Map, Book, Blog, Gear Recommendations

United States

Gear: Plenty of places to get gear in the USA. REI and EMS are pretty standard but I don't have strong opinions. Any hardware store has Coleman fuel (white gas), any gas station has Bic lighters. The army surplus store has gear too (I used their foam sleeping pads for many years, until I had to pack them onto flights).

Some rental stores I have used (may not be up-to-date).

Maps

Books

Blogs

It's hard to find good websites these days. Most search engines mostly turn up SEO/pre-LLM/LLM-generated garbage. Over the years I relied on many hobbyist websites to find places to explore. Some of them are below.

Taiwan

Gear

  • I was able to get most specialty equipment Metro Oasis (城市綠洲), and they sell maps, canister fuels, river tracing shoes. They will not generally have items you can get at other stores (very limited selection of food bars, first aid).
  • MetroOasis stocks a local freeze dried food 輕快風生活館 -- rice with some vegetables and a light sauce and no meat for 100 NT$ (~ 3.50 US$) per pack.. Can supplement with jerky from grocery stores (comes in "slab" form 牛肉乾 and "small chunk form" 牛肉角, the former is better for eating on its own, the latter better for supplementing) or pork sung 肉鬆 and some salt or sesame oil. Be warned that there are two pack sizes in the same packaging, so be sure to get the size you want.
  • A popular energy bar brand is Soyjoy (from Japan). You can get it in bulk online (e.g. from Momo but need an ID to order). They don't pack as many calories generally.
  • Canister fuels available at outdoor stores. Liquid fuel is kerosene and can be purchased in 4 L (1 gal) containers at CPC (中油) gas stations (and possibly Formosa gas stations, haven't checked). Internet says gas stations take spoiled gas, and good gas maybe a repair shop will take it.
  • Rentals in Taipei: 戶外家 and 裝備家. Not sure if they speak English.
  • Transportation: you can hire a car or rent a car. Renting is cheaper but you have to deal with parking, not always straightforward. One way trips obviously need to hire a car. Will post some companies as I start using them.
  • Trail conditions: For Shei-Pa National Park, people post conditions on the Facebook group pretty regularly.
  • Season weather:
    More seasoned mountaineers have a degree of understanding toward Taiwan's seasonal weather patterns. For example, at the start of October Taiwan sees its first northeasterly monsoons, but it's often only the north or northeast that feels its effects. As the month progresses the monsoons come more often and with more intensity, and the central and southern regions begin to feel it as well. By the Lunar New Year cold air currents bring colder weather to all of Taiwan. Starting in the final third of February, the monsoons begin to wane. The final third of April sees a wave of southwesterly winds, and May heralds the start of the plum rain season. TODO 比較資深的登山者，對於台灣的天候狀況，通常有一定的了解。例如，每年十月初會有第一波東北季風報到，但通常只有東北部到北部受影響。之後東北季風一波一波到來，影響力越來越大，中南部也逐漸開始受到影響。到農曆年期間甚至有強大的寒流，全台都壟罩在低溫之中。但從二月下旬開始，東北季風就由極盛開始轉衰。到四月中下旬第一波西南風開始報到，五月開始進入梅雨季，滯留鋒面為全台灣帶來豐沛的雨量，西半部降水量尤其驚人，接著在六月下旬梅雨鋒面北抬，太平洋副高壓壟罩，為台灣帶來穩定的夏季氣候，也就是早晨晴朗，下午偶有午後雷陣雨的天氣型態。整個夏季甚至到秋季，颱風偶爾來襲。而到了八月，西南風轉盛，平地還好，但西半側的山區會有整整一個月的豐雨時期。直到九月西南風又轉弱，除偶有颱風之外，可說是秋老虎發威，之後又再等候第一波東北季風的到來。

Maps

Blogs

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