The Bear went over the Mountain

With Rika and Hannah away I have the opportunity to go hiking in the weekends.  But unfortunately the weather has been very wet due to the monsoon, and my back is painful.

So once the morning rains had cleared, I set out on a 'starter hike' to explore the hills behind our apartment block.

Clove Hill from our apartment

I took the foot-path from Royal Ascot to Kau To village on the right of the hill, and then up the valley for about 1km until the concrete path finished at the abandoned village of Cheong Lek Mei (actually just across the valley from a new tower-block development called Dragon's Range).

Cheong Lek Mei abandoned house

I then hiked up the hill through the forest, on a path which was very clearly marked on my map with a dotted red line, but almost invisible on the ground apart from a few red ribbons tied to trees every few yards.

Dragon Strange, Ma on Shan and Tolo Harbour

I went further and further into the empty forest, slipping on the moist ground and looking out for snakes, and wondered whether I was being adventurous or just stupid hiking on my own on a disused trail.

Cove Hill summit

But when I cleared the tree-line,  I ran into a family group of locals including granny and 2 kids, who seems to know where they were going.  So  I followed then through the log grass to the top of Clove Hill / Kau To Shan (399m)

Panorama from Clove Hill (click to enlarge) 

So, the bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.  He saw another mountain.  (Grassy Hill in fact).

Grassy Hill (647m) from Clove Hill 

And to the right of Grassy Hill, the towers of Shenzhen across the border.

Shenzhen from Cove Hill

I'd half planned to continue up to Grassy Hill but now I didn't fancy trying to continue uphill through the overgrown and very slippery path through the tall grass.

Forest Path

So I followed the family down the track through the trees on the other side of Clove Hill.

Royal Ascot from cove Hill

We stopped for a rest on a large rock outcrop overlooking the valley, which I can see from our apartment.

Royal Ascot panorama (click to enlarge)

 And them down the ridge through the trees back to Kau To village.  A nice 3 hour hike.

But next time I go hiking after rain I'll probably stick to proper paths.