Today was the last King of the Hills race for 2009-2010. The Tai Po full marathon. 36Kms long.
Wasn’t easy but wasn’t as tough as KOTH Lantau. Probably because the weather was great. Weatherman, for a change, turned out right in his prediction of relatively cool weather in Hong Kong today. A good relief from the sweltering heat. It was about 18 degrees today compared to 27 yesterday!
Started the race at 0900 HKT and had to climb up Cloudy hill and Pat Sin Leng before heading down the most slippery path I have seen in Hong Kong. Fellow competitors were much crazier than me and some of them seemed to be leapfrogging on this trail. They were literally heading down a slippery slope and I heard at least one of them shouting “this is so much fun”. This guy was like a kid in a candy store and loving every moment of this monkey business! I’ll admit, I was having some fun too but after my butt hit the ground over 3 times, I was wishing it would end soon!
Maintained about 12Km/h avg on the flats and didn’t stop anywhere. Goal was to be top 15 in my category but I couldn’t believe the result – came 8th overall and 7th in my category. 36Kms completed in 4 hrs 36 minutes. Good way to finish off the series.
Looking forward to some more kick ass races this year.
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All the pictures from the hike today are here.
We had 9 join us on this King of the Hills Tai Po reconnaissance hike (second time for me). As usual, it appeared as though weatherman changed his forecast after looking out the window in the morning. I swear, I read 8 to 11 degrees or something as cold as that when I checked the forecast a day back. But, today turned out to be warmer than that – about 15 degrees with some sunny intervals. Remembering the weather forecast from a day back, I was actually dressed for a hike in Alaska (gloves, tracks and all that but a tee shirt and shorts would have sufficed).
Started in Tai Wo KCR station (now MTR) and the climb to Cloudy Hill began in less than 15 minutes. All the stress from the past week started leaving my body in beads of sweat as the cleansing/rejuvenating process began.
Couldn’t help but notice these beautiful houses during the climb. Wonder what they cost. I know I would be hiking up to Cloudy Hill and Pat Sin Leng every other day if I were living in one of those!
From Cloudy Hill, the route calls for another super climb up to the first summit of Pat Sin Leng (Wong Leng) from where there is this super slippery path down to Sha Lo Tung.
The beautiful Pat Sin Leng
The super slippery path is no joke. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger would have fallen at least once (and I mean before he became the Governor of California, i.e. when he was the Terminator guy). Some of the rocks are completely covered in moss and there’s no proper place to get a good grip.
Anyway, from there the route leads to Lai Chi Wo and then to Yung Shue O. Lai Chi Wo is scenic spot. There are trees several centuries old and their branches are all coiled up. They look something like a reticulated python.
There was some sign reading “You can help by NOT climbing and sitting on the Derris”. I would certainly love to help but what the heck is a Derris?? Some tree expert guy probably came up with that sign. How about simply saying “trees” instead of “Derris” for the average Joe like me?
After admiring the beauty of the trees, we left for Yung Shue O (oh, btw, forgot to mention that the group was reduced to 3 in size from 9 as several members were happy running the half marathon leaving the 3 of us to do the full).
Yung Shue O is stunning. You don’t have to have the arms of Rambo but you are still only a stone’s throw away from China! A boat, a strong sense of adventure and a contempt for law is all it’s going to take to reach Shenzhen illegally. (There could be some trained snipers on the Shenzhen side with rifles pointing at you but you have to take all this in stride). Seriously though, Shenzhen looks so close that it appears as though any monkey can go to the other side. Of course, the question would be why! Especially now there’s no point since Shenzhen property prices are pretty much the same as HK property prices!
Anyway, here’s a pic of a Soviet aircraft carrier which is now proudly owned by the China Gov and stationed in Shenzhen. It’s no longer functional of course and probably never was!
We reached Kuk Po after some steady running and could already feel the pull of a hot bowl of noodles all the way from Luk Keng. The pull got stronger as we let our minds process that thought. Needless to say, we yielded to temptation. So, instead of finishing at Sam-uk-something, we headed for Noodles and Austrian noodles at that. I remembered some strong recommendation about an Austrian pancake with ice cream dessert served by an Austrian dude all the way in Luk Keng. Why some dude from Austria would move all the way to Luk Keng and start a noodle shop there is something I cannot answer. But why not? Looks like Wall Street has lost it’s lustre anyway!
