A spring day hike from Lau Shui Heung to Fung Yuen via Sha Lo Tung (Photo-essay)

Earlier today, I emailed my hiking buddies to cancel our hike plans for this Sunday because the fog and rain we've been having for much of this week (and the week before) looks set to continue for a time.  Put another way: spring -- with its attendant high humidity and unstable weather conditions -- has arrived in Hong Kong!

Although I've been known to go out hiking on rainy afternoons, I definitely prefer to tramp about in drier conditions; with the ideal being those days with beautiful blue skies, and super high visibility too.  On such occasions, one not only yearns to be outdoors but feels able as well as willing to tackle longer distances.  

As an example: on a previous spring day with such optimal conditions, my pedometer registered my having walked over 18,000 steps -- the bulk of which took place on a scenic trek that took two friends and I from Lau Shui Heung down to Fung Yuen via Sha Lo Tung.  And, of course, if there are interesting bugs to spot and take photos of along the way, so much the better! ;b

Believe it or not, the hills in the background and also the buildings 

in the distance actually are over in Mainland China! 

 Looking down on the Hok Tau Irrigation Reservoir 

from the Lau Shui Heung Country Trail

 

Thanks to a Society of Hong Kong Nature Explorers bug book, 

I now know this is a Handmaiden moth (Syntomoides imaon)! :)

Maybe I'll get a caterpillar book some day but for now,

I'll contend myself with thinking this a colorful creepy-crawly! ;)

A pretty Peacock Pansy spotted in the vicinity of Sha Lo Tung

Is Sha Lo Tung a case of paradise lost? 

I, for one, sincerely hope not

Cloudy Hill wasn't that cloudy looking that day for a change ;)

Instead, it was Tai Mo Shan whose top was obscured by clouds!