So, our original plan was to run the whole of Hong Kong Trail with a target time of 5 hours.

Started at 0742 from the Peak and looked like everything was going great. We seemed to be on track.

Weather was HOT but the clear visibility made Hong Kong look even more beautiful that it already is. Unfortunately, I didn’t carry my camera with me to save on weight. Next time, I am going to take it nonetheless.

After stage 4 (Wanchai Gap I think), teammate Steven’s knee injury resurfaced. So, had to stop at Park Avenue. I think we got there at about 1015 or so and did around 22Km until that point.

I didn’t know the way from there to complete HK trail so decided to change venue and continue trail running at my all time favorite Sharp Peak.

Tried a Garmin reset to make the HK trail and Sharp Peak show up as two separate events but as you will see from the map, that didn’t work! It looks as if I flew from HK trail to Sai Kung!

Reached Pak Tam Au at 1210 and started the engines
Reached that little turn to Sharp Peak at 1239 (target was 1240)
Reached Sharp Peak summit at 1310 (target was 1310 – bull’s eye)

Took a break for 9 minutes and left at 1319 (was allowed to stay there until 1320)
Reached Sai Wan at 1419 (against target of 1420)
Took a break (To Fu Fa, 3 * Tau Cheung) for 10 minutes and left at 1430 (allowed to stay until 1430)
Reached Sai Wan Pavilion at 1450 (against target of 1450 – bull’s eye)
Reached Pak Tam Chung at 1520 (against target of 1520 – bull’s eye)

Precision was impressive despite the heat plus the 22Km already done in the morning.

Problems:
- none really, heat was managed the usual ways (middle eastern hat, water, gels, salt)
- towards the end, the run from Sai Wan Pavilion to Pak Tam Chung was grueling because it was completely exposed – had to do a lot of heat management! Wasn’t easy.

Data:
- consumed almost 6L of water (2L during HK Trail, 2L to Sharp Peak, 2L from Sai Wan to Pak Tam Chung (stream water)

- 43.11Km in 5 hours 15 minutes

Garmin Link.

• Back to Sharp Peak (0)
• HK Trail Stages 1-4 and then Sharp Peak + Ham Tin + Sai Wan (1)
• Shuihao Trip (5)
• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sharp peak hike (0)

Tags: HK Trail, Pak Tam Au, Sai Kung Circuit, Sharp peak

A public holiday in Hong Kong can only mean one thing and that’s more hiking! So, today being a public holiday, it was time to hit my holiday home again on Sharp Peak.

It was supposed to be rainy again and the skies did look pretty dark at 0600 in the morning. I took my chances anyway. Plan was to leave the apartment at 0700, reach Pak Tam Au by 0830, reach Sharp Peak by 0930, Sai Wan village by 1030 and Pak Tam Chung by 1130 (finish).

Waterproofed every electronic device worth over 50 bucks by putting them in those zip lock bags. For the first time in several months, I actually got the HK public transportation timing wrong! I just missed the bus to Wong Shek Pier from Sai Kung town and had to wait over 20 minutes for the next bus. Meaning, the start time at Pak Tam Au turned out to be 0838 instead of 0830 (8 minute delay).

Waterproofing turned out to be a needless exercise as the sun started shining intermittently on the way to Sharp Peak. Reached the summit in 57 minutes (3 minutes before target). The wind on the summit was powerful enough to cause me to lose balance. Got the camera out for a couple of great pics including this one and didn’t bother with the waterproofing again. Big mistake. Kind of like my HSBC stock purchases. Stock price falls every time I buy, goes up each time I sell. So, it started pouring down when I was descending from the summit. Talk about isolated showers. Next ridge, it was all clear again.

Reached Sai Wan village in 53 minutes (7 minutes before target). Had the usual Soya milk there and then reached Pak Tam Chung in 49 minutes from Sai Wan village (11 minutes before target). Finished exactly at 1130 including breaks, etc. Right on time.

Summary:
Start time: 0838
Summit time: 57 minutes (0935)
Summit departure: 0941
Sai Wan village arrival: 54 minutes (1035)
Sai Wan village departure: 1041
Arrival at Pak Tam Chung: 49 minutes (1130)

Garmin Link.

