slippery enough, but nothing a stone for the extra sliding effect under your ass could not handle and we finally had our very own kids moment.
We planned to stay the entire day, but with the weather changing we decided to be back at the hostel already in the afternoon, which gave us the opportunity to go stargazing at the beach at night. Successful day for sure.
