Hike to Kowloon Peak

A view of Kowloon and Hong Kong island in the distance

Today my walking buddy and I went up Kowloon Peak or fei ngo shan (飛鵝山) which is above Ma On Shan. We took the MTR to Shatin City One and began walking up a path of stairs. It was a good day to go, around 9-12 degrees Celsius and relatively clear.

Along the way we passed a group of young people, the girls already saying they had regrets when they were only at the beginning of the hike! 

Past the Gilwell campsite and the hills ahead

We soldiered onwards and finally got onto a path that was covered with rocks and tree roots so I constantly had my head down making sure I wouldn't trip. Many of the paths were quite narrow too, another reason to watch where we were going.

A few times we had to consult our map or ask a few people how to get there as there were some "intersections" along the way. While the paths weren't packed, it was good to see many like-minded people getting some fresh air. 

Finally we made it to a clearing and the views were outstanding -- on one side was Sai Kung, and on the other Kowloon below us, such as Kai Tak and beyond to Hong Kong island, with the convention centre and IFC in the distance. 

We kept going, and had to go up one hill and then the other (Elephant Hill) to get to a weather station and helicopter pad. The first hill was such a trek that we had to practically climb up the steep hill, grabbing onto large rocks for balance. 

Below is Sai Kung

Meanwhile others were coming down the same path, and that was even scarier -- one young woman slid down right beside me and landed on her bottom. Yikes. 

Some parts were relatively flat but meant passing low bamboo bushes. At each point the view below was more amazing and eventually we finally made it to the weather station and helicopter pad. One man was playing with his drone, while the rest of us took lots of pictures having succeeded at reaching this point! Phew!

Now how to get down? Off another part of the mountain was a path marked with wooden steps and we made our way which seemed relatively easy at first, but it seemed to never end. By this point it was 5pm and we saw people, including young families making their way up. I encouraged a young girl to keep going though she was breathing rather heavily, while two women were walking up, the second one carrying two heavy bags!

I asked why so many bags and the first one admitted she couldn't carry it anymore and was exhausted. I told them another 10 minutes or so they would make it to the top, but why were they carrying so much stuff? They wanted to go up in time for the sunset, but the hazy air didn't seem like a dramatic sunset would happen. Nevertheless I told them the view was definitely worth it and they carried on.

The weather station and helicopter pad!

Finally we saw large Chinese graves and then an actual road! Civilization! It was Fei Ngo Road, with lots of fancy homes on both sides. Who lives up here? Towards the bottom we caught a taxi down to Diamond Hill MTR and made our way back from there. 

What a trek! My legs feel like jelly, but the views were worth it. I probably won't go up there again anytime soon. We recorded a 12km trek, but it definitely felt much longer!

Typhoon Pakhar Storms in on Sunday

When the typhoon signal was lowered to T1, storm clouds began to gather...

Typhoon Pakhar approached Hong Kong in the early hours of Sunday morning which meant a lie-in for most people. The Hong Kong Observatory raised the T8 signal for the whole morning with an amber rainstorm warning as well.

While the rain wasn't particularly heavy in Kennedy Town, it kept coming down in a northwesterly direction. Down below in an apartment complex across the street, I could see two white plastic chairs had blown into the swimming pool (they have since been fished out).

There's going to be questions about why two hikers didn't get down by Saturday evening from Kowloon Peak. A woman had an injured leg and had trouble making the descent, and rescuers tried to get to them yesterday evening. But it took 160 rescuers, including one fireman who was injured, to help them get down.

Most of Sunday was rainy thanks to Typhoon Pakhar

The typhoon conditions made it treacherous for everyone to descend the mountain, so the rescuers had to build a rain shelter and call for more reinforcements.

Then there was a ship that was sinking and 11 crew members had to be saved at the height of the storm. By the time the rescuers arrived, the ship's bow was already submerged.

Within 30 minutes of locating them, the sailors were rescued by helicopter.

After the typhoon signal was lowered to T3, the city slowly sprang back to life. Apparently gyms were very busy once they opened around 3.40pm. People must have been having cabin fever in their flats.

As for myself, I headed to the Kennedy Town Swimming Pool at 9pm though it started raining heavily.

When I got there, I was thrilled to find only a handful of people in the entire complex. I had the 25-metre pool practically to myself, though the water wasn't very fast today so it was a bit of a slog.

Nevertheless, it was refreshing and quiet. Another weekend gone, just like that.

"Frost Tourists" in Hong Kong

Some "frost tourists" checking out frost on the bushes up at Tai Mo Shan

Temperatures in Hong Kong dropped even lower today to 3.1 degrees Celsius and even closing all my windows and bundling up and staying next to the heater was how I survived inside most of the day.

However there were some adventurous spirits who wanted to see if there really was snow on Tai Mo Shan, the city's highest peak. Some "frost tourists" went up there in the early hours, but got a bit more than what they bargained for.

While they definitely did see frost and icicles, the slippery conditions up there resulted in many "frost chasers" falling on the icy roads and injuring themselves. In total 111 people were injured and 45 hospitalized, some with hypothermia.

These people obviously have not experienced very cold weather and were not prepared for what North Americans fondly call "black ice".

Some 85 injured people were rescued on Tai Mo Shan

Because many were stranded on the roads up to Tai Mo Shan, this hampered rescue efforts, four ambulances and three fire trucks were blocked from reaching the top at 9.30am.

The Fire Services Department confirmed 85 injured people were rescued up on Tai Mo Shan, and 130 trapped on Kowloon Peak.

New Territories South divisional commander Wong Ka-wing urged people to stay away from the mountain.

"I would like to take this opportunity to tell the public: do not go up the hill anymore," he said. "The cold weather has caused roads to be covered in frost. Whether it is vehicles or people, anyone passing through is likely to face slippery and dangerous conditions."

There's a video on Apple Daily's website of a young woman arguing with a policeman about wanting to continue her trek even though police had cordoned off the area. While he was trying to tell her it was not safe and she had to turn back, she felt it was her right to keep going.

Really?

She sounds like those skiers who like to ski out of bounds just because they think they can...

Other videos showed people sliding in the car park up on the mountain, a new novelty for them.

From the sheer numbers of people injured up on Tai Mo Shan indicates how selfish and naive they are when it comes to dealing with cold weather. While temperatures drop, Hong Kong is still relatively humid, which means moisture will be on the roads, which will freeze overnight and create icy conditions. Obviously they had not thought of that possibility.

Even more crazy was that on Tai Mo Shan, the Vibram Hong Kong 100 trail run race was held today and wasn't called off until the race was already underway. It seems some runners were completely unprepared for the frigid conditions, while others were bogged down by "frost chasers" they encountered on their path.

Perhaps race organizers should have just cancelled or postponed the ultra-endurance race? While 3.1 degrees is not a record low temperature -- the lowest was 0 degrees in 1893 -- it's still damn cold and slippery to be out there running 100km...

The next few days will continue to be cold... brrrrrrrrrr