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'Wild' camping

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  1. #41

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    "Wild" places in HK is pretty much my lawned backyard in Sydney so I have to agree with jgl.
    Hiking/Camping in Indonesia or Philippines is far wilder than HK.
    So my kind of wild is far from the almost kindergarten-like hiking in HK.

    So it differs depending on where you are coming from or how much wilderness experience you got.


  2. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by jgl:
    Perhaps we have totally different concepts of wilderness then. Because to me, if you can walk for an hour in a straight line and find a road, concrete trail or footpath, it's not wilderness.

    'Jungle' is not the same as 'wilderness'. I have jungle a 2 minute walk from my front door, it's not wild.
    Yeah, I guess we have different definitions of what "wild" means. That's fine, not a big deal. I just think to expect going for countless miles without encountering any humans or human infrastructure is not very realistic to expect in a small and densely populated place like HK. That does not mean there are no wilderness or wild places in the city. I personally don't quite understand why a jungle would not be considered wild, but if you think that is so, you are entitled to that view of course.

  3. #43

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    Quote Originally Posted by fletcher:
    "Wild" places in HK is pretty much my lawned backyard in Sydney so I have to agree with jgl.
    Hiking/Camping in Indonesia or Philippines is far wilder than HK.
    So my kind of wild is far from the almost kindergarten-like hiking in HK.

    So it differs depending on where you are coming from or how much wilderness experience you got.
    Ummm..ok, sure, you are entitled to that view. But I think HK country parks are most certainly not lawned or manicured backyard and gardens. They aren't some urban planned gardens, but a piece of nature left (relatively) undeveloped. As for "kindergarten-like hiking", I don't quite understand. Maybe it's not as strenuous, lengthy or hectic as some other hikes in the world, but HK hikes does not have to be "kindergarten-like". There are some pretty good challenging hikes in HK. The Oxfam Trailwalker race, where you have to cover 100 km of the MacLehose Trail in 48 hours, is no walk in the park, for example.

    And for the record, I have hiked in the US, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan, Nepal, Malaysia and Switzerland. And I think HK's hikes, while perhaps not as long or scenic as some of those places, can hold it's own in Asia.
    Last edited by Coolboy; 28-06-2019 at 11:48 AM.

  4. #44
    Quote Originally Posted by fletcher:
    "Wild" places in HK is pretty much my lawned backyard in Sydney so I have to agree with jgl.
    Hiking/Camping in Indonesia or Philippines is far wilder than HK.
    So my kind of wild is far from the almost kindergarten-like hiking in HK.

    So it differs depending on where you are coming from or how much wilderness experience you got.
    Sounds good. Where do you go camping in Indonesia?

  5. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by Coolboy:
    Ummm..ok, sure, you are entitled to that view. But I think HK country parks are most certainly not lawned or manicured backyard and gardens. They aren't some urban planned gardens, but a piece of nature left (relatively) undeveloped. As for "kindergarten-like hiking", I don't quite understand. Maybe it's not as strenuous, lengthy or hectic as some other hikes in the world, but HK hikes does not have to be "kindergarten-like". There are some pretty good challenging hikes in HK. The Oxfam Trailwalker race, where you have to cover 100 km of the MacLehose Trail in 48 hours, is no walk in the park, for example.
    HK used to be subtropical rainforest. I think the vast majority of that has been burnt or razed in the last one or two centuries. I would wager that close to none of the nature here has been left untouched, everything that I have seen looks pretty new-growth to my eyes.

    The trailwalker route is a good example of a "walk in the park"- concrete trails, roads, steps up mountains. Admitted doing the whole thing at once is a massive pain in the ass, but length and the amount of time spent awake is not what I'd call a fun kind of challenge. The really interesting trails are non-AFCD sanctioned and go off into the trees following bits of string. But even then, you're never far from civilisation and phone coverage is good.

  6. #46

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    Quote Originally Posted by civil_servant:
    Sounds good. Where do you go camping in Indonesia?
    I can't say for fletcher, but hiking around Mt. Rinjani on the island of Lombok is an unforgettable experience for me.
    civil_servant likes this.

