Pretty fail. My friends have photos (I brought a camera but forgot my SD card. Argh!)

ps. special thanks to eekthekatt for the embarrassing map/tracks

pps. It wasn’t a complete failure : we eventually made it to the waterfalls we were looking for, but by then there was no direct sunlight so it was getting cold. The waterfalls were pretty though! Must be more successful next time~!!

First, the movie: I Love You Phillip Morris starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. To sum it up, it’s like Catch Me if You Can meets Brookback Mountain. It actually was a pretty decent movie, it got a few laughs out of me and I thought the first half of the movie was pretty smart funny. The second half was a little more dramatic and I’ve got nothing against drama, but it was just a little too dragged out for me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie but its definitely not for everyone. Oh and I didn’t really need to see Jim Carrey naked. Actually, I didn’t really need to see him naked while having anal sex with some dude. We are talking about the same Jim Carrey that was The Mask

I don’t think I can ever look at him the same way ever again…

***

Sunday was the hike to the waterfalls in Ma On Shan. If you recall, I was there last year and I was really looking forward to going again. The turnout was much smaller this time, probably due to the rain the previous night, but the rain actually made the hike up more interesting (difficult?). Also, the last time we were there, I couldn’t muster up the courage to jump off the falls (dubbed “Hero Rock”), and I really regretted it after. So I promised myself that I would jump this time (or if I chickened out again, I would not regret not jumping). After hanging around the bottom for a while and watching a couple of people launch themselves off, I was ready and determined to do it! I made my way up to the top and up there, I started having second thoughts!! For a while my legs were actually shaking and I had to sit down, but…

I did it.

Later that night, I crashed Rob and Benny’s place for pasta dinner and our usual Vodka Sunday gathering. It was a great weekend, and maybe losing part of my childhood was just what I needed. Oh and pasta? Amazing! The sauce  : Mushrooms, peppers, baby corn, tomato sauce, minced pork, red wine and siracha. Who knew?

Taken from right ontop of the falls. Bet you can’t do this at Niagara!

Arriving at Sha Tin we took a <secret> bus out to <secret>. The (almost but not quite) 25 man group made their way to the foot of an uphill path where our afternoon was about to being. We started up the paved road, pausing once in the shade for some water. Along the way up, Benny said to me “Hey, this must be a cinch for you”, I agreed. Hiking up paved roads and dirt trails? Easy as pi. Little did I know, this would turn out to be a Class I scramble.

Very rarely were there ropes, and even more rare for it to actually be of any help

You see, after a 15 minute walk up, the paved road ends at a a stream. At this point Robby told us that we’d have to follow the stream up to the top, and follow we did. Climbing over rocks, around boulders and across streams we zigzagged our way up. The journey wasn’t without casualties, however. Someone fall into the stream, another had lost a flipflop. I had dropped my only bottle of water crossing the stream, and it quickly got washed away by the rapid current and it was forever lost!

Soon after that, I dropped my lens cap for my camera while climbing up some rocks. This was definitely not my day!!

Ahh shade! Taking a break from the climb.

But after what seemed to be an hour (I really didn’t keep time), we made it!!

Extremely hot, tired and sweaty, everybody eagerly and very quickly stripped down to their bathing suits and jumped in.  And some JUMPED in…

…Yes from up there.

We didn’t get the place to ourselves. A nice old couple joined us, and even let us use their floaty toys they brought with them!

After a few hours of swimming, sitting in the sun, then swimming again (as well as an unsuccessful exploring with bare feet which turned into a bushwhack. Have you every tried bushwhacking with your bare feet? With the hot stones, sand and twigs beneath your feet? Its not fun.) As the sun started to set we made our journey back down and went our separate ways ….. well not really. We split up and had dinner, I ended up eating in Causeway Bay with a group of (mostly) Canadians.

