Tuesday 22 September 2015

Hong Kong Twins - the experience

Introduction

So this is not what you would expect from the title. The Hong Kong twins are not some explicit fantasy that the title may suggest in your mind. Although you could question my mind for thinking it up. The Hong Kong Twins refer to the trail between Parkview over the mountains to Stanley. This is in fact the reverse of Stage 1 of the Wilson's trail.

On a normal day this is a gruesome trail with a straight 1000 step climb up the mountain from close to sea level to the top of the first twin. The trail for most part is either ascending or descending so particularly heavy on the leg muscles. For anyone attempting this who's not particularly fit - take it slowly and preserve your energy.

To add some excitement we did the trail at night and here are some of the picture I took along the way to give you an idea of what the night hike across the twins entails.

Twins - the explicit photos









As a plug the best head torch to use is the diamond black - they are like a proper light beam illuminating everything around you. You can do this with your phone light. The trail is excellent for insects, in the night the trail is littered with spider webs and the occasional snake. Thankfully any snakes you spot on the trail will be small and usually the bright green sort, so easy to spot.

All in all a must do for anyone fit and up for an adventure. For me my Hong Kong business trip was a trip down memory lane as the trail was something we did over the winter months in Hong Kong. You usually see a mass of walkers and runners on the trail primarily people training for the moonwalker or Maclehouse trail races. Suggest you attempt to finish before 10pm

This is a picture of the terrain of the trail.



I obviously took my time, but the fastest time i've encountered is 45 minutes in the night running across the entire trail. Be careful you all, but above all enjoy it the views are magnificent especially on cool winter evenings. Good company and exercise makes it a fantastic evening. We usually finish with a big communal dinner we do not want to lose any valuable calories.