Blown Away - Tuesday the 21st of June, 2011

Another Tuesday night and I decided on a different run to the one I've been regularly completing. My wife was rather unhappy with me running in isolated areas alone, after dark (which I suppose I can understand), so the full High Junk Peak trail is out, but I thought that I'd still be able to run the front half of it (the half the includes the peak itself) and be finished with the trail before sundown. So post-work I set off south, towards the Clear Water Bay Peninsula.


Just hitting the start of the trail, and some serious climbing to do


Cruising through the "field" section before more climbing


This shot is purely for comparison. It was taken within seconds of the one above, and is of exactly the same scene. It just indicates how different the photos can come out depending on where you exposure for!

It seems almost everytime I run this route, there's some sort of wild weather around, and on this evening, it was extreme winds! To be fair Typhoon Signal 1 was on, and as I got higher, the wind got stronger.


Beautiful large white flowers pop-up along the trail


Stunning clouds streak across the landscape


Working my way higher along awesome trails


More beautiful trail-side flora


My next hill, just visible in the distance


Dramatic skylines in every direction


The trail closes in on me, and rain from earlier in the day absolutely soaks my lower half!


Grasses hustled by the wind with the ridgeline I just climbed in the background


Rocky heights


From the top of High Junk Peak, the tall buildings of Kowloon are clearly visible


A self-portrait. I was very worried here about the camera blowing off the post it was on!

Clouds drifted quickly across the vista with strong winds


One of my favourite views... Looking down towards the Clear Water Bay Beaches from the top of High Junk Peak.


A final panorama from the top of High Junk Peak, before I start my (very slow) descent


Heading backdown through the jungle, almost down to the road. Through some of the denser sections, I was tempted to get my headtorch out!

I snapped a few more photos on the way back to UST, but the quickly darkening conditions made taking any (even mediocre) photos tough. I spotted a couple of tiny frogs on the way back, but each time they disappeared into the undergrowth before I could get the camera ready.




This was a really enjoyable run, and I felt much stronger than expected on the uphill sections, running almost everything aside from a few very steep sections. Only about a month now till I leave Hong Kong, and I'm really going to miss the accessibility to wonderful dirt trails like this.

Saying goodbye one step at a time,
~ Joe