my birthday hike

happy & maria

This morning, D & I set forth for Tei Tong Tsai Country Trail, although we have been on this trail several times, we chose it again because this time round we were bringing Happy our dog with us and we reckoned this was the most suitable trail for her. We were able to make a round trip back home without having to take public transport. That is ideal when you have a dog with you, because it is such a pain to get a taxi that's willing to accommodate a dog (that is too big to stuff inside any fancy pet carrier) without giving you the 'look'! As we were leaving our house, Maria (the village dog aka Happy's best friend) came bouncing from behind us and joined us for the walk! Boy! Was she in for a treat! It was her first long distance trail-walking I guessed. Along the way, I enjoyed watching her having so much fun especially when we passed by some stream/ponds, she enjoyed splashing in the water to cool off. Happy was so sweet too, she waited for me constantly to catch up with them, yah, I was rather slow in climbing uphill today...upon reaching higher in the mountain, there were heavy fog, the coldness sent shivers down my spine. It took us about 2 1/4 hours to complete the whole trip... hmm.. I enjoyed it.
more photos on the side bar...

heavy fog on mountain road @340m elevation

shek mun kap - pak kung au (via tei tong tsai country trail)

D & I went for a warm-up hike yesterday after having stopped hiking for a month plus due to the horrendously hot weather in September. We started at about 9.30am , we used the ancient path (Shek Mun Kap (Lo Hon Monastery)- Ngong Ping) but did not go all the way to Ngong Ping, instead, after 2 1/2 km uphill, we made a detour and continued going uphill on Tei Tong Tsai Country Trail which took us to Pak Kung Au @ 340m elevation. It took us almost two hours to complete this 5km from Shek Mun Kap to Pak Kung Au.
As the weather is getting better, I have to recondition my body again for more hikes in autumn and winter... :) Can't wait for even finer weather in November!  (photos on side bar)