Hualien and Taroko Gorge

A group of American and Canadian graduate students and I visited Hualien on the east coast of Taiwan on July 23 and 24. During our stay we went to the Taroko Gorge National Park. Our group stayed in the Colorful Taiwan Hostel in Hualien. The staff of the Hostel and some of our new Taiwanese friends did a great job making plans for our activities in the area. We all went river trekking and hiking on Saturday and river rafting on Sunday. Enjoy the pictures!

-Roxanne

Our group and the Hostel staff at Colorful Taiwan Hostel.

Our group in our river trekking gear: wet suit, helmet, gloves, life vest and boots.

Me, Katie and Christina showing off our gloves. We swam/walked up the river through the waterfalls and pools.

Me on a bridge over Taroko Gorge. There are 100 lions on the bridge. They all look different and are made of marble from the gorge.

The Liwu River flows through Taroko Gorge.

Marble walls

Giant spiders kept me on the trail. Some of them looked like they were as big as my hand (legs included).

The trail along the gorge.

Boulders

More boulders.

There I am.

A really narrow and steep part of the gorge.

There are some other visitors for scale.

The marble walls are very pretty.

Our group again after a hike.

We stopped at this suspension bridge. It had an 8 person limit.

That is me standing on the bridge. It was very wobbly whenever anyone moved.

Views from the bridge.

Katie and me on our river rafting trip.