So, we started running towards Luk Keng. We saw some video cameras and some Chinese dude wearing some funny black hat and a traditional Chinese outfit (one that looked like it would have been worn by some ultra cool Kung Fu warrior from way back in the 1700s). This dude actually turned out to be Chow Yun Fat! That’s the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon guy! I would have asked for an autograph but didn’t realize who he was until I was told much later!
The Austrian guy was happy to receive us. So, after treating ourselves to a nice bowl of noodles, we went with his critically acclaimed Austrian pancake dessert. Yummy is all I can say! We probably consumed more calories in those 30 minutes that we burnt in the preceding 6 hours but oh well! What’s life without food!
Great day out!
Stats:
32.3Km in about 6 hours something. Today though, it wasn’t about pace, it was about taking photos and enjoying a nice, long 30K+ hike.
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Tai Po
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Did a beautiful KOTH Recci (1st attempt) – Full marathon (about 32Km)
Route is this: Tai Wo -> Cloudy Hill -> Pat Sin Leng -> Lai Chi Wo -> So Pin Kok (or something like that) -> Yung Shue O -> Po Pin Kuk -> Luk Keng (we went to Luk Keng but the real thing goes to Wu Kau Tang and then to Tai Mei Tuk)
This is a really beautiful course. Of all the KOTH full marathons, this one’s probably got the best scenery. The view at the end of Shau Tau Kok from Yung Shue O is splendid. There was a huge ship docked there which looked like a small aircraft carrier.
Pace was very comfortable as this was just a recci. It took us something like 6 hours something to complete.
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Pics here.
What a hike! Started at Tai Tam (Stage 1 Wilson) and went to Quarry Bay. Took the MTR over to Yau Tong. The was good. Helped bring the body temperature down.
The 2nd part started at Yau Tong and finished in Tai Po. In between, had to cross Devil’s peak (no joke) and Black hill. Then came the mammoth hill for the day, the name we don’t know. After that, we stopped at Sha Tin Pass’ Dai Pai Dong for about 15 minutes and got going to Tai Po road/Shing Mung reservoir. What a boring stretch that was. Eventually, the smell of victory/freedom came as he headed towards Lead Mine Pass. Knowing the a cold mini bus was only a couple of minutes away, I cut loose and went full throttle down to Tai Po. Finished at 6.30PM and started at 8AM. So, 10.5 hours in total. 42KM was the distance although I have a feeling it could have been more. We lost about 20 minutes getting lost.
It was hot but there was breeze. That is probably what saved me from heat exhaustion this time!
The GPX file is here.
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Pics at this link.
Quick Bushwhacking Report – Jan 11th 2009
Only 6 Trampers showed up at Tai Po station today. Perhaps the cold weather deterred several from joining or perhaps it was Francis’ warning of bushwhacking that scared them away.
Well, if you did not join because of the threat of bushwhacking then congrats – you made the right choice! But if you are a masochist who loves the pain of scars, cuts and bruises or if you love some hardcore military-style bushwhacking training, well then you missed out on a fantastic hike!
The plan:
To take taxis to Sha Lo Tong, find a way up to Pat Sin Leng, walk to Wong Leng and do some stream-walking from Wong Leng to reach Tai Mei Tuk.
The first part of the plan –the take-taxis-to-Sha-Lo-Tong part- was executed without a glitch. But, that’s about all that went according to plan! Francis spotted a new stream trail that we hadn’t tried before and armed with a map and compass, he felt confident that we could reach Pat Sin Leng by taking this newfound path.
10 minutes into the walk and we were in a beautiful stream covered with thick vegetation. Francis thought he had found a path by the side of the stream that was to lead to Pat Sin Leng. Next thing we knew, we are fighting thorny branches with our hands, crushing overgrown shrubs with our feet and carefully watching the uneven terrain below to keep from slipping, as we tried tramping our way up to Pat Sin Leng. Those heeding Francis’ ‘wear trousers’ warning escaped the wrath of the thorny branches but the true heroes like me who were wearing shorts, bore the brunt of nature’s defenses.
Barely 30 minutes had passed before nature had won the battle, forcing us to retreat to the stream with all kinds of battle scars on our hands and legs. We had lunch at the stream while Francis vowed to find the right trail and went off on his own to do some quick exploration.
While we were having lunch, Francis reemerged from the bushes, appearing enthusiastic and claiming to have found the trail.
“As a Chinese, I have to save my face!” he said determined.
Looking at my scarred legs, I was saying to myself – “As an Indian, I have to save my legs!”
Well, off we went again on this “new” trail to fight a renewed battle against nature. Nature gave us more scars and shot splinters into our fingers as we tried desperately to bushwhack our way up to Pat Sin Leng. It was 2PM and history repeated itself as we retreated to the stream, yet again, posing more fresh scars from the battle!! Francis then came up with another new idea. “Let’s source the stream”, he said pointing upwards at the stream.
That set us off climbing on various boulders like animals and grabbing trees for support. At around 3PM, we could see the majestic Pat Sin Leng ridge several 100 meters above us. Then came the hardest bit of exercise for the day – a near vertical climb to the top of the ridge,somehow thrusting ourselves upwards and hanging on to dear life by forcefully grabbing as much loose grass as we could get hold of! Each thrust upward set off muddy soil and dust particles flying into the air, some entering our eyes and mouths. There were a bunch of people on Pat Sin Leng taking pictures of us and wondering why we were where we were!
At around 4PM we finally managed to reach Pat Sin Leng, tired and exhausted. At that point, a visibly worn-out Francis chose to scrap Wong Leng and started leading the group towards Tai Mei Tuk.
I gathered more energy and decided to run back to Tai Mei Tuk to continue with the excellent training while the rest of the group followed at a slower pace.
This hike is definitely a contender for some of the best training on the hills of Hong Kong. Thanks to Francis for organizing this challenging bushwhacking adventure. I think the 6 of us who joined are several notches stronger after the hike!
Pictures are at http://techotek.com/Travel/Hiking. I can’t seem to upload them here.
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Stream,
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Participated in the Wilson trail race unofficially. Got away with a few bananas and pears in the beginning but eventually got caught at checkpoints and wasn’t able to get free water/food.
Started at 7.35Am. Reached Sha Tin pass at 10.35AM
Left Sha Tin Pass at 11.35AM and reached the final checkpoint (Tai Po) at 3.35PM.
(total 7.5 hrs, 42KM).
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Fantastic hike. Pictures here.
Warning: The geographical names and locations mentioned in this report may not be accurate. In fact, there’s a good chance you’ll probably get lost if you use this as reference to duplicate the hike!
16 of us met at 11AM in Tsuen Wan MTR station for an Alex-led hike that promised a spectacular view of the largest waterfalls in Hong Kong.
After the 10-minute wait period, we took off in our chauffeur-driven vehicles (they were called ‘taxis’) to the starting point of our walk – the Shing Mung Country Trail.
After plenty of socializing in the cabs, we got off at Shing Mung trail and discovered even better company – monkeys! Abundant feral monkeys were cleverly demonstrating their monkey-business in the tall trees that surrounded the trail. One of the cleverer monkeys desperately tried to drink some juice from a bottle with the cap still screwed on. Lisa passed by this monkey but cruelly refused to help him despite pleas from other Trampers. She soon learnt the hard way that failing to help a monkey is indeed bad karma. As she continued on the trail, much to her shock, a snake with a yellow head suddenly slithered across her path! In fact, later on, we learnt that the snake was poisonous!
The trail eventually led to a stream where we stopped for lunch. It was a scenic spot and we immersed our feet in the gentle stream to cool off. Ringo, Vivian and Alex took turns at attracting a dragonfly that flew around landing on different hands for a moment’s rest.
Eventually, we crossed Tai Mo Shaan to arrive at the highlight of the day – the highest waterfalls in Hong Kong. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. The water was quite cold but that didn’t stop us macho men (Ringo, Alex and yours truly) from taking a dip and enjoying a soothing water massage. It was a nice ‘acupuncture’ feeling – heavy water dropping intermittently on our backs from a height of over 50M! We did some muscle flexing for the cameras and also took our group picture here. (you should check it out – the backdrop is enthralling).
We departed at around 4PM along a slippery yet beautiful trail with remnants of many landslides from the past. The vegetation and greenery was a treat to the senses. We eventually reached Tai Po at around 5.30PM.
This was a fantastic hike and the waterfalls is certainly going to be a contender for the best scenic-spot award in Hong Kong. Do check out the pictures! Thank you, Alex, for leading it.
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Everyday life,
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Stream,
Tai Po,
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Pictures here.
Today’s hot and humid day didn’t keep 17 trampers from joining leader Francis on a hike from Fo Tan to Tai Po. Gathering at 10.45AM at Fo Tan station, we walked to the starting point of the walk where Francis engaged us in his usual mission-briefing.
Mission-briefing
Pointing at the map, he explained that we were to hike up to Kau To Shan and then to Ho Lek Pui on trails that “were not on the map”. Philip, who was one among the few paying attention to the briefing, thought this was “very promising”. After the mission-briefing, Francis got into his usual hiking outfit with the exception of wearing a new custom made all-cotton cap bought from Burma and tailor made to perfection in China.
Hike to the summit
Lots of bushwhacking and steep climbs awaited us at the start of the hike. The humid weather sent sweat pouring down from everybody’s faces. It took us around an hour to reach the Kau To Shan summit. When we eventually did, Francis assured us worn-out bunch that that was the hardest part of the hike. However, Kathy was incredulous and dismissed this as “leader-speak”.
Moonwalking descend
The descend from Kau To Shan was quite a slippery experience. The recent rainfall rejuvenated the soil, giving it a coating of silky, smooth mud and making some parts feel like ice on a skating rink! Nearly every single one of us had an involuntary shot at moonwalking on the trail and some of us perfected the move, putting legendary singer Michael Jackson’s dancing prowess to shame! The only difference was that our moonwalking invariably resulted in our rears crash-landing on the muddy slope leaving a big patch of brown stain you-know-where. Sounds effects, namely “ouches”, accompanied the falls, leading invariably to grumbling soon after recovery.
To Ho Lek Pui and somewhere-in- the-new-territories
We continued the adventure to Ho Lek Pui on a trail that, again, was not on the map. The trail was completely forest-like. Different shades of green gave it a rainforest-like feeling. The natural light from up above was shattered by the canopy of large trees and landed scattered on the muddy terrain, giving the whole atmosphere a spooky setting. Twigs, dry leaves and branches crackled under our feet as we inched forward. The forest was also home to plenty of large and hungry mosquitoes and I am sure they had the feast of their lives on this day! They probably sent invites to their cousins, neighbors, distant relatives and every other Tom, Dick and Harry mosquito around! Scratching our bodies on one side and admiring the scenery on the other, we plodded on and eventually reached the summit of somewhere-in-the-new-territories (Ringo’s apt description of the place), thankfully leaving mosquito-land.
The summit was home to plenty of interesting rock formations. We took an extended “scratching” break here and also our “mission-accomplished” group picture. A few curious local inhabitants -the new territories cows- came to pay us a visit to see what all the fuss was about.
From the somewhere-in-new-territories place, we took another trail to Lead Mine pass and eventually to Tai Po Kauh where the hike ended.
Francis’ hike finished on time at 6.30PM (surprisingly) but there was a reason for this – he had a flight to catch sometime soon and had the walk end near his home in Tai Po. That’s what I call careful planning!
Thanks to Francis for organizing this beautiful walk.
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Great hike. Did some tunnel exploration and stream hiking. Finished at Tai Po at 1815.
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Pictures are here.
Great walk! The weather turned cloudy in the afternoon for a few minutes which was indeed a blessing.
An all-sweaty me
Weird Insect
Nice photo!
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Pictures at http://techotek.com/Travel/Hiking.
Extremely hot day! 35 degrees centigrade. Albeit the weather, this stream hike was great!
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Pictures here.
The piercing rays of the fiery sun might have dissuaded many potential trampers from joining today’s Alex-led three-booter walk but eleven courageous trampers challenged the sun by showing up at Tai Po market for a 950M Tai Mo Shaan hike. Alex had to do a special water-capacity check to ensure that all eleven trampers were sufficiently armed to win the battle against the sun. At 11.10AM, we departed on taxis to Yuen Ton Ha village to begin the hike.
We officially took off at 11.45AM from Yuen Ton Ha, quickly gaining altitude. The trail felt like a real forest; it was overgrown, mosquito infested and highly slippery. It had evidently rained the previous night but the mighty sun seemed to have returned with a vengeance today. The trail soon led to a beautiful and natural bamboo forest. It was surprising that such places actually exist in Hong Kong!
As we were discussing the beauty of the trail, a thunder from up above announced its presence with a mighty roar. A few of us wished for rain but realistically, in spite of the thunder, we weren’t quite expecting it. As we continued hiking, we soon approached another glorious bamboo tunnel. Looking past the breathtaking view of the bamboo canopy above, we saw a dark cloud cover approaching. It was a relief to see the sun rays waning in the presence of this thick cloud cover. As the sun hid behind the clouds, Fabio seemed to have discovered plenty of underlying stored energy and started to charge up the trail to Tai Mo Shaan at the speed of lightening.
We had lunch at 12.30PM on a peak which was a few kilometers from Tai Mo Shaan. The view was absolutely gorgeous. We could see the whole Tai Po landscape – Tai Po Market, Pat Sin Leng, Tai Mei Tuk, Cloudy hill, plove cove, the whole nine Tai Po yards! What was also getting increasingly obvious was a darkening cloud cover. This time, we were expecting drizzle and so we started to hike a little faster towards Tai Mo Shaan. Alex instructed the fast ones to hit for a shelter just before Tai Mo Shaan in order to wait till the rain clouds cleared.
Luckily, the eleven of us hit the shelter completely dry when the first raindrops hit the ground. Seconds later, drizzle turned to downpour and breeze turned to lashing winds! The rain and wind combination multiplied in strength and hit us from all directions. The eleven of us started scrambling for raingear. Many of us tried to seek shelter under one umbrella (Liz’s)! As the saying goes, “when it rains, it pours” and this time it was literal! The rain drops resembled missiles thrashing the umbrella with full vigor producing a sound similar to the rotors of a chopper as it’s trying to take off.
Alex thought that waiting for the rain to subside was pointless since we would get too cold just waiting. So, he instructed us to battle the rain and continue to hike on the quickest “exit” trail (The “Waterfall” trail). The heavy rain also brought out the entrepreneurs in the group. Liz took out two big garbage bags from her rucksack (not sure what she was doing with it). Where the ten of us saw simple garbage bags, Ringo visualized a poncho somewhere in the garbage! Two swift cuts where the arms and head should be and he transformed two black garbage bags to elegantly fitting and fashionable ponchos for Lisa and Alex!
After many “slips between the legs and the trail” we arrived at a stream. Rain water was gushing through the stream at max throttle. Alex felt it was unsafe for us to continue on the trail and ordered us to retreat. I suggested that a group photo at this point would be appropriate. My suggestion was taken and we managed to take a “wet” group photo!
At this point, a fit gentleman wearing a “Hong Kong Marathon” tee shirt swiftly came down the trail, made two quick monkey jumps and was well on his way across the stream! As we looked in awe, Liz figured that if he could do it, SO COULD WE! Inspired by Mr. Marathon and unwilling to lose face, the eleven of us embarked on a stream crossing adventure. I was happy I was wearing hiking sandals and I looked at Ringo’s shoes with curiosity.
“Are those water proof?” I asked.
“Yes, they are. They are not letting the water out!!” Ringo replied.
Such was the wet condition that prevailed today!
Eventually, we reached a highly slippery concrete path where I slipped thrice, Liz slipped twice and Ringo slipped once. The path obviously had some design problems. The foot of the railing was so slippery that anybody seeking support from the railing would slip!
Those who had to answer nature’s call were happy to reach a toilet at the end of the hike, except for one person who thought it was so sticky that it was not possible for her to “pull her pants down!”
We reached the bus stop at 4.30PM where we posed for one more group picture. The eleven of us were then getting ready to face the next and probably, the biggest challenge for the day – staying warm wearing wet tee shirts in a freezing cold KCR train.
Facts and trivia:
Starting time: 11AM
Finish time: 4.30PM
Highest altitude: 950M
Weather: A+ (and as unpredictable as Britney Spears’ moves)
Distance covered: Around 15KMS
Videos:
(1) 4.5MB: The waterfall, how it was!
Watch Waterfall
(2) 1.5MB: The gorgeous cloud cover
Watch cloud cover
Tags:
Everyday life,
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Stream,
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