Total: 20.397 km in 2h 50m 54s at an average of 7.16 km/h

GPX

• HK Trail 1-4 + Sharp Peak Circuit (0)
• HK Trail Stages 1-4 and then Sharp Peak + Ham Tin + Sai Wan (1)
• Shuihao Trip (5)
• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sharp peak hike (0)

Tags: Pak Tam Au, Sai Kung Circuit, Sharp peak

Started very early (0730 HKT) at the Peak. Actually, let me rephrase. Should have started very early (0730 HKT) at the Peak but unfortunately, I overestimated the speed of the minibus (Number 1 from Central). It’s bloody slow and stops at every nuke and corner. So ended up being 7 minutes late. We started at 0737 on a HK Trail stages 1-4 run.

I have a feeling I made a wrong turn somewhere and had to retrace. But, my Garmin lost power (forgot to charge) so can’t really check.

Finished at 1012 HKT (something like 2 hrs 30 mins) stages 1 to 4 (25Km or so).

But, I needed a healthier dose of greenery. The problem with HK trail is that most of it is concrete and you don’t get the feeling of escaping from the city. I needed to escape from the city. I had the usual choices – Plover Cove and Sharp Peak. Not willing to spend 2 hours more on commute, I settled on Sai Kung.

Planned a precision hike/run starting 1235 HKT (Pak Tam Au). 1335 (Sharp Peak). 1340 (depart Sharp Peak). 1440 Sai Wan. 1545 finish in Pak Tam Chung.

Execution was precise. Finished at 1545 at Pak Tam Chung.

Sharp Peak was amazing as usual. There was this point where the clouds covered the body of the mountain and left the summit untouched. It looked like a summit in heaven was popping out of nowhere. No pics I am afraid. Couldn’t fit my bulky camera in my new hiking bag but planning to buy something small and cheap soon.

Total: about 45Kms

No maps or GPS I am afraid.

• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)
• Sai Kung Circuit in HOT weather (0)
• Running/Hiking – Sai Kung circuit (0)

Tags: Hong Kong Trail, Pak Tam Au, Sai Kung, Sharp peak

The full set of pictures are here.

In order to celebrate the purchase of my new hiking shoes, it was time to visit Sharp Peak again. Or rather, it was time to sneak up on Sharp Peak by climbing it from its rear. (yes, hikers can be a little perverted).

So, joined the Meetup group on a classic Sai Kung Loop hike with the intention of climbing up Sharp Peak from the North. South would be the usual way from Mac 2. After that, the plan was to have lunch at Ham Tin and then climb Mosquito Hill (Dai Man Shaan) before returning to Mac 2.

Now, here’s the step-by-step guide to climbing Sharp Peak from its rear.

a) Go to Wong Shek pier (but 94 from Sai Kung bus station)
b) Take a ferry to Ko Lau Wan (infrequent and it cost HKD 14 each)

Group gathering at Wong Shek pier

That’s Ko Lau Wan

Leaving Wong Shek Pier

c) Once you reach Ko Lau Wan, follow the water pipes all the way to the Ko Lau Wan beach! There’s this huge stretch of water pipe from the pier to the beach

Approaching Ko Lau Wan

Looks like some fisherman made a prize catch!

The communal post boxes! Feel free to flick letters!

c.1) Now, turn the leadership over to the guy in the group who likes superheroes (especially Spiderman) or to someone you don’t like. This is because this guy will be destroying several spiderwebs paving the way for spider and web-free walking. I took on this role and destroyed several spider homes

The trail

Is it a plane? a bird? No it’s a spiderweb! A job for the groups’ Spiderman to clear

d) The hike to Sharp Peak from the beach ain’t easy. There’s a super climb, it was very slippery today when we did it and it requires good concentration, and some deft climbing! (400m)

No camera trick here – it’s really that steep!

As much as getting to Sharp Peak required some strong physical strength, admiring the view from there today demanded strong mental strength, i.e. imagination. One had to imagine the beautiful beaches, rolling greenery and the amazing landscape hundreds of meters below as one could hardly see what was 10m away! Visibility was bad!

Hey, but there was nature on the peak to admire!

Pretty lady bug

View going down

Mammoth jelly fish

So, after sneaking up on Sharp Peak from its rear, we headed down to Ham Tin for lunch.

Armed with a coke, some chilli+curry fried rice and more determination, it was time to attach the next hill for the day – Dai Man Shaan, i.e. Mosquito Hill.

All the bad Karma from the morning came back to haunt me – I am talking about destroying spiderwebs! Nature took its revenge on my sexy legs as pointy branches and shrubs left numerous scratches on my legs. This was bushwhacking incarnate. Adding to it, the slippery terrain (rain from yesterday), it was even tougher! Thanks to the fried rice though, had enough energy to attack (and enjoy) Dai Man Shaan as well.

