"Hong Kong trail section 7 with Obelisk Hill sidetrack loop + D’Aguilar Peak Start : Tai Tam Reservoir North bus stop - take #14 bus from near Sai Wan Ho MTR Finish : Shek O beach - take #9 bus home to Shau Kei Wan MTR Follow the flat HK trail to marker post H075 where a bridge crosses the catchwater and a ribboned trail goes north up Obelisk Hill. The anti-clockwise circuit back to H075 takes a little over 1hr. The actual summit of Obelisk Hill is a fenced off GPS station. 200m prior stands one of two concrete obelisks built ~1900 by the navy. The second obelisk can be spied away to the south on the shore by Red Hill. Ships moored in the natural shelter of Tai Tam Bay used the obelisks to calibrate, aka “swing”, their compasses; the obelisks lie on the same line of longitude, so by lining up on them sailors could accurately define true north. A secondary use for the obelisks may have been to navigate obstacles on approach to Tai Tam Harbour. Descend NW to regain the HK trail at marker post H091. Soon after the summit are some WWII defence buildings to explore; an old fibreglass helmet liner lay on a window ledge, exactly how old I don’t know. Continue on the HK t..." — davidb • Mar 26, 2020

"Hong Kong trail section 7 with Obelisk Hill sidetrack loop + D’Aguilar Peak Start : Tai Tam Reservoir North bus stop - take #14 bus from near Sai Wan Ho MTR Finish : Shek O beach - take #9 bus home to Shau Kei Wan MTR Follow the flat HK trail to marker post H075 where a bridge crosses the catchwater and a ribboned trail goes north up Obelisk Hill. The anti-clockwise circuit back to H075 takes a little over 1hr. The actual summit of Obelisk Hill is a fenced off GPS station. 200m prior stands one of two concrete obelisks built ~1900 by the navy. The second obelisk can be spied away to the south on the shore by Red Hill. Ships moored in the natural shelter of Tai Tam Bay used the obelisks to calibrate, aka “swing”, their compasses; the obelisks lie on the same line of longitude, so by lining up on them sailors could accurately reference true north. A secondary use for the obelisks may have been to navigate obstacles on approach to Tai Tam Harbour. Descend NW to regain the HK trail at marker post H091. Soon after the summit are some WWII defence buildings to explore; an old fibreglass helmet liner lay on a window ledge, exactly how old I don’t know. Continue on the H..." — davidb • Mar 26, 2020

"Start/finish Chai Wan MTR station exit A Interesting circular walk with lots of variety and contrasts. The degree of difficulty is up to you. High rise urban scenery and industrial activity in bustling Chai Wan A pleasant wide new seafront - Siu Sai Wan Promenade - with views north over Junk Bay Cape Collinson Path goes above a newly found Bronze Age Rock carving https://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_121.php Ribbon trail from the lighthouse wire mesh fence up to unnamed pt117m Clifftop ribbon trail with coastal views leading to trig point at unnamed pt166m Hard ‘jungle trail’ unmarked on maps descending down to Cape Collinson Battery. The start and finish of this trail are well defined by ribbons but route finding got tricky at a stream crossing in the middle - basically traverse across and ignore a few ‘dead end’ ribbon markers seeming to lead straight down the rocky stream bed. An eel sized brownish snake was in one of the water pools here and slithered off into a rock crevice. *This jungle trail can be bypassed altogether on the Leaping Dragon Walk* Explore sea cliffs and ruined WWII coastal defences at Collinson Battery. Some ‘Via ferrata” style metal rungs set int..." — davidb • Feb 12, 2020

"Start (and intended finish) Tung Chung MTR exit D Actual finish Pak Kung Au bus stop on Tung Chung Road (for regular #11 and 3M buses to Tung Chung MTR or Mui Wo Ferry) http://www.i-busnet.com/english/info/lantau/list.htm Enticed (duped!) by a dry bright weather forecast I’d planned a hefty clockwise horseshoe circuit of Sunset Peak including sidetracks to all subsidiary peaks. Woke up in the morning to extensive cloud and drizzle, but not to worry, the revised forecast* was for a little rain clearing through by midday replaced by fine weather, so off I went up HKs 3rd highest peak. Initially all went to plan up Por Kai Shan and Pok To Yan in warm dry conditions. The HK haze was burning off and a cap of benign cloud on Lantau’s highest peaks seemed to be breaking up:) In the event however the expected afternoon improvement didn’t arrive, instead everything then deteriorated steadily and thickening clag, driving rain with strong gusty winds became the order of the day. The trails became slippy and photography difficult so I have few pictures from later. When my GPS device battery run out shortly after Sunset Peak I’d had enough; I binned my planned descent route over minor pea..." — davidb • Feb 11, 2020

"Pok To Yan is a pleasantly defined ridge, quite narrow at one point, with three summits and is traversed by a narrow trail The middle peak is the highest and has the shattered stump of an old trig point The eastern peak is home to a newer, less damaged, trig point The western peak is vegetated with no summit feature Start (and intended finish) Tung Chung MTR exit D Actual finish Pak Kung Au bus stop on Tung Chung Road (for regular #11 and 3M buses to Tung Chung MTR or Mui Wo Ferry) http://www.i-busnet.com/english/info/lantau/list.htm Enticed (duped!) by a dry bright weather forecast I’d planned a hefty clockwise horseshoe circuit of Sunset Peak including sidetracks to all the subsidiary peaks. Woke up in the morning to extensive cloud and drizzle, but not to worry, the revised forecast* was for a little rain clearing through by midday replaced by fine weather, so off I went up HKs 3rd highest peak. Initially all went to plan up Por Kai Shan and Pok To Yan in warm dry conditions. The HK haze was burning off and a cap of benign cloud on Lantau’s highest peaks seemed to be breaking up:) In the event however the expected afternoon improvement didn’t materialise, rather eve..." — davidb • Feb 11, 2020