Saturday, July 15, 2017

Qiu Feng stream trek (秋楓石澗 )

Duration: 
3 hours (more if you are going to take swimming breaks), 4km
Difficulty:
7/10. The waterfalls can be by-passed.


Cel phone coverage: Mostly everywhere

Water needs: 1 liter

Appreciation: 8/10. Best after rainfall. Nice large pools for a swim

Transportation:
96R from Diamond Hill MTR right to Lady MacLehose Holiday Village stop (holidays only). Or get to Sai Kung, then take bus 94 and get off at  Lady MacLehose Holiday Village stop. Return the same way.


Why it's worth it:
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Lady MacLehose Holiday Village stop. About 20 minutes on bus from Sai Kung

Right off the bus, keep going on the road for maybe 50m, just before the curb (there's also a trail going up that you will see in the distance), cross the road and go down to the stream, right over the railing. Go down to the stream and head left in the water. There are 2 streams merging more or less at the entry point, QiuFeng is the leftmost one.
The first 200-300 meters in the stream is flat. No worries, it gets nicer afterwards!
About 30 minutes in (500m), you'll reach the first large waterfall which can be bypassed on the left (or climbed right up in the falls as I did). But, the water is so nice, take a few minutes for a dip! Don't litter! I'm watching you!
Bypass on the left again. Nice pool with clean water
You'll then arrive at the One-line-fall (一線瀑), about 1.2km into the stream. Quite beautiful when full but it does look a bit scary. Never fear, you have an option to bypass it on the right as there's a path getting you to the top of the falls. Or, if you feel adventurous, climb the falls as pictured above, on the left
Another nice waterfall and pool after. Last chance for a dip.
Can be bypassed on the left but trivial climb in the waterfall itself

Coming close to the end of the stream now. You can miss the rock formation with the stream gently dropping in the middle. Just climb the rocks on the right as pictured. 

Then, about 5-10m after that climb is the exit of the stream, on the left. It is marked with a ribbon. However, if you can't find the ribbon, no worries as the path is no more than 5m away so you can pretty much exit anywhere around that area and find the path. Head left on the path, back towards where you started.

You get on a paved road and you'll eventually see the trail signage on your left with stairs going down.
That's where you want to go
Next fork is here. Go left so you can reach Pak Tam road close to the 'Lady MacLehose' stop.
Pak Tam Au will also work but is going to be a bit more bus-ing
There you go, back on Pak Tam Rd where you head left and get take Bus 96R back to Diamond Hill MTR on holidays, or 94 back to Sai Kung

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Please, don't litter!

Hiking is about communion with nature. So please pickup after yourself. There's no excuse to leave plastic bags, water bottles or any rubbish on or around the trails; if you managed to bring it, you can manage to bring it back!