Decided to do Plover Cove again (for the umpteenth time). Original plan was to run nonstop but the excellent visibility today forced me to carry my camera.

Reached Tai Po KCR by 0800 but had to take the bus to Tai Mei Tuk and a cab from there to Wu Kau Tang (40 bucks). The direct bus to Wu Kau Tang wasn’t scheduled to leave until 0940.

Start got delayed but managed to be at the beginning of the trail by 0844.

Start time: 0844
Run time: 2 hrs 41 minutes (against target of 2 hrs 30)
Elapsed time: 3 hrs 04 minutes (23 minutes were lost taking photos and fighting spider webs!)

Here’s what I learnt:

a) Now I know what it feels like to be baking inside an oven! Got roasted in the heat. I have no idea how soldiers carry their gear and manage to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was 34 degrees outside

b) I had to NOT take deep breaths as the hot air getting into the lungs actually weakened endurance. Instead did short breaths more frequently

c) I am probably the first one to do Plover Cove after the rains on Monday. I must have destroyed a good 15-20 spiderwebs (tried not to but I could barely see them!) Also learnt that spiders can do webs in no time! These webs must have been built after Monday

d) Should have carried some salt. Excessive perspiration and rationed water is not a good combination. Run mode switched to walk mode towards the end of the trail (before hitting the concrete and the bridge). But, after 10 minutes of walking, regained energy to jog/run to finish

Finish wasn’t in the best of spirits. Was tired after 18Km in the heat but I wasn’t completely beat or anything. Still had juice for another 20Km.

Now for some beautiful nature pics. This is why Plover Cove is a must visit for nature lovers.

Garmin

Total: 17.723 km in 3h 04m 30s at an average of 5.76 km/h

GPX

• Hiking, 2009-07-25, Plover Cove (1)
• Ultra fast: Plover cove hike (0)
• The unpredictable hike from Pat Sin Leng to Nam Chung and then to Luk Keng (0)
• Tennis and/or Plover Cove (0)
• Plover Cove (the Need-for-Speed run) (2)

Tags: Plover Cove, Tai Mei Tuk, Wu Ka Tang

We all know what the weather, the stock market and women have in common. They are all equally unpredictable. I am going to be adding 2 more to that list as you will soon see.

So, the Hong Kong Observatory predicted sweltering heat (about 30 degrees centigrade) and clear skies for today (Saturday). We were supposed to be doing Plover Cove (17km of exposed trail) plus some kind of a hardcore extension. I was therefore prepared with a light bag, energy gels and my new Arab style hat for maximum protection from the sun. I woke up at 0830 today and opened the window expecting some stinging rays from the sun. Well, the weatherman’s prediction seemed to have gone with the wind! The skies were black and it was raining heavily. I soon saw an SMS declaring the hike canceled. Aiya!

Refusing to surrender myself to the whims of nature, I decided to proceed as per plan. Besides, contrary to popular belief, I think that the trails of Plover Cove and Sharp Peak are actually easier to negotiate when they are wet. It’s those green mossy sort of trails that you have to avoid when it’s raining. I have ended up with several big green patches of dirt on my rear when attempting to do those under rain.

Anyway, so I got to Tai Po Market KCR at 1000 on the dot and then to the bus stop. Got a shock when I read the bus timetable. The next bus to Wu Kau Tang (start of Plover Cove) was at 1140!! Looked like they had changed the bus timetable recently! And therefore, we now have a new entry to the list of The Unpredictable – Weather, Women, Stock Markets and Buses From Wu Kau Tang. There was no way I was going to wait until 1140 so I came up with a new Plan B hike on the spot. Pat Sin Leng to Hok Tau to Cloudy Hill (about 20Km). I then took the more frequent bus to Tai Mei Tuk to start the hike. The rain also seemed to have stopped!

Start of Pat Sin Leng from Tai Mei Tuk

The trail was full of natural fragrance – the sort of smell you get when it rains after a long time.

A giant sized mushroom

I was the only one on the trail until I saw some teacher leading a bunch of school children. The teacher was dressed more for a Lan Kwai Fong occasion than a hike! They were all walking at snail pace when I zoomed past them (I was only doing about 10Kmh!) The school kids thought I was completely amazing though! They were all excited and going “wow!” as if they had seen Superman! I didn’t let the fact that they were less half my age get in the way of uplifting my ego. So, I went extra quick and attracted even more cheer from the kids!

There were several spiderwebs on the trail connecting the trees on either side of the trail. It was as if the spiders were building their own hammocks!

Wonder how these spiders come up with the design!

Things seemed to be going according to plan and now I felt like I also owned Pat Sin Leng (in addition to Plover Cove and Sharp Peak) as I was the only soul there. The feeling of running on the Pat Sin Leng ridges is simply amazing! Especially, with the strong wind!

Pat Sin Leng

Ok, as per plan, I was to be in Hok Tau (12Km from start) after Pat Sin Leng. I seemed to be on track and going the right way as I had done this hike several times before – or so I thought. I soon came across a board asking me choose between “Tan Chuk Hang” and “Nam Chung”. I went with Nam Chung as it seemed longer by 30 minutes and I was sure it would lead me to Hok Tau. Doh!! Add to the list of The Unpredictable – my sense of direction! After I had done some 5 Km, I saw this sign.

