Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Dragon's Back and Pottinger Peak hike sights (Photo-essay)

At lunch today, a friend told me of an old hiking buddy of hers returning to Hong Kong for a visit for the first time since at least 2005 and planning to go along the Dragon's Back this Sunday.  But while this Hong Kong Island hiking trail is undoubtedly scenic (especially on a high visibility day), that which may looks to have become the Big Lychee's most famous hike route -- thanks, in part to the efforts of the Hong Kong Tourism Board -- no longer tops the list of many local hikers because it has become considerably more crowded in recent years than many of us would like.         

At the same time, because you're pretty much guaranteed to come across other hikers on that trail, the Dragon's Back is a safe bet to go on if you're hiking by yourself.  So that's where I headed one Sunday afternoon sans my usual hiking companions -- though I have to confess that I ended up diverging from the planned script by deciding to also tackle the less scenic but considerably more peaceful Pottinger Peak rather than just follow the much traversed Hong Kong Trail Stage 8 to its conclusion over at Big Wave Bay...

Even on a foggy day, it's hard to resist pausing to
admire the view at this point along the Dragon's Back :)
 
 
I'm also the kind of hiker who will pause to admire
pretty wild flowers... ;b
 
 Especially on hot days, the existence of some 
shady sections of trail are most welcome ;)
 
 
Near the top of 312-meter-high peak are what appear

Speaking of ruins: the trail leading up there
is not the best maintained around! :O

The very top of Pottinger Peak is extremely unglamorous looking
-- but I still like that I can say that I've now been up it! 
 
The coolest sight of the hike came on the descent, in the 
form of this bird with the unusually elaborate tail :)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

That bird with the long tail feathers appeared to be some sort of Magpies. Couldn't make out the colours of it though. Was it bluish or greyish? Its collar of black feathers and whitish breast feather making it likely the Common Magpie (https://www.google.com.hk/search?q=common+magpie&rlz=1C1LENP_enHK673HK673&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwii8Yfq2NzNAhUDkZQKHdVDCHkQ_AUICCgB&biw=1251&bih=605)

T

YTSL said...

Hi T --

I'd have to say that the dark colors of the bird in the picture were blueish grey... not very helpful, I know. In any case, I doubt that it's a common magpie because of its unusual looking tail feathers -- which look unlike those of the common magpies (and, for that matter, other kinds of magpies) I've seen.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

Could you recall what was the colour of its beak? If it is red\orange then it might be Red-billed blue magpie. (http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/tc/green/birds/overview/bird_15.html)

T

YTSL said...

Hi again T --

The beak was indeed red/orange -- so you may have correctly IDed the bird, in which case I thank you for satisfying my curiosity! :)