We decided to hike the Wilson Trail after we finished the Hong Kong Trail. Unfortunately, even though only a few kilometres long, Section 1 first scales the 386 and 363 metres peaks of the Ma Kong Shan, also known as the Twins, before heading to top the 436 metres Violet Hill. But to make things harder, after The Twins, the Wilson Trail descends to the 150 metre Tsin Shui Wan Au before ascending up to Violet Hill, making the trail extremely steep throughout. So, we ended up deciding on exiting at Tsin Shui Wan Au to Repulse Bay in order to make things easier.
First of all, I should say that we started off really late. We only arrived at Wong Nai Chung Gap at about 14:30, and we still needed to take the bus to Stanely Gap to start. But never mind, there's a tax right in front of us, so we took the taxi.
Longer than we expected, we arrived at Stanely Gap, the start of the Wilson Trail, just to be met by a steep flight of staircase heading up, up and up. But there is also a stone (or marble) plague welcoming us, marking the start of Wilson Trail.
We soon started off and we found out that it was really really windy. Really. There wasn't really any shelter from the wind, and at first, while we were taking photos at the start of Wilson Trail, I almost got carried off the ground and banged my head on the wooden sign of Tai Tam Country Park. We laughed, and then continued up the staircase, only it was worse.
You see, the wind was blowing to the west from the east, and because there is no shelter, not even one tree, and because the entire steep slope of Ma Kong Shan is just a field of grass, the wind can blow directly across the slope. To add on, the slope was steep, and there wasn't any trees to block the view downward, which is quite a good thing for me and Father, but for Mother, who is scared of heights, the steep slope was close to a nightmare. Father had to walk with Mother all the way up, and Mother kept 'whining' (note the quotations) about being afraid of being blown away and tumbling down the steep hill.
For Mother, it might have been a nightmare, but for me, the scenery was not only great, but spectacular! Because there wasn't any trees to block the view below, you could see the whole of the Stanely Peninsula, and the small town down below. You could also see the Tai Tam Harbour, where many people are enjoying sailing in the sunny day. There is also the road down below of Stanely Gap Road, where we first started coming up. Oh right, talking about sunny, the day was nice! There were absolutely no clouds, and the sun was shining down warmly, making the day a pleasant and cool one. With the pleasant weather, the 180-degree view was awesome.
We walked up the steep hill quite quickly (it was actually quite steep, the stairs are high and slanted, but we all didn't notice it, we were too focused on the wind), because Mother was frightened. To be honest, it was a bit scary, the wind, but there is really nothing to be scared about. But finally, we did make it to the top of the hill, and there, there was more shelter on the sides, and a view compass to enjoy the view, in case you missed it. There are also a couple of benches where we sat and enjoyed our lunch. The first distance post of the trail (W001) is also close by.
We soon continued on our way again, and now, it was not so windy (because we entered a forest), and we started to feel a bit hot from the climb. There wasn't as much scenery by now, but it wasn't that windy as well. Occasionally there would be a breeze or two, making it a pleasant climb up the mountain. And we quickly reached the top of the first peak and then descended down to head towards the second peak. There wasn't actually much to see on the peak. In fact, there was nothing, just a few resting benches.
As we started to climb the second time up towards the second peak, we could finally (at least for Mother) peacefully savour the view, but this time, the view is more of some hills and forests, not really the nice scenery from the last climb. But this climb was much shorter and much less steep and windy. You could also catch a glimpse of Tai Tam between the hills. Slowly by steadily, we climbed the second peak and at the peak, where W003 is situated, we started to descend again. Again, not much to see at this peak. In fact, it was just in a thick forest. But before you descend, you could catch a glimpse of Violet Hill right in front of you. Here, you could see a narrow and steep trail zigzagging along the hillside of Violet Hill. That is where this path would lead to after the descend.
Now, the path turns into a very steep staircase leading downwards. It is actually really steep. It would be a fright for Mother if we were to be walking in the reverse direction. You couldn't actually see the bottom. In fact, it looks bottomless. But luckily for us, we're heading downwards, so this part was an easy part. Occasionally, people would be climbing up in the reverse direction, and they are all panting hard and sweating furiously as they passed us.
As a side note, you could enjoy a glimpse of the Tai Tam Intermediate Reservoir on the way down, but other than that, it's just a walk in the forest.
By the time we finished our descend and ended at Tsz Kong Bridge, it was already sunset, so we turned left to exit to Repulse Bay, instead of continuing on on the Wilson Trail, now heading steeply upwards. That's a story for another day! But the hike was far from over. As we turned left, our legs already shaking from the climbs, there was a warning sign, warning us of a treacherous path ahead. And treacherous path it was! Though many people (sometimes even joggers) walk this path, the path was covered with loose rocks, and you sometimes need to sit down to get down, or even use your hands to hold on to trees as you slide down the slope. Mother even suddenly understands how hard it was for my great-grandmother to walk without any energy in her legs! I personally am okay (of course, being a 13-year-old), but my father was starting to have his energy drained out, as he occasionally (or should I say oftenly), almost twisted his ankle and lost his footing.
Nonetheless, we soon arrived at South Bay Close, a road in Repulse Bay, where a school was situated and we rode a taxi back to Wong Nai Chung, just as the sun started to tip over the edge of the sea.
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