So despite losing my water early, losing my lens cap, banging up my camera’s UV filter, getting fire ants up my pants, barefoot bushwhacking, and not actually getting to go cliff diving (because I had my contacts on, I wasn’t really in the mood to lose them, especially since I had to climb back down).

I’ll count today as my win.

Flickr stream:

Oh and if you’ve made it this far and REALLY want to know where it is? Its near Ma On Shan…. I think. Actually I’m not sure.

*Yeah it doesn’t add up. The totals include breaks and lunch in-between the stages.

I pulled a much better trail time especially for stages 1-3. Other things I noted was that the weather was slightly cooler than last time (and it was cloudy/raining last time, while sunny this time) but as a trade-off it got darker about 30 minutes earlier resulting in me hiking the last 30 minutes though the forest in the dark. Luckily I had my headlamp packed. If I really do want to attempt a one day powerhike thought Hong Kong trail, it should be within the next month or so. I’m guessing I’ll need about 10 hours to pull the whole thing off? (since I didn’t actually jog any of it, I expect my times to be a little better than the times listed above.)

Originally I was going to tackle the 75km Lantau Trail over two days next weekend, but I don’t think I’m quite prepared for it yet (as of Monday evening my legs are still sore. Not sore enough to stop me from a light jog though). Perhaps I’ll split it over 3 days instead, 2 days next weekend and 1 day the weekend after. We’ll see how I feel (and how far I actually get) after the first day.

I have a few photos, but there was alot of smog over Hong Kong so that kinda sucked. Feel free to check it out anyway.

p.s. Fat Princess is addictively fun, I was kinda surprised I found it on the Asian Playstaion Network.
p.p.s I lost the access card to my condo somewhere along the trail (I think it was when I was rummaging for my headlamp). If someone finds a blue access card with my name on it.. WELL TOO LATE! I already canceled it, since it has money for the gym and swimming pool on the card…

A general overabundance of butterflies along the 50km trail. Side note – I almost swallowed one while running through Stage 7 of the hike.

Oh, did I mention the GIANT SPIDERS?

“No horses allowed” … wait, what?

Beautiful day on Jardine’s Lookout. Must come back to watch the sunset one day

My hike not only took me through forests and over peaks, it also brought me through Tai Tam Reservoir

As I try to finish the trail before sunset on day 2, I find myself taking a break from the peak of the Dragon’s Back. To my right; Big Wave Bay, to my left; the sun setting over the rest of Hong Kong.

Full flickr stream here.

The trail is divided into 8 stages:
1 Peak to Pokfulam Reservoir 7.0km difficulty: **
2 Pokfulam Reservoir to Peel Rise 4.5km difficulty: **
3 Peel Rise to Wan Chai Gap 6.5km difficulty: **
4 Wan Chai Gap to Parkview 7.5km difficulty: *
5 Parkview to Parker Hill Rd (Jardine’s lookout and Mt Butler) 4.0km difficulty: ***
6 Parker Hill Rd to Tai Tam Rd (Past Tai Tam reservoirs) 4.5km difficulty: *
7 Tai Tam Rd to To Di Wan (along catchwater) 7.5km difficulty: *
8 To Di Wan to Tai Long Wan (Dragon’s Back) 8.5km difficulty: ***
(above information courtesy of the Country and Marine Parks Authority of Hong Kong)

Eventually, I would love to tackle this trail in one day. Perhaps one day in the fall when its not as hot? This weekend, however, I will attempt to take on this trail over the course of two days, covering stages 1-4 on day 1 and 5-8 on day 2. For anyone so inclined to do so (or for those with nothing better to do),  you may follow me via my liveblog updates below.

