After nearly 50 years of dormancy, the trail has stirred renewed interest, but this time it is historic interest that drives teams into the forested regions in hopes of learning more about the early history of Chinese settlement. Ch'en Chung-yu, a researcher in the graduate department of history at the Academia Sinica, has been one of the most ardent of these new explorers.
其實「先人未遠」。百年前的八通關草原上，早有人建屋搭營；風吹草低處，也掩埋著一條先人披荊斬棘所開出來的山路。