Hiking Classic: Clearwater Bay Hike Diary (Resurrected from BlogPost Development Hell)

It was an odd beginning.

We got off the bus at the starting point. We see two police vans. Two officers were talking to a bunch of hikers.

"What is this?" I wonder.

We orientate ourselves and an officer walks over.

The officer starts talking about illegal immigrants sightings and robberies, and that we should hike as a group. Then, the officer asks us for IDs. While he's working on it, I record his badge number.

The other hikers walk over, adjusting their hiking sticks. One asks where we're going. We tell them, and we form an entourage.

"We should stay apart. That way, someone can get away and get help" the leader of the other group says, while still fiddling with his hiking stick. I decided an umbrella would be more useful, so I open it up. This turns out to be a skin-saver as the sun got stronger.

Seeing this, a constable says "If you see anything suspicious, run away and call 999. Don't try to fight them."

I thought I'd join in, "We are a huge group. It's very unlikely anything exciting will happen. We are better making lots of noise, remaining calm, sticking together, reporting in and standing our ground. Running is what the suspects should do." A few nod their heads.

An inspector comes along. Between gulping water and wiping his forehead, he tells the constable to register our IDs. Seeing everyone else pull out their IDs, I figured it was hard not to. But I had to ask exactly why. The answer was "For your safety. So we know who's gone hiking here."

Under the increasingly hot sun, we begin the hike. After 10 minutes, we find that the 6 policemen and 1 policewoman have joined us for the hike. The constable at the front and end has collapsible batons fully extended. I briefly considered if they were far bigger threat than any Illegal Immigrants.

As we pant our way onto the first hill and take our break, the police catch up. We offer them to go first. They decline, and we start to joke about being the "bait".

Later, we overhear the police having a little discussion over privacy issues. I resisted the urge to join in, as it was edging towards politics.

(officers staring at the forest floor while walking)

Constable A: "Why don't we have CCTVs everywhere? That would prevent a lot of crimes!"

Constable B: "But that would be against privacy!"

Inspector C: "Yes, it would mean less privacy. But it's worth it in many cases."

Constable B: "Well, fair enough. But privacy is a fundamental right that makes HK different. Without it, HK is no different from any of the other nations."

Wow, my words exactly!
The other cops, falling silent, decide to change the topic.

I got the sense that most were trying to just hang low and do their jobs professionally, without having to deal with the uncomfortable but increasingly relevant moral/ethical issues. Or maybe the day was just too hot to have a debate.

...

Before we know it, we are at the end of the flat trail. We wave them off and start climbing the hills.

We slowly clamber up High Junk Peak and stay for lunch. The temperature must be at least 34 degrees by now and my friends are developing bright red sun-burns beneath thick beads of sweat. The umbrella is paying off.

Getting off the Peak is harder than getting up. By the time we get off, everybody is gone, as expected. Otherwise, they'd properly begin to develop heat stroke.

Walking off the hills towards civilization, we faced a new kind of intense heat. You could feel the heat radiating off the rocky path and surrounding hills, like you are in a frying pan.

We ended up consuming 5L of liquids each. Standing at the top of the peak in the intense heat partly explains the great water consumption. Running out of water in the middle would definitely mean heat stroke.

Back home, I nurse a sunburn and vow always to take sunscreen.