Hutoushan Trail Introduction
Hutoushan is located in the northwest of Ruisui, a prominent ridge extending east from Dan Mountain, standing at an elevation of 1,747 meters. At the top, there is a massive rock that resembles a tiger perched on a mountain, hence the name. An access road leads to the summit, where the expansive views allow one to take in the landscape of the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range in between. Hutoushan is situated at the southernmost end of the Coastal Mountain Range, surrounded by the Lijie Formation, making it an outlying block of rock encapsulated within the Lijie mixed formation. Composed of diabase, Hutoushan has become increasingly difficult to climb in recent years due to the near absence of hunters in the area, causing the small paths in the mountains to become completely abandoned. According to older generations in Ruisui, during the Japanese colonial period, the Japanese believed that the mountain tiger of Hutoushan could be problematic (due to the spirit of Hutoushan), and thus they used heavy iron chains to bind the tiger’s neck to suppress its energy and prevent it from causing trouble. After climbing verification by mountaineers, it is currently known that two peaks are bound by iron chains: the first is Dahuotoushan (with an elevation of 1,745 meters) and the second is Xiaohuotoushan (Jiangbunanshan, with an elevation of over 600 meters).