Eventually, reached at Mac 2 at about 1810 and did a nice run to finish at Pak Tam Au.

Fantastic day out!

Map

• Hiking, 2009-10-03, Care Action (trial) (0)
• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)
• Sai Kung Circuit in HOT weather (0)

Tags: Dai Man Shaan, Ham Tin, North Face, Sai Kung, Sharp peak

A little bit of a recap to begin with.

Saturday last week:
I was running down Sharp Peak at quite a fast pace and sadly, my attention shifted from the beauty of the trail to the beauty of a group of Asian women tourists climbing up Sharp Peak. And as the saying goes, “behind the fall of every hiker, there is a woman” [literally] (okay, fine, I changed the old adage around a little bit but you can see where this story is going). So, bang, my butt hit the ground and I pulled some muscle on the side of my knee. I have since been largely out of action.

Now, back to Saturday this week.
Had to definitely escape from the city, at least for a couple of hours, into the arms of nature. So, decided to head back to Sharp Peak! Albeit slowly. At a limiting pace of 8Km/h max.

As usual, started at Pak Tam Au at 1058 HKT and headed towards Sharp Peak. What should have normally taken 51 minutes ended up taking 1 hr 1 minute. Unloaded my heavy cargo there – a bulky Saturday edition of SCMP (does anyone really read Classified 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9???) and my book. Coincidentally, a few friends showed up at the summit sometime later. Did some yapping and a lot of reading and left after a nice, long 1 hr break. Of course, didn’t miss the opportunity to try and gather more Sharp Peak fans. (Readers are cordially invited to be a fan of Sharp Peak on Facebook here).

New fans

Ain’t she a beauty

Left after relaxing for a bit, heading towards Sai Wan. Could feel something on the left of the knee when attempting to increase speed beyond 8Km/h so kept speed more or less consistent.

Reached my Sai Wan chaanteng (restaurant) about an hour later. Now, I have to recommend the Lat Chiu Cheung (chilli sauce) in my Sai Wan hangout. Fantastic. Stopped for fried rice + tofu fa + tau cheung.

Left for Pak Tam Chung after lunch and what should have taken me 45 minutes took about 1.5 hrs as I was walking at 6.5Km/h instead of running at 13Km/h.

Verdict: Great day out. Can’t remember the last time I was this slow on a trail but a refreshing and relaxing change of pace. That said, can’t wait to fix the muscle and get back into trail running soon!

Picture on the way to Sai Wan

Pictures here. Tech stuff. The

Total: 19.926 km in 5h 02m 11s at an average of 3.96 km/h

GPX file.

• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)
• Sai Kung Circuit in HOT weather (0)
• Running/Hiking – Sai Kung circuit (0)
• Maclehose Stage 1,2 + Sharp Peak (4)

Tags: Sai Kung, Sharp peak

Pictures from this hike are here.

Decided to escape into the world of running and hiking by doing a Mac 1, 2 run/hike at 0945 with my elite team.

The weather was perfect for a run. Misty, not hot and some gentle breeze. Mac 1 was a breeze to complete. It took me about 48 minutes of steady running.

Saw this sign after completing it.

3 hours??? My grandma can beat that! Wonder how the HK Government comes up with these estimated times for trails!! They probably have an octogenarian do it in the peak of summer and use that as benchmark!

Mac 2 was also good fun. Stopped at my usual Sai Wan shop for a nice Tofu Fa before hitting Ham Tin and the concrete path to Pak Tam Au.

I was so near my guesthouse (Sharp Peak summit) that I just had to take a detour to inspect my mansion. So I bid the group goodbye and headed over to the summit. Took about 23 mins.

After ensuring everything was safe and sound in my guesthouse, I ran back down. Saw a line of Japanese tourists on the way down. The lady at the back shouted something in Japanese and the entire line of tourists then moved one step to the right making way for me! Some of them bowed and shouted words of encouragement in Japanese as I passed them (hmmm… to come to think of it, maybe those weren’t words of encouragement but a joke of some sort! They were all laughing for some reason!) Anyway, felt good passing them!

Reached Pak Tam Au at around 1430. Completed the whole thing in 4 hrs 12 minutes, 28.41Km (6.6Km/h avg).

Tee shirt was completely soaked in sweat. Looked for a spare tee shirt in my bag but I remembered being too lazy to carry one. I had a book and a heavy camera instead! Doh!