The ‘Doh’ point

I should have gone the other way towards Tan Chuk Hang! I wasn’t going to turn back so continued towards Nam Chung!

Came across this beautiful trail full of wild red berries. I was tempted to eat one of them but decided against doing so because I remembered a friend telling me that they were poisonous. Heck, if they aren’t, I am heading back there to try them.

Red, red berries – Poisonous or not poisonous?

So, after a while I ended up at the beautiful Nam Chung pools!

Wondering how I ended up at Nam Chung! I was supposed to be in Hok Tau!

Well, anyway, something I read sometime back about “making Molotovs when life gives you oil spills” came to mind. Here – check this out:

When Life Gives You Oil Spills, Make Molotovs – courtesy http://i.imgur.com/VfVMZ.jpg

Well, the equivalent in this case, is probably “Make the best of what nature give you”, so I simply took a dip in the pools!

Continued on the trail and reached a fork in the road asking me to choose between going left or right. I went with right because it seemed like the “right” thing to do. Heck, I had a 50% chance of being right and being an optimist, it’s always right! …. doh!! It turned out to be a dead end!! This time, I was forced to go back. Even the big buffaloes I zoomed past minutes earlier seemed to be throwing glances at me going are-you-stupid-or-what!

Anyway, after a while, I saw yet another left-or-right kind of fork in the road and there was this guy at a shop. I still wanted to go to Cloudy Hill so I decided to ask him directions for Cloudy Hill. I wasn’t ready to terminate the hike so soon. I vaguely remembered the Chinese name to be Dai Mo Shaan.

Me: Mgoi, Dai Mo Shaan bin dou a? (excuse me, where’s Cloudy Hill?)
The dude: WTF @!#@!&#^&^ (he had this expression on his face that seemed to be indicating that this was the dumbest question anyone had ever asked him!)

Not willing to embarrass myself any further, I decided on a quick comeback. Tai Po bin dou a? (where’s Tai Po) (I was trying to trick him into thinking he had mistakenly heard Dai Mo Shaan instead of Tai Po!)

He asked me to take the right! How come it’s always “right” when someone else says so but not when I choose it!

Anyway, I was preparing for a very long run to Tai Po but there was yet another surprise waiting for me at the next conjunction of the road which was hardly 15 minutes away. I was now at the very familiar Luk Keng bus stop! (It’s like my 5th home!)

So, without any further idea on how to extend the hike, I decided to stop there and have a sumptuous lunch instead! The moral of this hike is that life is full of surprises and things get more exciting as they get more unpredictable! Forget the maps!

Total: 14.634 km in 2h 32m 57s at an average of 5.74 km/h

GPX

Pictures here.

• Plover Cove in scorching heat (3)
• Pat Sin Leng (0)
• Hiking, Pat Sin Leng to Hok Tau and Feng something (0)
• Hiking, 2010-08-07, Cloudy Hill, Pat Sin Leng, Wu Kau Tang, Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2009-07-25, Plover Cove (1)

Tags: Nam Chung, Pat Sin Leng, Tai Mei Tuk

Pictures here. My GPS device ran out of battery, so the pictures are not Geotagged.

Joined the Meetup group today to kick off the Trailwalker training for this year. Started at Tai Mei Tuk and reached the end of the long, boring bridge at 10AM.

At that point, decided to do the whole circuit in 3 hrs so sped off solo. The air was incredibly hot and humid. It felt like the exhaust fumes of a bus were blowing straight at your face. Had to hydrate frequently. Carried 5 bottles of water (800ML).

Reached the halfway point (near the extension) at 11.40AM. Left at 12PM and started at full speed initially to Wu Kau Tang. Had to slow down and walk instead of running due to exhaustion from heat. But, managed to reach Wu Kau Tang at 1.20PM (20 minutes late) but still a good record.

Used my “expert” Chinese language skills to ask some dude when the next bus to Tai Po would leave. The guy replied 3.15PM!!!! Not one to kill 2 hours loitering at a bus stop, I decided to walk to Tai Mei Tuk without knowing how far it was. Some old Chinese guy on a bicycle saw me walking solo on Wu Kau Tang road and asked me if I was going to walk to Tai Mei Tuk. I said yes. He giggled as though he had seen some crazy guy and told me it was too far away. He then put one hand up signaling to the Gods above and pedaled away. I couldn’t really switch to run-mode from walk-mode either because I had already done 20-something KM and was tired from heat exhaustion. I continued walking relatively slowly at about 5KM/hour. Some 15 minutes into the walk, I saw a taxi guy drop someone off. I spontaneously hailed the cab and asked him to drive me to Tai Mei Tuk. It was quite far away!!! It would have taken me nothing short of 2 hours at that speed! The bicycle guy wasn’t kidding!

Anyway, managed to catch a bus from Tai Mei Tuk to Tai Po KCR. Good run/hike. Heat is a killer but I am getting used to it. As the saying goes, what doesn’t destroy you only makes you stronger. Actually, that saying doesn’t make too much sense because by the time you realize you have gone one step too far, you’re already destroyed! Anyway…

• Tennis and/or Plover Cove (0)
• Plover Cove in scorching heat (3)
• Of bags, holes, wallets and a Plover Cove fitness test (0)
• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)
• Needle Hill * 2 + Plover Cove (0)

Tags: Plover Cove, Tai Mei Tuk, Wu Kau Tang