虎頭山 9-13 Hutoushan 9-13

The trails of this area start from the geographical summit of Tiger Head Mountain 虎頭山. Frankly speaking, this mountain should better be called Dragon head mountain, since the forest has been totally destroyed by fire. Although this place is accessible and interesting, the routes 11 and 13 have very seldom been ridden - if never. The north ridge is a clean single track which goes straight down, the further the steeper. It terminates at an intersection with a dirt road, there turns left, passes two hairpins and then joins the end of route 8. This is an excellent route to practice riding down steep slopes because the slope increases very progressively and there is not much hazard.

The west ridge route 11 is a scenic journey on the long west ridge. After leaving the sheepfold route 10 on the left, the track becomes narrow and less visible. It follows the crest up and down until a steep drop which is really challenging to ride on the bike. The last part twisting through a small forest is also easier to walk.

The sheepfold route is a wide and smooth track. But it seems to enter private properties at the foot of the hill. Although this should be confirmed, I don't recommend the route.

The Lost Route #13 is a long journey through high grasses and silvergrasses, which should be attempted wearing heavy duty clothes and riding heavy duty bike as well ! It follows an abandoned dirt road which is not steep at all, but most of the time the track is totally hidden by the dense vegetation. It is really wild and I find it very enjoyable... Staying on the bike is sometimes challenging when the silvergrass gets stuck through the wheels or when the long grasses grips the pedals. But the advantage is that at the end of the trip the bicycle is perfectly clean ! This has been a piece of struggle to reach the end of the route the fist time. Actually I needed three attempts to ride it all the way to the end, each time crushing the grass a little bit more. Also, watch out a deep pit in the last section after a small bamboo forest. I placed a long bamboo across the road ahead of this pit.

Additional information 其他資料:
Access 通路: General access : check our map.
At about 10K on the 桃11 road (but there is no more distance sign) stands a high column in a Y-shape and a chinese inscription : 祝您旅途愉快. Cross the road bank to pass behind the column and reach the crest path. From the road, the north ridge (route 9) is 60m further on the left, "Lost Route" (route 13) is 170m further on the right, the sheepfold route (route 10) is 450m on the left and the west ridge (route 11) is straight forward.
Drinkable water 飲用水: Not at all
Permit 登山證: No
Itinerary 行程: Routes 9, 10, 11 join Fenwei St., the Lost Route 13 joins the bottom of Dead End which is the best exit.

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