By the time I reached the MTR in Choi Hung, the air conditioner in the mini bus had caused my tee shirt to smell of dry sweat. Boarded the MTR and looked around. I got several ‘this-guy-stinks-like-hell’ kind of stares from fellow passengers on the way from Choi Hung to Mong Kok. Some dude next to me was practicing some deep breathing exercise that I normally practice when I am forced to stand next to someone who smells of cigarette smoke. Trick is to turn the other way, take a deep breath, fill lungs with “clean” and un-smelly air, bring the neck back to normal position and then breath out slowly! This way you don’t breath the smelly air coming from the stinky person on one side of you. Well, as a teaser I moved 1 step closer to this guy but then decided, in the interest of fairness, to leave him alone! Besides, he looked way stronger than me!

I expected less stares on the train from Mong Kok to Central as I had cleverly anticipated those IFC type girls to wear all the perfume in the world thus mitigating my stink. But, unfortunately, I was stinking too much for any perfume to overcome. So, being the nice guy that I am, I got off one stop before and did a mild jog home.

Now for the hi-tech stuff.

Some analysis is here.

Total: 27.941 km in 4h 12m 53s at an average of 6.63 km/h

The GPX file

• Goin’ MacLehosing 1,2,3 (0)
• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)
• Sai Kung Circuit in HOT weather (0)

Tags: Maclehose 1, Maclehose 2, Sai Kung, Sharp peak

I think I can safely (and proudly) claim to be the only hiker in Hong Kong who has been up on the summit of Sharp Peak more than anyone else within a span of 3 years. That’s at least around 150+ times (easily!) and in all kinds of weather. I have been on the summit during typhoons, black rainstorm warnings, heavy rain and thunder, etc, etc. Therefore, I strongly feel that if there is anyone who has a legitimate claim to owning Sharp Peak, it’s gotta be me! Maybe someday I should be mayor of Sharp Peak!

Anyway, set off today at 1128 HKT from Pak Tam Au in cold and wet weather. Having foolishly killed my beloved HTC Touch Pro phone last week due to hiking in the rain, I took enormous precautions this time. Call it an overkill but I had my new Touch Pro2 in a plastic container which was in turn placed in a zip lock cover and that in turn was wrapped in my water proof wind breaker. I was also wearing one of the 7-11 ponchos! Yup, as they say, once bitten twice shy or maybe in this case, once wet, twice dry!

I was mostly the only soul braving the cold and wet weather up until an intersection on Stage 2 where I saw some gwailo grandpa admiring the scenery with his 3 big dogs. Grandpa looked at me, unplugged his earphones, smiled broadly and exclaimed “Always good to see a French guy running!” He then burst into laughter! Reciprocating his loud laughter, I also went ha ha ha loudly until my brain tried to process what he had just said. Always good to see a French guy running????? What on Earth does that mean and why in the name of Zeus would he think I look French?! Well, I was pacing myself and had no time for any smalltalk with Grandpa. So, I bid him goodbye and continued my steady pace leaving that little mystery float in my head for a little while longer.

I reached that left turn to Sharp Peak on Mac Stage 2 in less than 25 minutes. The weather was getting quite gloomy but that didn’t deter me, the numero uno Sharp Peak fan. The climb was very scary. The wind was so strong that it made me lose my balance from time to time. Visibility was about 3 meters max and there was NO ONE around. Not a single soul. I could clearly hear the roar of the waves from the nearby seas as the winds lashed it with immense force. It was quite scary! For a second, I wished I could see more human beings like I was in Mong Kok or something. (Ok, fine, maybe not Mong Kok – that’s the other extreme and too much of a torture!!)

Anyway, I reached the summit in precisely 51 minutes after starting from Pak Tam Au. Pretty comfortable pace, nothing too heroic. Stayed on the summit for what was I think 2 minutes max! My hands were quite numb from the cold wind and I had to use all the force from both my hands to push the volume button on the Mp3 player!

The run back down to Stage 2 was equally cold and scary but once I reached Stage 2, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief and resume normal pace.

Reached Pak Tam Chung at close to 1400 HKT and finished with a nice run to catch a mini bus that had just arrived!

Stats: 19.4Km, 2 hours 42 minutes. Roughly 7.1 Km/hour. (Comfortable pace)

• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in HOT weather (0)
• Running/Hiking – Sai Kung circuit (0)
• Maclehose Stage 1,2 + Sharp Peak (4)

Tags: Sai Kung, Sharp peak

Photos here.

