Northwards and upwards from the Silvermine Cave area (Photo-essay)

Early on in my time hiking in Hong Kong, I was wary of going on any hikes on Lantau Island on account of my having gotten the impression that Hong Kong's largest island only had super difficult trails. Upon getting more familiar with the Big Lychee's hiking trails though, I've discovered that not all of Lantau's hiking trails lead up (and then down) challenging peaks like Lantau Peak or Sunset Peak (Hong Kong's second and third highest mountains respectively).

Consequently, I've found my increasingly being wont to explore Lantau -- and, in the process, gone on trails such as the one that two friends and I went along from Mui Wo to Tai Ho Wan; one whose early part I previously chronicled via a photo-essay featuring views of the greater Mui Wo area. And now, here's starting again close to where I left off the last time around...

This view shows how far we had gone from Mui Wo --
and far up from sea level -- already at that point in the hike

These flowers were growing near the
now disused Silvermine Cave

The largest spider I have ever seen in my life
(one which could very easily wrap itself
around my entire face and head!)

Yes, the buildings jutting out into Silver Mine Bay
on the right side of the picture is indeed the Mui Wo
ferry pier that the ferry I took from Central docked at

Since part of the trail that we hiked on has been
designated as the Hong Kong Olympic Trail to
commemorate the 2008 Beijing Olympics, sections of it
have Olympic-themed decorations on them

In all honesty, however, I found the natural
decorations on view on this trail to be far more
fascinating and beautiful

Be they seeds or fruits, they are pretty
and colorful to my eyes

And yes, a day in which a butterfly stayed still enough
for me to photograph is a good one by my reckoning! ;b

To be continued... once more! :)