The top of Lantau

The Christmas and New Year period has been a limited affair in Hong Kong.  The restrictions have prevented any of the travel or mass partying that I would have normally expected, but people have still continued with smaller, private gatherings (which are still permissible strangely enough).  After a huge amount of overindulging, I felt sluggish.  A few of us decided we needed to remedy this and so a tougher hike was planned up to the top of Lantau Peak (via the West Dog's Teeth Ridge route).

We tried to get the ferry to Mui Wo, but by the time we arrived it was already full.  Dozens of other hikers stood around hoping that another service would be added, but it wasn't to be.  We decided we would head over to Tung Chung via the MTR instead and bus over from there.  The trip turned out to be relatively easy and in a little bit over an hour, we were actually standing at Shek Pik reservoir look up and what we would be trying to climb.

The path leading up the start of the hike up became increasingly busy.  It was very clear that on this lovely day, that many people had decided on the same idea as us.  At one point, we even encountered what could only be described as a traffic jam.  At the front, was a man carrying what looked like a cake box.  After completing the climb up myself, I wondered how the man with the cake could have ever possibly carried the cake all the way to the top.

The hike up was relatively difficult for a random weekend hike, but at the same time I wouldn't say it was overly challenging.  Many people around us were using specialised gear, but the four of us managed to get up in our usual shorts, t-shirts and running shoes.  There was a fair bit of scrambling to get up, but again, nothing that would necessitate any specialised gear (though some gloves may have helped with some of the chaffed hands).

We raced up the side of the peak, with the day's hike leader setting a cracking pace for us.  Within a couple of hours, we were at the top.  It was a fantastically fast pace for the four of us and throughout our ascent I could hear just in earshot comments from other hikers about how shocked they were at how quickly we were going.  Most were going up fairly carefully, but there was something incredibly fun about scrambling up at speed and the adrenalin soon overtook me as I bounced up over the rocks.

At the top of Lantau Peak, a huge crowd of people had gathered.  There were multiple ways of reaching the top of the peak which didn't require the steep scramble we had taken, so there were all types of people and their kids walking around admiring the view.  There were even several people with their small puppies who had decided to come up.  In the distance, we could see towards Shek Pik and where we had started.  Even further into the distance, we could even see the airport and the bridge that led to Macau.

The day was clear.  There was only a slight breeze so we felt great having just exerted ourselves so aggressively.  This was the second highest peak in all of Hong Kong.  I felt good standing up there.  I felt great having been able to keep up with my friends.  I had come a long way in only a year.  My fitness levels had become so bad over the last few years and I was pleased that my efforts to fix myself were paying off.  All the running and clean eating had clearly had a positive effect on me.  Looking out at all the people still slowly scrambling up, I realised that I didn't feel exhausted, but rather I was energised by what I had done.  I could only look forward to more of this now!

We didn't stay too long at the top.  We started to head down so that we could get back in time to get some food.  On the way down, we passed dozens of people who were slowly making their ascent.  It was an incredibly busy day.

By the time we reached the bottom and managed to make our way by bus back to Mui Wo, we were all spent.  The sun had dropped behind the hills and the temperature dropped suddenly.  I shivered as I sat in front of a pizza, with a tall beer to the left.  That first long gulp of the beer after the long hike, nothing really tastes quite as good.