If the last hike on Kowloon Scenic Trail was plagued with troubles, our hike this time was disastrous, at least we didn't have to turn back without seeing anything.
We decided to hike on Sunday, April 18th 2021, since Saturday was a rainy day. Luckily for us, even though the sky is grey with heavy clouds covering the sky, the Hong Kong Observatory said it wouldn't rain, so we decided to trust it and started on our journey to Nui Po Shan.
We actually arrived at Siu Lek Yuen quite early, at 1 p.m.. But by the time we finished lunch, where a pair of infant twins captivated all of us and kept us staring at them for a whole hour during our lunch, it was already 2:30 p.m.. We actually did decide on walking Nui Po Shan by ascending to the hill through a small path, passing by Yeung Yuan Rock, descending to Nui Po Au, before heading back up towards Buffalo Hill, hoping to catch some great sunset views. This would total up to a total elevation gain of 600 metres, and a distance of 6 km. The trail was also pretty treacherous, so I didn't know why I had thought we could finish the hike. Nonetheless, we set off, and the second we set off, we were already pretty lost.
The map said that from Wong Nai Tau Bus Terminus, we had to go through the Shek Kwu Lung Village. But the second we entered the village, we were quite lost. You see, there are tens of paths extending from the main entrance path, and since each path is parallel to each other, and they were quite close together, it was another 10 minutes of trial and error before we found the right path. But that wasn't the worse of the day, even though dogs barked at us almost every time we took a wrong turn, a very unwelcoming village, I must comment.
After we found the 'right' path according to the map, we started our journey up the slope. But then some people warned us that there was basically no path ahead, and advised us to turn back, after seeing that we were a family and that only I had hiking shoes. Nonetheless, we went on, after asking a few villages how to get up to the hill. Maybe next time we should stick to a real and more common way to get up the hill.
A villager gave clear instructions on how to get up, with instructions like 'turn left when you reach a small puddle'. We heard it as 'turn right', and that would be what made the day a failure.
Remember how people advised us to turn back? Well, perhaps they were right. As soon as we left the village, we had to go up a slippery sandy steep slope. (a tongue twister! :) ) There were ropes to help us climb up, but even then, it was a hard climb. After that was a bushwhack through thick grass, where we were always scared that we went off the path.
Soon, we arrived at 'the puddle'. Here, seeing only an obvious path straight ahead, and convinced that the man had said to turn right, we ignored a quite obvious path to the left. But soon, as our location started to get off from the path, we saw an overgrown path next to a stream on our left and I went to explore it. Luckily, I didn't get hurt, but I almost did twist my ankle, and it was pretty obvious that's not it. We now discussed what to do next. Father said that there must be someone who opened the path and there must be a reason for it, and opted to continue following the path, stating that it must lead to somewhere. I opted to look for another path, while Mother was in a mood of exploring, and opted to continue. In the end, we had to scramble up the steep and slippery slope of leaves and overgrown branches, and soon, came to a point where the path kind of just stopped, with rocks everywhere in front of us. We could only turn back and had to scramble back down the hill, with Father slipping and Mother getting hit on the face by some rocks flying in her way because of Father falling. In the end, we wasted a full half an hour scrambling up and down a false path.
Once back at the puddle, we finally realised a path to our left. I didn't know how we didn't even see it! Father opted to turn back to the bus terminus and give up, while I decided to follow the path and explore. I ended up doing that myself, and after a few hundred metres and seeing the path unwavering, we all decided to follow the path, and finally, we were on the path on the map.
The path was pretty hard to climb. It was overgrown with overgrown branches sticking out, and the path was very narrow. A few times Father stepped out of the path and fell, and got a thorn on his chest. It didn't stick, but it did make the area bleed. I wasn't spared from falling over. and I soon did. But luckily I didn't get hurt unlike Father.
The path up was only 500 metres, but it looked like it took forever, as we had to scramble up the steep slope, and since it was so overgrown and treacherous, we had to be careful, making the hike very tiring. At least the view was not too bad, and we could clearly see Siu Lek Yuen and City One.
By the time we reached the main Nui Po Shan Path, it was already 15:30, and we still had 5 km to go. We were all relatively tired from the exhausting bushwhack, and we even though we had come out to the main path, it was still an upward slope. We ended up arriving at Shek Kwu Lung Shan at 16:00, the first checkpoint, and the first hill we were going to climb. By now, we are realising that we won't be able to make it across Buffalo Hill, as there were only 2 hours before sunset, with another 500 metres to climb. Nonetheless, we pressed on, reaching Nui Po Shan 15 minutes later. There was nothing to see, as trees blockaded the view, so we quickly moved on.
Now I must talk about the view. Because we came on a cloudy and foggy day, the view was not as amazing as other people talk about it, but if it were a sunny day, the view would certainly be quite spectacular, as even on this type of day, we could still barely make out Tai Wai, and clearly see Shing Mun River and Sha Tin. We could basically see the whole of Sha Tin District, and even on this cloudy day, the view was great! The view could be seen once you turn around, and it would stay with you until Nui Po Shan.
Back at 16:15, we were now moving away from Nui Po Shan. By this time our legs were starting to give way to exhaustion. as the path goes up and down, up and down as we passed Shek Kwu Leng Shan and then Nui Po Shan. Moreover, the path was still treacherous, with plenty of loose rocks ready to trip you up. And as expected, Father was again victim and tripped up for the fourth time in one hike.
We soon arrived at the 'famous fork', where you can turn left or right. Both paths can lead to Yeung Yuen Rock at the end, but the left path takes you to see some interesting rock formations. We chose to turn left, and we soon reached the 'tortoise rock', where two rocks form the head and shell respectively. But to continue on the path you had to walk out to a windy ledge, and with sheer drops on both sides of the ledge, Mother demanded to turn back and take the right path, and so we did, missing the famous 'jewel rock'.
But the attraction of the day must be the Yeung Yuen Rock, also known as 'JJ' rock, and it isn't hard to see why! :) We arrived there at 16:47, and when finding the platform from where to take photos empty, we immediately took the chance to take some photos!
We left the rock soon after, and when we reached Nui Po Au at 17:00, we really have no choice but to take the emergency exit back to Fa Sham Hang, which can take you back to Siu Lek Yuen, as we still had to climb over 400 metres in height and have 3 kilometres still not yet covered. After pondering about whether to venture, Mother added that she was feeling tired, meaning that we had to take the exit.
In the end, we didn't see much except for the peculiar rock and some cloudy cityscapes. But overall, the journey was actually quite fun! I mean the bushwhacking bit. It was fun to pick your way through bushes and thick grass, and find your way by referencing at the map. But I had wanted to finish the Buffalo Hill part, but looking back, there is actually no way we could finish the hike before sunset, and trekking in the dark is a no go. At least we did finish part of the hike, and it could have been worse! (Talking about Tai Po Au, where we hiked in the rain and ended up doing a tiny loop of 1 km)
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