Light rain at start of hike
28 people turned up at the meeting point for this hike on an overcast morning. Weather conditions over the hills that were to be our hike destination looked grim. As our convoy of cars & motorcycles approached the proposed start point it was raining & hills were hidden by low cloud. It wouldn’t have been pleasant hiking up the hills & ascending a steep, muddy climb through the bamboo forest, so the “2 Caves Hike” was postponed. Our convoy took the mountain road into the clouds & down to the Tung Roeng agricultural research centre SW of the Samoeng Road to begin the alternative low altitude hike in the Khanin River valley.
Our hike began on farm roads through avocado orchards & descended to a village on the Samoeng Road. Here we regrouped then turned south to hike along a beautiful valley of rice paddies, with jungle covered kharst landscape either side.
Despite missing out on the 2 caves everyone was hoping to visit, there was a small cave in the cliff face for us to explore. Unfortunately, we couldn’t access beyond the entrance to the cave.
After “exploring” the cave entrance we continued down the valley & stopped for an early lunch at a farmer’s shelter.
After our food break we followed the river, making numerous crossings, trying our best to keep dry until we reached a farm road that led us back up a steep climb to the Tung Roeng project & our vehicles.
Total hike length 10.3km, climb 300m, duration 3 hrs 20 mins.
On our way back to Chiang Mai, we stopped off at a restaurant on Samoeng road for some cold ones, with a great view of the valley.
Andrew
Photos by Chan & Minnie
Filed under: Hike Reports |
Here’s a video from last week. https://youtu.be/odQY-g9SopY