As it turned out, the beauty of the waterfall itself, the magnificent, wild scenery of the surrounding area, and the realization that we were walking where not so many people have been, made it a richly rewarding, if long day's trek (nearly eight hours!).

Having given up a previous attempt at trekking out to the waterfall, in the face of impenetrable jungle which blocked the trail that once threaded the spectacularly scenic valley of the Dasi River up to the fall, we decided to give it another try only after hearing from a well-connected friend that the trails in the area had been "cleared" by a local hiking group.

Armed with this encouraging information and determined to explore an area that has intrigued for many years, we left Taipei at dawn one sunny Sunday, zipped through Hsuehshan Tunnel, and reached the southern edge of the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area by eight o'clock. Turning off the coastal road in the center of Dasi village onto county route one, we climbed high into the steep, grassy hills that rise so impressively out of the Pacific along this stretch of coastline.

Enjoying the fabulous views over the deep gorge below as we climbed ever higher, we finally reached the trailhead a few meters after passing a concrete obelisk beside the lane, marking the border of Taipei and Ilan Counties. Leaving the car in a small parking place beside the road a few meters further, daypacks were packed and then we set off down the track opposite. Reaching Shipanliao Waterfall from this direction should only take an hour, we thought. After all, according to our hiking map, the trail from the road to the waterfall is less than three kilometers, which surely can't be too bad.

Indeed the first leg of the journey was very pleasant, walked in the company of a friendly if voluble local farmer and his wife. Arriving at a ramshackle metal building called Jinhuang Temple, however, the wide, easy track turns into an overgrown and very steep trail, tackling the precipitous face of the gorge straight on, and progress slowed to an awkward and precarious clamber, made even more unpleasant when we walked straight into large, sticky cobwebs every ten minutes. Proof, if any was needed, that we were the first hikers to come through for a while.Ninety minutes later, we stood near the bottom of the gorge, beside a lonely Earth God Shrine perched at the top of a steep cliff above the cascading stream. Another steep and slow climb downward, and we were following the Dasi River towards the sea through an enchanting succession of rock pools, small cascades and the odd cliff-bound ravine. Relaxing a little as the going got easier, we felt even more confident when (150 minutes into the hike) the trail finally crossed the main stream and began to follow a tributary up to the waterfall, now less than a kilometer away.

Fording this tributary stream by crossing its bare rock bed at the head of a small waterfall, progress is relatively easy and quick as the trail (about as good as it gets on this hike) winds pleasantly through the woods past several large stands of bamboo. It was here that our dog started sniffing excitedly, nose to the ground, on the trail of a scent he'd picked up. It was only about twenty minutes later, long after the scent had gone cold, that we realized what animal he'd detected, as the extraordinary sound of a barking deer calling from somewhere behind reached us through the trees.

The easier conditions prove very short lived however, as the path returns to the stream, tracing a very narrow and difficult course cut into the side of the deep gorge, and it takes a full ninety minutes to complete the short, one kilometer trail to Shipanliao Waterfall.

Four hours after leaving the car, we scrambled down a short branch path to the foot of the waterfall, which was pure balm to our weary eyes and legs. A narrow, 25 meter-high column of water plunges over a dark cliff into a large, deep of pure, crystal-clear water.

It's not a particularly spectacular waterfall, but the superbly remote setting, rare in this part of Taiwan, made all the trouble worthwhile. We were, of course, still only half way, and a long, hard trek back to the car lay ahead. But pushing the difficulties of the return journey out of our minds for the moment, we pulled off wet T-shirts, pants and shoes and dived into the ice-cold, infinitely refreshing water.