Hiking Lantau Peak Try number 2- April 2014

So on this trip to China, I tried to schedule my timing so that I could get home sooner, but fate was against me in timing. May 1st is a national holiday and so all the planes were booked up on that day, and I couldn't get a seat on the plane until May 2nd. Since it was a holiday, I couldn't use the day to work. Everybody would be visiting their family. So I spent the day in Hong Kong. I don't really mind being in HK, so I made the best of it.

I planned on re-hiking Lantau Peak. This was the mountain that I nearly died on last Sept when I over-exerted myself and got severe dehydration and heat stroke. When I arrived in Hong Kong on Wed night though, Severe thunderstorms were predicted for all day Thursday, so it foiled my plan to start off in the middle of the night and see the Sunrise from the peak. But the weather kept looking like it MIGHT not rain, so I set my alarm for  early and decided not to do a sunrise hike, but rather, make the call AT sunrise and see how weather was looking.

When I woke up, the weather was not raining, but still predicted to storm, so I decided to take the Bus to the Ngong village which is at about 2000 ft elevation (2/3 up the mountain). This was originally my end point last time. So I was doing it literally backwards this time. I got to the village before anything was open on that first bus and went looking for the trailhead by 9am.

It was so cloudy and foreboding and wet, that I was prepared to turn around at a moments notice in case of rain, but still no actual raindrops or thunder, so I trudged on. Finally, I emerged out of the tree line into the clouds around 10am and the clouds were REALLY thick, I couldn't see 30 feet in front of me. I thought we were getting a lot closer to storm time, so I hurriedly scrambled up the last steep staircase and rejoiced that I had made it to the summit, but quickly turned around to get back below the treeline. 

By the time I found my way back to the village it was 11:30. That last 1000 feet of the mountain wasn't too terribly time consuming or strenuous, especially since it was only 70 deg. 

I was disappointed that the clouds started to dissapate AFTER I had made it back, I regretted not just sitting at the summit for an hour... but how could I have known?

The village was pretty cool though. I saw an enormous Buddha and a monastery and even a Kung Fu acrobatic circus. It was a really touristy place, but still pretty neat. Then I hopped on the cable car and rode it back down to Tung Chung where my hotel was.

Heres a shot of the big Buddha in the early morning before it was even open.

Near the start of the trailhead, there were some really old dilapidated structures. I'm not sure what purpose they used to serve... maybe living quarters for visitors in decades past.

 

Right next to the actual trailhead, there is a small looped path called the "Wisdom Path". these giant pillars each have a buddhist proverb. I thought they were stone at first, but they are split trees.

At the Trailhead for Lantau Peak, there is a cool statue of a phoenix. Lantau Peak is also known as Phoenix Mountain.

At the first section of trai, I ran into this odd site, wild cows!

The path was very well maintained and had benches along the route, in what I'm assuming are good viewing areas. If I turned the camera to the right, it would probably be a scenic panorama, looking West toward Hong Kong Island, but instead it was just white clouds.

Nearing the treeline, the clouds seemed to get thicker.

Nearing the final staircase up the peak, there is a path along the top ridgeline. This probably would have been a breathtaking view if i could see anything but white clouds.

Another one from that top ridgeline.

Here's a Panoramic shot of the actual peak. A little disappointing because there was so many ugly structures on the top. Trashcans, signs, and a shelter... not sure what the post means, except i think it's a marker for a peak, I noticed there was one on Sunset peak too last fall.

 

The other 180 degree panorama of the peak. You can see, that there was absolutely no view at all. The clouds were so thick and wet, I was afraid of rain at any moment.

This is why I scrambled back off the peak within only a moment of being at the top. I didn't want to get caught in this steep staircase if it was raining. There were several steeper ones too, but I was afraid to take a photo for fear of losing my balance.

Another shot of "Wisdom path" on the way back down the mountain. I just thought the clouds looked eerie and mystical in this shot.

Back in the Ngong Village,  they had opened up the gate to the "Big Buddha". They literally call it the "BIG BUDDHA" on every sign. Not sure if there is an official real name or what. Chinese people love to be tourists and they were taking a billion pics a second here. I probably ended up in dozens of people's pics. 

Surrounding the Big Buddha, were smaller ones each representing something different.

Nearby to the Buddha, a temporary stage had been set up. They were having special events because of the Holiday. One of the special shows was a Kung Fu Acrobatic circus. They had many different acts. It was really cool except for all the people who decided to stand directly in front of me, even though I was in the front row.

Taking the Cable car down the mountain was much faster. It was probably a 15 minute ride instead of a 45 minute bus ride.

The final stretch of the cable cars.