I beat my earlier record! Thanks to a change in running style actually. I slow down and shoot for endurance these days when I hear myself breathing too hard.

Started at 1056 HKT
Reached Sharp Peak at 1149HKT (53 minutes)

Left Sharp Peak at 1218 HKT (after inspecting my guest house over there)
Reached Sai Wan at 1307 HKT for a To Fu Fa
Left Sai Wan at 1318 HKT
Reached Pak Tam Chung at 1405 HKT

Got a bus at 1416 HKT

Beat my previous record but what I was most impressed with is that the whole run seemed effortless. I could easily run down the MTR stairs afterward and felt quite fresh as well! That’s the new goal now. Improve fitness and accomplish runs as effortlessly as possible.

• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)
• Sai Kung Circuit in HOT weather (0)
• Running/Hiking – Sai Kung circuit (0)

Tags: Sai Kung, Sharp peak

Pictures here.

So, after several weeks of hardcore hikes, my team decided to take it easy today. That means 30Km! We did the Care Action circuit in Sai Kung. Here’s the story:

Thanks for the message below.

So, let’s do it !!!

To further elaborate, on Saturday, October 3d 2009, I would also like to cordially invite all of you to my guest house on The Peak! I have dreaming and practicing this line for quite a while so I’ll say it again – I would like to cordially invite all of you to my guest house ON THE PEAK! — Sharp Peak, that is! (I am yet to find a Nina Wang so can’t quite afford Victoria Peak yet! ;-) )

PS: No, the HKD 100 toll tax is not a joke

Steven W. Sparksman wrote:
>
> Team Meetup 5.0 !!!
>
>
> You may have noticed there is no Training Hike planned for this Saturday.
> The reason for that is the Wilson Raleigh is the following weekend, so this will be a weekend of rest.
>
>
> However, we won’t be doing nothing….Vince has invited us to join him on his personal training hike.
> This will be a 20km Trail Walk/Run along the trails surrounding Sharp’s Peak.
> This is Vince personal playground and we’re very lucky to be invited along.
>

So, a couple of facts I got wrong (a) Sharp Peak is about 414M (b) Care Action is 30Km not 40Km.

The day couldn’t have started better. Cloudy weather. Beautiful foliage. Fresh air. Greenery everywhere. We reached Sharp Peak (Care Action didn’t call for that but we did it any way) after about 1 hr 15 minutes of starting as always, I was captivated by its beauty.

Headed on to the peninsular after that. The sun was out but there was enough breeze to keep my body temperature under check.

We had some friends on the way too.

Finished at Pak Tam Chung at about 4 something.

Fantastic day out.

• Attacking Sharp Peak from its rear + Dai Man Shaan (0)
• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sharp peak hike (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)

Tags: Care Action, Ham Tin, Sai Kung, Sai Wan, Sharp peak, Tai Long Wan

Pics here.

Woke up rather late and was quite desperate to get out of the city. So, naturally, decided to visit my holiday home (Sharp Peak). It meant for this to be a lazy hike. (No preparation, just-do-it sort of hike).

When I reached the starting point (Pak Tam Au) it was 11.15AM and the sun was shining. At that point, I thought of testing my new level of fitness (gained after several 50KM hikes) and the objective was to go nonstop to the peak. I had 3L of “hot” water (forgot to refrigerate) and nothing to eat. Was not prepared as this was supposed to be a lazy walk. By the time I reached the big climb (near the Sharp Peak summit), I could feel the effect of heat exhaustion coming on. It’s the kind of feeling you get when the couch in your home feels like the greatest place on Earth. I have had this feeling many times. The most memorable moment was when I was 6000m above sea-level in Kashmir, India. I was surrounded by beautiful snow-capped mountains. The air was crisp. However, the altitude sickness got my head spinning and each photo I took to document my presence turned out to be a chore. My life ambition at that point was suddenly reduced to sleeping on the couch in my house.

Anyway, so back to Sharp Peak. I was exhausted and decided to sit. I put my head down and gazed at my watch. It read 35 degrees centigrade. Heat exhaustion is a funny thing. When you feel it, you no longer care about anything in the world. At that point, I no longer cared about what used to be my most favorite place on Earth – Sharp Peak. But, in the interest of completeness, I reached the summit, took 1 photo and got out of there. Returned the same way.

