Japan and Taiwan: Jungle mountaineering for geology
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:28 am
Hi folks. I've been out of California, far from the nice crisp fall weather of the Sierra and the big trout I like pursuing so much. I've been in Japan and then Taiwan since Sept 6. My main objective was to do some geologic field research on some specific targets, primarily in Shikoku and in southeastern Taiwan. I cannot count the number of my friends and collaborators who said that this would be kind of hopeless owing to either being too steep (ie dangerous) or not steep enough so as to have no rock outcrops. And the vegetation is super dense. And folks also warned me of poisonous snakes, particularly in Taiwan. Now that I've finished all my field days (two more office days here in Taipei), I can give a brief report. One can actually get around off trail and road and find good geology without going outright technical. A lot of what I did get into what would be "jungle class 3" which is class 3 with lots of vegetation. One learns very quickly by testing vegetative holds the same way they would rock ones, which types of vegetation is the most reliable. What I did the poorest job adjusting to, though, was the heat and humidity which eventually defeated me here in Taiwan on my hardest hike: every day 90+ with super high humidity. In Japan it was pretty hot too (generally 80-85 with moderate to high humidity) plus we had to cancel one field day because of a typhoon. The typhoon also destroyed some roads that forced retargeting for another field jaunt. It also wiped out the car of the guy who would have driven me on my last field day in Shikoku (parked in low-level garage and car was submerged by the flooding from the typhoon). Anyhow I simply did not bring enough water on my harder hikes in Taiwan.