Saturday, July 11, 2009_____________

08:23AM Overcast outside. Looks like rain this weekend. Should pack my GoreTex shell just incase.
09:10AM finally leaving the apartment. Slightly behind schedule, but whatever~
09:30AM spent an hour walking around central… oops detour? Heading to The Peak now…
12:25PM completed stage 1. The first half was very easy on a paved road and nice breeze and shade! Second half much more difficult, no breeze, and no reception >.<
12:37PM had a tuna salad sandwich at a picnic area. No one else is around though. Starting to rain so I should pack up and get moving
02:15 PM Started absolutely pouring 30mins ago, but I got the rain gear out before it got too bad. 10 min break and I’ll start stage 3. If it rains the whole way I might need to call it a day.
03:03PM sun!!
03:40PM rain :<
03:52PM completed stage 3. While it is still raining, its not as heavy as before and the weather is much cooler now too!! 10 minute break and I’m off.
03:56PM Had this Japanese energy jelly packaged in a space-aged juice bag. Not great tasting but definitely better than that nasty PowerBar I had earlier. Socks and the inside of my hiking books is soaked, but stage 4 here I come! Time to hike barefoot in my boots…
04:17PM sunny… again…
04:21PM I had this huge wound on my foot from a few days ago, its not healed yet. Since I took off my socks, I think some rocks and dirt has gotten under my band-aid. Arghhh..
04:40PM Foot is getting even worse. Very tempted to get that hiking pole I packed in my bag… only about 2km from the end of stage 4!
05:05PM I had passed the 1.25km remaining mark quite a while ago.. I think I’m on stage 5… Time to backtrack -_-;;
05:18PM So I read the 2km and 1.25km markers wrong… It was to the lookout point. I’m still only 1/2 done stage 4.
05:25PM sat down and cleaned out my wound with the little water I had left. Also put on a clean pair of socks. Time to ‘punch it’
05:55PM Stage 4 completed! Pretty much ran the whole second half of it… continued tomorrow!!!

