Saturday… woohooo the weekend and the husband and I could hike together again! We decided to do Cloudy hill with my friends.
It was an extremely hot and humid day but we managed to hike up Cloudy Hill down to Tai Wo with the blazing sun beating on us.
Difficulty: 5/10 the slope upwards is steep
Duration: 2.5 hours
How to get there: We took the MTR to Fanling and exited at C. There’s a minibus terminus just outside the Mtr.
The 52B mini bus ( http://www.16seats.net/eng/gmb/gn_52b.html) takes you to the junction of Hok Tau road and Lau Shui Heung road; Lau Shui Heung reservoir. That’s where we started our hike. We took a green taxi as there was a serpentine line for the mini bus and paid 49 HKD.
We walked towards Lau Shui Heung road.
There were too many people on this path so we hurriedly walked past with our masks on.
We kept walking, passed the public toilets ( the only one on this hike) and continued on the concrete slope upwards.
We reached a rugged path and passed the Bbq pits that were shut due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We passed the dam and got to see trees ablaze in colours of red and orange on the opposite side.
We passed the bbq pits and kept walking till we reached a signpost and walked towards the campsite.
The path was extremely crowded so we excused ourselves and walked hurriedly till we came to the Cloudy Hill sign.
The slope was quite steep and like the name the hill sloped up and down.
It was extremely hot though we were in January and that made the climb a bit tiresome. We were drenched to the skin.
We again came to a sign that mentioned cloudy hill and the Wilson trail and we continued up the slope. This hike was a part of the Wilson trail – Section 8. 
It was soooo hot 🥵 ( I know I am ranting) that I took off the Columbia warmer and walked the entire path up with my sports bra 😅.
We reached the Pat Sin Leng country trail board and as we walked up we could see the Pat Sin Leng range in the distance, Tai Po and Shenzhen too.
The views were fantastic….. rolling hills along the way. Fanling, Ma On Shan could also be seen.
We kept climbing upwards and downwards and upwards and downwards. There was a rugged, slippery, muddy path that we had to cross too.
Finally we reached the trigonometric station of Cloudy hill, 440 meters in height above sea level.
We looked behind and realised we had walked quite a bit. We continued downwards on the rugged path.
We came to a fun sit out area which had a swing too. My friend relived her childhood memories by sitting and swinging on it seemingly elated.
We kept walking towards Tai Po Tau as mentioned on the signboards. There were many benches, rest areas along the way.
My friend Lamiya used her jacket as a veil to protect her from the scorching sun. There were more rest areas and pavilions that gave refuge to many a weary hiker.
We were nearing the end of the trail as the path led us downhill.
Urvi found a building that resembled her house back home in India and so we decided to get a shot of her as a memory with Lamiya photobombing too. 😁
We came to a rundown factory and walked towards Tai Wo MTR. There were signs along the way.
There was a public toilet too. We continued towards the Mtr. We were famished and thirsty.
We finally reached the Mtr but decided to have a hearty meal at Jade Garden https://www.jadegarden.com.hk/en/menu in the mall below the MTR.
This was a very beautiful trail filled with views of the Shenzhen in the distance, Tolo harbour, Tai po, Fanling and steep hills.
However, it was so hot, we decided to rename this trail the ‘ Four Mortals’ as we four, Nigel, Lamiya, Urvi and I survived the blazing sun in January whilst climbing this extremely Cloudy hill.
A hike not for beginners but a great workout.
Do try this hike and let me know if you enjoyed it. You can hike the other way round too, however we found this way more interesting.
You can follow me for more hikes on https://www.facebook.com/honkiehiker/.
Happy hiking and stay safe!