This is where I first announced that something I worried about for some time was happening. 
STIXY was GOING AWAY.

When I logged in at the beginning of August 2012 I was greeted by a message stating that  The site would go dark at the end of September 2012.
I had worried about stixy. I have enjoyed all this space and flexibility, it's been easy to post my photos and comments, and have you noticed, it's all been totally free of any advertising  but it appears the creators never figured out a way to make money with the site. I had wondered how long it would be until someone got tired of paying for the bandwidth and pulled the plug. Now I know.

As you many know the site DID go dark in 2013 but prior to that I had archived the old HTML files. And here it is 12 years in the future and I finally got around to finding a place to post them on github. This is what you are reading now, in a slighly edited and updated form. So now just keep scrolling.

Dispatch 10n Taroko Gorge,

The best national park you never heard of
    15 Oct 2012
 
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This is Taroko Gorge national park in Taiwan. "Taroko" means marble and indeed the walls of the gorge are made of marble.


Probably the most visited part of the park is a place called Swallow Grotto. The holes in the wall are said to house birds. We didn't see any, perhaps it was the wrong season. But the intricacy of the cliff was fascinating to the eye.
 
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Further into the park at the Baiyang Waterfall Trail. How often do you see two such spectacular waterfalls in the same frame.
 
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Absolute crystal clear water streaming from this cave.



Inside a "curtain" waterfall.
 
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The famous "Eternal Spring Temple" with it's gushing crystalline spring also in the park.
 
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Be sure to check out the slide show and video.  The links are up there
 

 

 
 

 

 

So here is a Web Photo Album of Taroko Gorge 

This is a good opportunity to use the Slideshow feature.
Use the kebab menu (three vertical dots) upper right and select "Slideshow".

And I have not one, but TWO videos from Taroko


The rest of Taroko Gorge Park     4:15
 

 

 
The most anticipated highlight was the Jhuilu Trail (a.k.a. the Vertigo Trail). Kudos to Sara for planning ahead and arranging a permit for us to walk this trail, Only a few are allowed to go each day.
 

 

 
We also stopped at this natural hot tub along the bank of the river.
 

 

 
 I open with a News Flash . . .