Sunday, July 12, 2009_____________

10:15AM Woke up late, I must be more tired than I though. I think I’ll pack a lighter bag today (that means bringing my the G10 instead of my D5000 today). Off I go!
11:17AM Had a late breakfast, and now I’m at CausewayBay. Gotta’ catch the route 76. Hopefully I can reach the start of stage 5 before noon.
11:54AM Took me over 30minutes to find the bus stop for the route 76. Fail.
12:40AM Waited 30mins for a bus. Finally starting stage 5.
01:14PM Got a little lost. Back on track now. This is the part where the Hong Kong Trail and the Wilson Trail merge
01:18PM “This section of the trail is dedicated to all the members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers of Canada…”
01:35PM No shade at all.. The weather is stunning(ly hot) but the view from Jardine’s lookout is absolutely breathtaking. Definitely must revisit stage 5 with my D5000 in hand.
02:22PM Finally some shade! Had a quick lunch, looks like there was a tiny bit of rain while I was eating. Excellent…
02:30PM Stage 5 done. No breaks, onto stage 6! I’ve already drunk over half the liquids I brought with me… This could be bad
02:45PM Ok I lied. Bathroom break (there are actually public bathrooms at this stop!!!) Oh and I went the wrong way after the bathroom break. -_-;
03:50PM Stage 6 was almost completely downhill and mostly on paved roads. Easy hike and beautiful reservoirs. Unfortunately there is no place to rest where stages 6 ends and 7 begins. Oh well…
04:14PM Just noticed alot of huge colourful (probably poisonous) spiders overhead. I hope one doesn’t accidentally slip and fall… on me >.>
04:19PM Almost swallowed a butterfly!
04:25PM Very nice view of the bay… yachts, motorboats, wind sails, the mountains… the sun…
04:30PM Had the Japanese energy jelly that I tried yesterday.. Very easy to eat/drink while without stopping… just pop open the top, suck the jelly out, put the top back on and fold the tiny package so it fits in your pocket.
05:20PM Under 100ML of water and 300ML of energy drink left. Saw a sign where if I detour 200m down to the beach, there’s a store! Gonna’ run down!
05:25PM ooooo asdf! Intercepted by 3 stray dogs. I’m talking crap-they are-bigger-than-me strays. They pretty much chased be back half way to where I ran down from. I’m too tired to take ‘em on (plus I didn’t even bring my hiking pole to defend myself with…) Gave up on the water. orz
05:28PM Made it to the end. Stage 7 was extremely long, but everything except the last 500m was flat and paved. Last 500m was a flight of stairs going up. I should of made better time on this stage… but I’m extremely tired… and dehydrated.
05:20PM Had half my energy drink in one gulp and ate a granola bar. Stage 8 is 8.5km, which is longer than stage 7. It starts off with a section called “Dragon’s Back”… that can’t be good. Considering stopping here… but…
05:46PM Totally forgot I packed an apple.  I ate it in under 45 seconds… Awesome, now I’m set for stage 8!
06:10PM Beautiful view of the beach and golf course… and sunlight though the clouds! Quick picture stop.. but not for too long cause there’s under 2.5hrs of light left. I have my headlamp but I still rather not hike after sundown…
06:20PM I said quick, but that doesn’t stop me from playing with the 10 second timer on my camera at Shek O Peak.  -__-;
06:30PM Completed the “Dragon’s Back” portion of stage 8. Jogged through some of the wooded trail beyond….
06:40PM It’s getting darker by the minute
06:48PM Sun is setting behind the mountains. Probably 40 minutes of light left…. can’t really feel my legs anymore. Oh I have one gulp of water left.
06:53PM Out of the forest trail and onto a paved trail… I know for a fact that there are wolves on this trail at night. Sign says 2.5km to Big Wave Bay. At least now that I’m out of the dense part of the forest so there’s a little more light… But I ran through most of the it so I’m too tired to run the rest of this. Took out my headlamp and turned off my iPod just incase.
07:03PM Thank goodness this last part is paved and slightly downhill.
07:08PM 1.5km to go! Crap… dense forest again.. There’s also a trail here which would allow me to walk home. But its probably a 5-7km walk? And I ran out of water. I’m surprised it even lasted this long (at the cost of some minor dehydration probably).
07:21PM I smell food and just passed hiking post 99 (out of 100) .. I see concrete steps going down.. RUUUUUNNNNN!
07:23PM Doneeeee!!!! Perfect timing too, it just got dark. So…. tiredddddd… I feel nothing.
07:39PM Unceremoniously celebrated my success by purchasing a very large bottle iced lemon tea (VLT! haha) and downed it in under a minute. I would eat dinner here, but right now I just want to go home -__- Got on a minibus to Shau Kei Wan. Thanks for following/reading. It was a great experience. I’ll write a short(er) summary along with observations for those that are interested in hiking Hong Kong trail in a day.
08:00PM Whee on the subway heading home.. Wait, why am I still writing? If I keep this up I might become a “phone alien”!!
09:15PM Had dinner, but I feel like throwing up. Probably more dehydrated than I’d like to admit. I think lots of water and rest tonight should do the trick. Goodbye!

Lets hope I can make it.

IMG_0300

Originally uploaded by cokematic

Hong Kong mosquitoes take steroids

While I won’t go into details about the hike, I would like to mention the fact that I never expected such grand (and relatively clean) rivers in Hong Kong, nor was I expecting such infectious mosquitoes (3 applications of “OFF!” and I still got around 10 mosquito bites -_-;)

You can find the (more detailed) walk report here (scroll down abit)
Flickr photostream here (yeah I still haven’t fixed the flicker embed yet!)

Total hiking time: 14k in under 5 hours, stopping once to get our rain gear out, once to eat lunch, and once for a beer by some remote store while cleaning the mud off our boots.

ps. I’m mildly surprised that I managed to keep up as they were hiking at crazy speeds due to some time constraints and even more surprised I wasn’t really tired the next day. Legs were sore for a few hours after I woke up, but were gone by lunch.

pps. Next time I’m bringing a snack.

edit: seems like Flickr photostream embeds are not working right now. Too lazy to fix so you’ll have to go to the stream directly via the link above.