Hong Kong Trail: 50 kilometers of solitary reflection, cramps, and fun
I have recently been feeling the identity crisis of not knowing who you are. Everything is formless, and originally this uncertainty would give me freedom the same way you stretch your limbs in any and all directions in the ocean and find that you don’t touch solid ground. However, as of late it has been making me feel vertigo the same way you’d feel dizzy and nauseous looking down from a tall building and realizing you cannot see what you stand on.
So, like a normal person, I try to find myself all over the universe, geographically yes but more so via experiences. That brings me to this 50km Hong Kong Trail hike!
All sections along with my rating on how much I enjoyed them
I’ll add hiking information as FAQs at the end, haha. First let me reflect.
The reasons why I wanted to go on this strenuous hike all by myself:
I wanted alone time to reflect on life lately. Some things have been weighing on my soul and it was impossible to find inner peace without bringing those issues to light once and for all.
I wanted to force myself to start something I couldn’t back out of because I need this mental training. Otherwise it is very easy for me to give up because the activity at hand is “not my go-to activity”.
I wanted to feel more in touch with my body so that I could feel my emotions better. I feel like lately I have been too guarded, even from myself, such that I haven’t been able to feel any negative emotions, even stress. But any human knows that feeling your emotions is the only way to squash them and process them. So I concluded that going on a strenuous hike would make me feel more aligned with my body and therefore with my mind, and I could get a good cry out of this.
The outcome:
9-10 hours of pure reflection.
Completing Hong Kong Trail. 50 kilometers.
Unfortunately I was not able to lower my emotional guards down. I did cry towards the end, at section 7 (as you can tell by the one-star rating, I hated that section) because my left leg was so sore and I had three calluses on my right foot. But after shedding two tears I started finding the situation so ridiculously funny that it turned into laughter. So I stole away my own much needed good cry.
In addition to reflecting on my own life, I thought about time, dimensions, reality, animals, butterflies, berries, batteries, and a lot more. Because I couldn’t use my phone, I really let my mind wander, and I enjoyed thinking to myself about random things.
I do, however, feel like I emerged more insane than sane from this hike. At one point I was just talking to myself and the sparrows and trees around me. I KNOW! How crazy. But I feel extremely in-sync with nature, especially when I’m alone. Oh gosh. I am delusional. What if I really am insane, but wear the facade of saneness in front of people every day? Such that even I forget? But then we would have to define sanity in the context that I used it in. I’ll shut up now.
I am so grateful for the life that I am able to lead.
FAQs
('m guessing)
FAQs ('m guessing)
How did you prepare for the hike?
I didn’t, I bought a few rice crackers and nuts and finalized the plan an hour before I reached The Peak.
What guides did you follow?
The Green Power Hike route: Route
What did you eat?
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS. I unfortunately did not have breakfast or lunch, I had a total of 10 rice crackers over 9 hours which gave me insane amounts of energy, + 3 liters of water. Afterwards I devoured a bowl of Thai fried chicken rice and an omelet.
How long did it take?
Started at 8:20 am, ended between 6:45 pm / 7:00 pm. 37 KM in (end of section 7) my watch died and my phone was on 5% so I couldn’t record the rest of the hike. I took breaks in between by squatting on the ground, each break lasted no longer than 10 minutes.
Why did you give the rating that you did?
Each segment was beautiful and fun. Section 5 was 2-starred because of the incline + no shade. Section 7 broke me. It was extremely flat and winding, which meant being stuck with an abysmal view, no fun, and 8 km of flatness. My muscles were killing me. I hated that section.
Would you do it again?
I don’t see why not. Perhaps with friends, if someone is interested, and at least 4 weeks later.
Do you think you’ll be sore tomorrow?
Yes.