Verdict: In Hong Kong, only thou that shall prepareth for the heat, shall completeth the hike. (Sorry Shakespeare)

Fitness has to be complemented by preparedness. The feeling of heat exhaustion, i.e., the wall effect, can be avoided by regular eating, drinking during a hike. Today, I didn’t even have a hat.

But, anyway, this was supposed to be a lazy hike and lazy hike it was. However, I don’t like the wall effect and it doesn’t look like Hong Kong is ever going to cool down. So, it’s time to increase preparation levels even for lazy hikes.

Btw, my energy did return on the way back. I know this because I did pay attention to the many beautiful women coming down from Pak Tam Au…

• Shuihao Trip (5)
• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sharp peak hike (0)
• Sharp peak again (0)
• Sharp peak – hot and sunny (0)

Tags: Sharp peak

Pictures here.

Having taken a 2-week break from HK hiking, I was raring to go on a Sharp Peak circuit run today. Mission was simple. Get rid of the cold that’s been bothering me for a while now through sweating and running. Idea was to start at 12PM at Pak Tam Au, reach Pak Tam Chung at 3PM (after a Sharp peak climb in between).

Problems: HK weather observatory issued a “very hot” signal. Also, typhoon Molave was expected to hit HK more or less directly in the evening. I was also far from a 100% fit. Constant cold reduced energy levels.

I started at Pak Tam Au at 12PM, as planned. Maintaining excellent control of the run, I reached the Sharp peak turn at 12.30PM (on schedule). Problems began then. I was getting a bad dehydration reading. Sun was out on full force. Air was 100% humid and hot. I felt like I was cooking in a microwave on ‘High’. Had to slow down big time. Starting losing time but continued to plod on with frequent breaks. There wasn’t a soul on Sharp peak.

Eventually reached Sharp peak at 1.40PM!! (1 hr 40 minutes. It’s supposed to take 1 hr!) Dismal performance. Not sure if to blame my fitness level or the heat.

Disappointed, I decided to redeem myself by doing a run from Sharp peak to Pak Tam Chung in 2 hrs. Left at 2PM.

History repeated itself. The sun rays started stinging and I started slowing down. Reached Ham Tim at 1.15PM (15 mins late). At this point, typhoon Molave introduced himself. Skies turned black and it started pouring down! Good news was that I was no longer a “running duck” for the sun. I had to move on after refueling (ran out of water) at my usual pit-stop.

I didn’t have a raincoat. Continued to run in pouring rain. My clothes got incredibly wet. Reached Sai Wan pavilion and a waiting taxi driver signaled to me, confident that I would use his services. Little did he realize my tenacity and cheapness. I continued to run in pouring rain from the Pavilion to Pak Tam Chung. Speed increased, thanks to no sun. Completed the run in 30 minutes. Reached Pak Tam Chung at 4.30PM (30 mins late).

It was then time to make the travel back home using HK’s freezing public transportation. On top of that, my clothes were wet. I couldn’t be bothered changing into a dry, spare tee shirt I was carrying.

The MTR gave me a near hypothermia. I was still too proud to wear my spare tee shirt (besides people were looking!) Planned to get out 1 station early and walk the distance home instead of freezing in the MTR.

Hot shower, clean clothes after I got back home and my energy returned. As for my cold, not sure what impact hot weather, rainy weather, getting drenched, getting frozen and a hot shower is going to have. We’ll see. Sniffles.

• Hiking, 2009-04-19, Luk Wu Trail -> Sai Wan -> Pak Tam Au (0)
• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)
• Sai Kung Circuit in HOT weather (0)

Tags: Rain, Sai Kung, Sharp peak

Hiking pics here.

Started at 10.30AM (Pak Tam Au) and reached the starting point of the climb to Sharp peak by 11AM. (so far so good).

But, the sun hit me so strong and I didn’t have a cap (left it on the bus by mistake). Speed went down and I had to drink plenty of water. Reached Sharp peak only at 11.45AM (1 hr 15 mins – horrible). Saw Thomas Berns on the way and he was visibly struggling. Saw Caroline a little later.

Had to go back the same way walking (didn’t have energy to run) and reached Pak Tam Au at 1.50PM.

This insect was bugging me

• Sharp peak, Stage 3 Mclehose (fast) (0)
• Sai Kung Curcuit (slow) (4)
• Sai Kung Circuit in stormy weather (2)
• Sai Kung Circuit in HOT weather (0)
• Running/Hiking – Sai Kung circuit (0)

Tags: Sai Kung, Sharp peak