  7. #47
    Quote Originally Posted by HK_Katherine:
    Two reasons people were up there.

    Reason 1: It was the day of the Hong Kong 100 - which finished at Route Twisk. Many hikers came up the back and got stuck at the top. They were wearing typical trail running gear and thus were in a lot of trouble. The helicopters were mainly helping those people. (I saw someone with a thermometer about 2/3 the way up - it was reading minus 6 degrees so colder at the top).

    Reason 2: Some people (locals) walked or took cars up the mountain early in the morning when they found out it would be a frost/snow. It was very cold, but ok. They got up the mountain. Then it rained but the road (tarmac) was really really cold, so the rain froze solid on the tarmac road. It was a layer about 1-3cm thick of solid ice. I've never seen anything quite like it. As you know, the road up Tai Mo Shan is often sheer drop on one side and concrete slope on the other - there was nowhere to go. At the edges (this is where hubby found the firemen crawling) in the ditch you could sometimes get a grip but in places there was just zero footing at all. People were sliding down on their bums and everything. It was these people I was helping - so at least they had coats on. Just shoes had no grip at all - they litterally (I had one on each side) hung onto my arms and slid down while I walked. Quite surreal.

    And yes, the cars were totally stuck that went up before the rain. And the fire trucks and the ambulances also got stuck half-way up.
    That was a pretty nasty night. I was walking the last few sections with a friend who was doing the HK100. The last section from Lead Mine Pass over Tai Mo Shan to the finish near Route Twisk would normally take us around 2 hours (maybe a bit longer at night) - it took me something like 5 hours IIRC - most of it without any water because my camelback had frozen solid. The event organisers stopped people going up the mountain when they realised how bad conditions were but by then a lot of people had already gone through the last check point. The police were doing the same on the Route Twisk side - trying to stop people going up to have a look.

    I was impressed by the willingness of so many people to help others + the efforts of the police and fire services who turned up.
    HK_Katherine and jgl like this.

  8. #48
    Quote Originally Posted by Coolboy:
    I can't say for fletcher, but hiking around Mt. Rinjani on the island of Lombok is an unforgettable experience for me.
    Lombok is nice, but due to little kids I haven't been able to do the Rinjani hike yet. It's definitely on my list. It's snorkeling for now.

  9. #49

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    Quote Originally Posted by jgl:
    HK used to be subtropical rainforest. I think the vast majority of that has been burnt or razed in the last one or two centuries. I would wager that close to none of the nature here has been left untouched, everything that I have seen looks pretty new-growth to my eyes.

    The trailwalker route is a good example of a "walk in the park"- concrete trails, roads, steps up mountains. Admitted doing the whole thing at once is a massive pain in the ass, but length and the amount of time spent awake is not what I'd call a fun kind of challenge. The really interesting trails are non-AFCD sanctioned and go off into the trees following bits of string.
    100 km in 48 hours is not a walk in the park I think. But yeah, its a shame a lot of the trails have been turned into concrete, but not all are like that. There are quite a few trails still without concrete, like parts of the Dragon's Back route. And even some concrete paths, the surroundings are not some manicured lawn but wild mountainside.

    Yes, I also agree a lot of the original forests in HK have been cut down, but not all. Some of the "Fung Shui" forest behind HK villages were left deliberately uncut and they are closer to reflecting the original forest type in the city. And places like Sai Kung, Tai Po Kau nature reserve, Plover Cove
    and (parts) of Lantau have their forest regrown from those original tree species. The AFCD is also making an effort now to replant the rest of HK with native tree species.This allow native species like boars, otters, snakes and birds to retain their toehold survival in HK. So there is still plenty of wilderness left in this city.
    Last edited by Coolboy; 28-06-2019 at 12:08 PM.

  10. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by jgl:
    I'd say there is a lot more 'wilderness' in NY state than HK SAR. I would also say that there is no wilderness in the SAR, that I'm aware of.



    Hmm.
    The far reaches of Sai Kung country park?


    I’ve also seen nothing in NY as wild as Lockhart Road [emoji1]

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