Hiking on a (mainly) rainy day

It rained for much of today -- but some hardy 

(or insane) souls didn't care and went hiking anyway

 

 Late in the hike, the sun 

did finally come out though :)

We even spotted bits of blue sky along with 

the sunlight (but, alas, no rainbows!)

As the oft-quoted saying by Noel Coward has it, "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday son..."  But although the song that contains this line also maintains that "the Chinese wouldn't dare to", I've actually seen a fair number of Chinese out at noon in Hong Kong and elsewhere.  

 

Instead, from what I've observed, Hong Kongers seem more afraid of rain than the midday son.  And I state this not only on the basis of Hong Kongers taking rain so seriously that there's a rainstorm warning system in place that includes distinct amber, red and black rainstorm warnings along with the even more serious thunderstorm warning, strong monsoon signal, and various typhoon grades and signals.  Rather, it's that some locals I know are so loathe to be out in the rain that they are likely to cancel such as dinner dates or concert and theater excursions if a rainstorm is forecast to occur that evening!

So I can well imagine many a Hong Konger thinking that people who are willing to go out hiking even during rainy weather are people who are bordering on insanity.  But while I definitely would draw the line at going out hiking on a cold rainy day (because to be cold and wet really would be miserable!), I have to admit to being occasionally willing to go hiking on a warm(ish) rainy day -- like today.

One reason for this is I now know of routes that one can fairly comfortably hike on such days: that is, ones with trails that are on the flattish side and/or are largely paved or concreted and consequently not too slippery and/or muddy.  (And yes, I know that there are people who profess to hate concreted hiking trails -- but for me, these trails have their purpose, or at least come in handy on wet days like today.)  

 

As it turned out, things worked out quiet well for my two hiking buddies and me today, in that our approximately 10 kilometer trek from Tuen Mun to Siu Lam -- which largely followed Section 10 of the Maclehose Trail (albeit in reverse) but then diverted to Siu Lam from the southwest edge of Tai Lam Chung Reservoir -- began in the rain but the sun came out a few kilometers before hike's end. And not only was there enough time to dry my t-shirt before I boarded the bus to Tsuen Wan, where we had dinner and then caught the MTR home but it also meant that we got to enjoy the sight -- and take photographs -- of beautiful skies and more along at least part of the actually generally enjoyable afternoon's hike. :)