I had thought it too ambitions to carry Hannah. But the Grassy Hill hike had proved that we could do a 400m climb and 4.5hrs walking, and also hike to the start of section 8 at Lead Mine Pass in under 1.5hrs.
So we set off as before, with a taxi to Wong Chuck Yueng village. By 9:33am we had joined the MacLehose Trail on the ridge, with Hannah riding in the Deuter and giving instructions.
Instead of climbing Grassy Hill we took the forest road around the side of the hill to Lead Mine Pass. This is Tai Mo Shan from the road.
We reached Lead Mine Pass at 10:30 and had a brief snack break.
Start of Section 8 at Lead Mine Pass. Steps straight up the ridge for 200m. I carried Hannah most of the way but she happily scrambled the last section.
11:15am Distance post M140 (about 650m). Looking back east towards Grassy Hill, which wed climbed 2 days ago. Lead Mine Pass is back down the hill behind Hannah.
Looking south-east. Hong Kong island in the distance.
The on up the ridge to Sze Fong Shan (785m) which we reached around 12:00.
Video: Panorama from Sze Fong Shan, looking north-east to Tai Po town the east and south.
I carried Hannah most of the way up but she happily walked the short steep descent from Sze Fong Shan
Video: Hannah hiking
From there we were on a steep concrete roadway leading up the side of Tai Mo Shan itsself. This was hard work in the sun but by taking baby steps we made slow but steady progress.
The views were terrific, although the visibility wasn't quite far enough to see China or the outlying islands.
The photo below is from near the summit, looking north across Shek Kong and Kam Tin. You can see the old RAF airfield at Shek Kong, and an abandoned military installation in the immediate foreground.
Video: From near summit, panning NW to NE.
1:00pm: Summit of Tai Mo Shan, 957m.
I was wondering why the Brits had so many military buildings on the top of this mountain. Granny provided the answer a few days later courtesy of her Bletchley Park skills:
"(In the late 1950’s) In both Hong Kong and Cyprus, the British were experimenting with intelligence-gathering radar. At Hong Kong the main site was located three thousand feet up the precipitous cliffs of Tai Mo Shan in the New Territories. Operated jointly by the RAF’s 117 Signals Unit and the Australians, it peered out into Chinese airspace, and its main purpose was ‘to provide intelligence information for the UK, USA and Australia.’ Western aircraft regularly intruded over the border to generate an elint response from Chinese defences. The site was constructed with great difficulty in 1957 and was operated continuously into the 1980s. By a heroic effort, cranes and lorries had moved materials up to the summit by means of what was little more than a jeep track.. During construction a ten-ton crane had been lost over the edge, but fortunately the RAF driver leapt clear before the vehicle disappeared over the cliff. Later, the RAF Regiment, known as the ‘Rock Apes’, who guarded the base, lost two Land Rovers over the cliff. This prompted a local humorist to erect a sign at the base of the uphill trail that warned: ‘Beware of Falling Rocks’. "“GCHQ : the uncensored story of Britain’s most secret intelligence agency” by Richard J. Aldrich published in 2010.
Video: Hannah at the summit of Tai Mo Shan, and view down to SW and S over Tsuen Wan.
We had a very nice lunch on the summit - bananas have seldom tasted better - and enjoyed the view. Hannah got to drain the batteries of my iPhone playing 'HayDay'.
We then started on the 6km exit down the winding road to Route Twisk. This was very pleasant with terrific views, and Hannah walked about 1/3 of it. We arrived at 2:40pm got a bus down to Tsuen Wan and a taxi home by 3:30.
In total 5 hrs 40 min hiking, about 14km (9.7km for Section 8, perhaps another 4.5km for the approach), and vertical climb/descent perhaps 700m. Not bad for an old man with a 25kg load.
More importantly Hannah and I had a good time together and lots of opportunity to chat and have fun. Hannah is quite chatty wen she is riding along in the Deuter. And Rika got some time off.
Tai Mo Shan from ICC on a cold Feb day
Big Hat Mountain
