20240417~18 Two-Day Trip
Seven-Color Lake × Liushun Mountain
Danda Forest Road (丹大林道) → 4.5K Er-fen Station (二分所) → 9.5K Lafalan Tribe Ruins (拉夫嵐部落遺址) → 23.5K Liu-fen Station (六分所) → Taiwan Power Guesthouse → Seven-Color Lake (七彩湖) → Guanghua Fudan Monument (光華復旦碑) → Liushun Mountain (六順山)
Danda Forest Road (Sunhai Forest Road) Key Points:
- 4.5K Er-fen Station (二分所)
- 9.5K Lafalan Tribe Ruins (拉夫嵐部落遺址)
- 23.5K Liu-fen Station (六分所)
- Seven-Color Lake (七彩湖)
- Guanghua Fudan Monument (光華復旦碑)
- Liushun Mountain (六順山)
This happened on April 17, 2024, but I’m only posting it on May 5, 2026 - you can see how lazy I am, hahaha!
Around April 2024, Taiwan Power Company was repairing the road and briefly opened it to the public. A friend enthusiastically invited me to join, and despite never having climbed any of Taiwan’s 100 Peaks before, I rashly signed up. When I sat down to write this in May 2026, I realized I had visited such an incredible mountain! I’m truly grateful for my friend’s invitation back then - a friend worth keeping. (Though I later learned that some visitors caused significant trouble for the locals, and the road has since been demolished.)
We met at Taichung Train Station at 4 AM that day, then rushed all the way to Shuili in Nantou.
Upon arriving at the Danda Forest Road entrance, the first sight was the magnificent Zhuoshui River (濁水溪) winding through the mountains, which instantly lifted our spirits for the journey. Fortunately, it was the dry season with water only knee-deep, so we could cross on foot. Although the Sunhai Bridge checkpoint kept broadcasting warnings not to enter… we were already halfway there, so we went ahead anyway (since we came all this way, right?).
Racing ahead:
We arrived (the silver grass is so beautiful~
Danda information map:
About to cross Zhuoshui River:
After reaching Danda, we switched to a Delica van and headed towards the lake, passing through 4.5K Er-fen Station (二分所), 9.5K Lafalan Tribe Ruins (拉夫嵐部落遺址), and 23.5K Liu-fen Station (六分所).
The road was continuously bumpy - not a single minute of smooth driving. Basically every 10 minutes we’d encounter a small landslide, and the car had to pass at a 45-degree angle, so we often got out to walk past the landslide area on foot, then got back in the car after the driver carefully navigated to a safe zone.
This isn’t flat ground - it’s a direct downward slope:
How bad were the road conditions? We got a flat tire!
People walking after the flat tire:
Kashegun (卡社群):
Nantou Danda 10th Forest Section Station (南投丹大十林班駐在所):
Exploded hunting rifle:
Hmm… Taipei Medical University Physicians Association, I know you’ve been here~~
Liushun Mountain (六順山)
Liushun Mountain 2999m marker:
Liushun Mountain 3106m marker:
Hehe~ Two different elevation markers, a bit of a beautiful mistake.
What appears to be a hunted muntjac deer:
This reminds me of golden grasslands:
My companion’s silhouette:
Seven-Color Lake (七彩湖)
Heading to Seven-Color Lake:
Seven-Color Lake (a bit foggy that day, but still beautifully serene):
The legendary “Guanghua Fudan” (光華復旦) monument:
Extremely foggy Seven-Color Lake:
This driftwood looks incredibly like the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones:
Although foggy, this version of Seven-Color Lake has a particularly serene quality that’s actually quite pleasant:
Nearby Sister Lake (妹池):
Grandma Xiao below (蕭阿婆) (??
Wild pheasant we encountered on the road!! First time climbing a 100-peak and I became a pheasant hunter - so excited the photo’s blurry!!
Taiwan Power maintenance station:
The fine line between Nantou and Hualien:
This person kept saying they’d do 10 spins in mid-air when jumping down!!
Moment of emerging from the fallen log:
Haitian Temple (海天寺)
Haitian Temple:
Hard to imagine how such an incongruous building exists here, and in relatively good condition:
Next to Haitian Temple are the ruins of a bungalow… probably an old guesthouse? Seems to be an old residence built for Chiang Kai-shek, though he never actually stayed there. Inside was what appeared to be a long-dead muntjac deer.
Return journey river crossing:
