We hard that some Canadian person went missing some 3 days back when hiking on Pat Sin Leng. So, there was a massive search for him today. A helicopter was hovering above us and there were many policemen on the trail.

We met in Tai Wo KCR (now MTR) and walked up to the starting point (trail leading to Cloudy Hill). It was cloudy on Cloudy Hill (rightly named as you can see) and that made the hike very enjoyable! From Cloudy Hill, we took the Wilson Trail and ran along Pat Sin Leng. A Government Flying Services helicopter was literally only about 100m away from me on occasion and I could see the cops and pilots inside looking for someone! The chopper kept making circular searches while I continued running on Pat Sin Leng. Felt like I was in some cinema shoot with a camera above me! There were policemen on the trail too and one of them suffered a heatstroke and was being comforted by his teammates. As Dom pointed out, not sure why these policemen were anti-hiking clothes when hiking! Heavy boots, heavy clothes, guns and batons, do they really need all of them when hiking? But, of course, HK Police Force and rescue teams are among the world’s best. It was fascinating to see the coordination and dedication of the force when looking for this Canadian guy. Hope they found him.

From Pat Sin Leng, we ran down to Bride’s pool along a very, very beautiful trail. Loved it. We then had to walk to Wu Kau Tang. That’s when the sun returned with a vengeance. It was around 35 degrees centigrade and VERY, VERY, VERY hot! We managed to find some shop near Wu Kau Tang (thanks to Vic and Dom) and refueled there. We then started at Wu Kau Tang at 1300 on the Plover Cove trail.

I was trying to maintain a target time of 2 hours 30 minutes to finish and was on target until the half way point. Reached Luk Wu Teng (halfway point) in 1 hour 20 minutes (1420) but after that the sun started to hit me big time. Each step felt like a chore and as it happens during cases of heatstroke, running was cut off. I had to walk some parts and the problem with that is – walking produces more heat than gentle jogging making the body even hotter! Catch 22. Also, another problem with Plover Cove under 35 degrees is that the air you breathe in certain parts is very dry. It’s air that is reflected and somehow retained by a parched land (hard to describe) but the point is, you breathe it, you end up sending a waft of dehydrating air through the lungs, thereby increasing the body temperature even more. There is, of course, the ups and downs that Plover Cove is famous/infamous for. Under 35 degrees, you feel every up and down! Up because your body will refuse to be even dragged upwards and down because you start feeling the heat when you are running down hill!

Anyway, so, I ran out of water/food/energy when I completed the trail running part of Plover Cove (finished that in about 2 hours 20 minutes). Running was cut off and body only permitted walking at top speed from there on. Started doing just that along the dam and the roads that eventually lead to the long bridge to Tai Mei Tuk. Took about 40 minutes of walking just to do that! As I reached the end of the long bridge cops stopped us as a heli that was looking for the Canadian missing person was landing. After it took off, I finished the Plover Cove section in 3 hours 1 minute against a target of 2 hours 30 and I finished it tired, exhausted and out of water/energy. And when someone gives you cold water at that point, you feel a great sense of gratitude and relief. So, THANK YOU Dominic! My teammate waited at the end with raisins and water and what a relief that was! It brought up energy levels from 0%. Also, met ex teammate Polly Wai, who gave me a ride to Tai Po. Polly, THANK YOU and apologies for stinking as much as I did in the car! 6 hours 20 minutes of hiking/running does that!

Stats:
3 hours 19 minutes from Tai Wo to Wu Kau Tang via Cloudy Hill, Pat Sin Leng
3 hours 1 minute from Wu Kau Tang to Tai Mei Tuk (Plover Cove circuit)
Total: 6 hours 20 minutes

Garmin link is here.

Total: 36.205 km in 7h 28m 35s at an average of 4.84 km/h

GPX

• Tennis and/or Plover Cove (0)
• Of bags, holes, wallets and a Plover Cove fitness test (0)
• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)
• Needle Hill * 2 + Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2009-07-25, Plover Cove (1)

Tags: Cloudy Hill, Pat Sin Leng, Plover Cove, Wu Kau Tang

New and awesome routing today. From Tai Wai to Needle Hill to Shing Mun reservoir AND BACK! Excellent climbing exercise. The stairs to the 535m Needle Hill on a hot summer day feel like the stairways to heaven!

Today was super humid. Move a finger, you sweat. Started nice and early as 0730 in Tai Wai and finished by 1030 (3 hrs total both ways!) Pretty good timing. About 17Km.

The sign through a spider web!

After finishing in Tai Wai, I was very tempted to pursue my unfinished business (no, I don’t mean taking a dump, I mean doing Plover Cove!) Plover Cove and Sharp Peak are my 2 mountain homes. Plover Cove’s greenery is always captivating.

So, set off to do Plover Cove after that and started at 1124. Target was to complete in the usual 2 hours 30 minutes.

Actual finish time though was 2 hours 46 minutes (1406). Mission Failed.

However, in mitigation, I suppose I can offer these excuses:
a) Had already done 17Km in the morning and doing Needle Hill twice requires a lot of energy!
b) Ran out of water 75% of the way. Carried 1.8L as it was cloudy but the sun came out of nowhere! Got hit by the sun rays pretty hard and had to conserve water. Only way I could do that was by reducing speed
c) It was bloody humid. Was dripping constantly. Was out of energy too

I know.. excuses, excuses..

So, 16 minutes off target but felt great afterwards. Plover Cove has this magical, soothing feeling. Running on those ridges has a calming effect on the mind.

Garmin Link.

Total: 48.820 km in 6h 40m 14s at an average of 7.32 km/h

GPX file

• Tennis and/or Plover Cove (0)
• Of bags, holes, wallets and a Plover Cove fitness test (0)
• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)
• Hiking, 2010-08-07, Cloudy Hill, Pat Sin Leng, Wu Kau Tang, Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2009-07-25, Plover Cove (1)

Tags: Needle Hill, Plover Cove, Wu Kau Tang

Did a recci of the North East Mountain Marathon (NEMM) route. Fantastic!!

It begins in Wu Kau Tang, then you go over Plover Cove until Marker 10 (which I duly missed and had to retrace). From there you take a left, go straight down to Wu Kau Tang again and then you do something. Well, not the most elaborate description I know because we were sort of lost! It was raining cats and dogs and we somehow missed the actual trail.

Ended up at Luk Keng for lunch but the route we took was splendid! The weather (apart from the initial thunderstorms) was fabulous! Views were awesome. Greenery, beautiful coastline, natural fragrance of rain water hitting the soil. Hell, even Shenzhen looked pretty!

Much recommended trail for anyone who wants to do a scenic hike in Tai Po. Please see map below for details or you could google NEMM.

Total: 21.557 km in 4h 53m 50s at an average of 4.40 km/h

Stats

• Tennis and/or Plover Cove (0)
• Of bags, holes, wallets and a Plover Cove fitness test (0)
• Needle Hill * 2 + Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2010-08-07, Cloudy Hill, Pat Sin Leng, Wu Kau Tang, Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2009-07-25, Plover Cove (1)

Tags: KOTH, NEMM, Plover Cove, Wu Kau Tang

So, after 3 odd years, I took to tennis again (or at least tried to). Met in the morning for a 2-hr game of tennis. Took less than a couple of serves to remind me that I play like a girl. I had a Roger Federer endorsed racquet (or so the manufacturer claimed) but I think my strokes were slightly different to his. Technically, he deftly manages to get the ball to land within the rectangular boundaries of the court. My strokes tend to go the extra mile. Funnily enough though, the guys who create the rules of tennis say that is prohibited. What a shame! Had they extended those lines by about a mile, I would have had all my strokes in!

Anyway, then I had to make an executive decision (life throws me in these situations often, maybe I’m the chosen one!) I could either write to the WTO (World Tennis Organization) and ask them to extend those court boundaries by like a mile and get all the tennis courts in the world to comply OR I could stick to something I am better at – and that’s trail running!

Following Wall Street long enough has taught me to “hedge my bets”. Some sort of a fancy term they use to say do both things! (or so I gather).

So, I decided to email the WTO AND go do a hike! Am I smart or what! I’m still waiting to hear from the WTO (it’s the weekend after all, I’m sure they’ll reply on Monday) but I decided to go do Plover Cove after a nice morning Dim Sum.

Ok, started the hike at 1317 and boy was it hot! Which reminds me of a golden rule of hiking actually. Never hike in a full stomach. Sounds so obvious now that I said it!

Anyway, Plover Cove, my 2nd home where I know every inch of the trail churned out the usual challenges. Alternate climbing and trail running downhill. Sort of feels odd because you sweat so much when climbing and you cool quickly on the descent. The body doesn’t know if it’s hot or cold!

It was a disciplined run despite the heat. Finished bang on target (2 hrs 29 minutes). Maybe I should stick to trail running. Roger Federer will unfortunately not be competing with me anytime soon. But, hey, Andy Murray still can. I hear he can cry like Federer but not play like him. I can’t play like Federer either and I don’t really want to cry like him!

Anyway, the

Total: 17.523 km in 2h 29m 12s at an average of 7.05 km/h

stats!

• Of bags, holes, wallets and a Plover Cove fitness test (0)
• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)
• Needle Hill * 2 + Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2010-08-07, Cloudy Hill, Pat Sin Leng, Wu Kau Tang, Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2009-07-25, Plover Cove (1)

Tags: Plover Cove, Wu Kau Tang

Some scenic pictures here.

Like companies have an “Acid Ratio” to test their financial strength, the ultimate fitness test for a HK hiker is whether he/she can do Plover Cove in less than 2 hrs 30 minutes. This test has been widely adopted by the one member of the HK hiking community and that 1 member is -you guessed it- me!

So, it was time to give the knee and the body a fitness test. The battle plan was to leave TST at 0930 HKT, reach Plover Cove by 1100, finish by 1330 and return to TST by 1500.

Reached Tai Po KCR station at about 1010 but then saw one heck of a queue for the bus to Wu Kau Tang (start of Plover Cove). So, reluctantly, had to take a cab all the way. It cost HKD 91. I gave the cabbie a 100 bucks with the intention of asking him to keep the change but he was so quick to hand out the change that I just took it!

I started the hike at 1130 (30 minutes late) and within 10 minutes, I started to sweat profusely. It was incredibly humid and the sun came out strong. Hong Kong has been having so many days of cloudy weather that I started missing the sun but today, it was the opposite.

Anyway, because of utter laziness, I didn’t bother buying a new backpack and was aware of a big hole in the main compartment of the backpack I was carrying. So, all belongings were stored in another hole-free compartment, including my wallet.

The trail was an absolute pleasure to run on and that’s why I have done this over a 100 times (no jokes). I was on target for a 2 hr 30 minute finish despite the heat. Stopped for 3 minutes for photo taking though.

When I finished it was 1402 (2 hrs 32 minutes) and that’s when I got a shock. My wallet somehow managed to shift from the 2nd compartment to the main compartment of the bag and fell on the trail somewhere!! I was in Tai Mei Tuk and had no money. After cursing myself for not having bought a new bag, I pondered my options (a) go back to Wu Kau Tang and hunt for the wallet on the trail (b) run home (c) meet someone somewhere for money.

Options (a) and (b) were quickly eliminated. I didn’t have the energy to run back (was out of water and food and had no money to replenish) and running home… well 40-something km and several tunnels in between and more importantly, no idea how to get to TST!

So, I searched my bag and remembered the tip that I was supposed to have given the cabbie from the morning. 9 bucks. Also, had 6 bucks in some other discarded compartment! I compared bus prices and took the minibus to the KCR (2 bucks cheaper than the double decker). And then I took the KCR for 8 bucks – as far as 8 bucks would take me in the direction of TST! That happened to be Hung Hom! So, ran back home from Hung Hom!

Let’s see now. I am not sure if I passed or failed the test.

Test: To finish Plover Cove in 2 hrs 30 mins
Actual: Finished in 2 hrs 32 mins (3 mins photo taking)
Result: Passed but now I can feel some pain in the knee. What does that mean? I passed the fitness test and lost fitness in the process! What an irony!

Check out the pics.

After coming home and canceling all the credit cards, Octopus cards, someone called KK called me. He gave me the best piece of news I had heard all day. He had found my wallet and wanted to return it! What a Samaritan! So, in the evening I headed back to Lai Chi Kok (I am happy he didn’t want me to go all the way to Tai Po!) and now, I have the wallet back! Time to buy a bag…

Stats.

Total: 17.522 km in 2h 32m 51s at an average of 6.88 km/h

GPX

• Tennis and/or Plover Cove (0)
• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)
• Needle Hill * 2 + Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2010-08-07, Cloudy Hill, Pat Sin Leng, Wu Kau Tang, Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2009-07-25, Plover Cove (1)

Tags: Plover Cove, Wu Kau Tang

Full pictures here.

It was time to explore the ecological beauty of Hong Kong near Wu Kau Tang. So, joined the Trampers on a Ringo-led walk from Wu Kau Tang to Luk Keng (via Lai Chi Wo, Yung Shue O).

We started at 1100 HKT from Tai Po and took taxis to Wu Kau Tang (30 mins). The girls seemed to be in a particularly good mood and showed off their physical strength even before the hike began.

Girls showing off

The trees

The first stop was Lai Chi Wo which is truly an ecological beauty. It took us about an hour to get there and the whole area has the feel of a wooden paradise as you get close to it. There are many massive trees with gigantic trunks that are several decades old. Their branches are all coiled up making the trees look like they are reticulated pythons.

me at harmony, sitting on a tree trunk

The group soaking up some wooden beauty

You know those old Chinese movies with emperors and Kung Fu fighters living in small towns and villages? Lai Chi Wo gives you a feeling of being in one of those towns. Check this out:

Houses in Lai Chi Wo – I can almost imagine Chow Yun Fat wearing an emperor outfit and staging a movie here

Entrance to Lai Chi Wo

The group

Next stop from Lai Chi Wo was to Yung Shue O via So Long Pun. Brought back memories of King of the Hills Tai Po! The difference in routing though was that we went along the coast today. K.O.T.H. route goes over several hills instead.

Yung Shue O boasts some spectacular scenery. It’s probably about 3km to Shenzhen from there and within range of any good swimmer! The coastal walk was relaxing but strewn with garbage (probably junk from Shenzhen).

The view

The rock formations were amazing.

Posing on rocks

A dead jelly fish

There’s this one point from where Shenzhen is only 800m away!

The end of this little bridge is only 800m from Shenzhen!

The “Heaven river”

Being closest to Shenzhen without the need to cross immigration warranted a group picture

Tying to take a shortcut but the bridge was broken halfway!

A ploughing tractor from ages back! All rusty now!

Green, green everywhere! The algae and mosses all over the coast

and more green!

We eventually saw a defunct Russian frigate stationed in Shenzhen.

wonder how much Russia charged China

From there the urge to run took over! Ran from there to Luk Keng (3.4km) where the hike terminated.

Great day out.

Full pictures here.

Hi-tech stuff.

Total: 19.174 km in 5h 55m 36s at an average of 3.24 km/h

GPX file.

• Tennis and/or Plover Cove (0)
• Of bags, holes, wallets and a Plover Cove fitness test (0)
• NEMM Mountain Marathon Recci (0)
• Needle Hill * 2 + Plover Cove (0)
• Hiking, 2010-08-07, Cloudy Hill, Pat Sin Leng, Wu Kau Tang, Plover Cove (0)

Tags: Lai Chi Wo, Luk Keng, Wu Kau Tang, Yung Shue O

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