All Creatures Great and Small: The MacLeHose Trail Stage 4

Yesterday Wayne & I hiked another segment (stage 4) of the MacLehose Trail.

Hiking these sharp little hills was a challenge.

What we had planned on as a 3 hour hike, and what the sign at the start informed us was supposed to be a 5 hour hike, actually took us 7 1/2 hours.  

We only encountered 3 other hikers the whole day. Maybe most people realized that it's still too hot in Hong Kong for climbs like these.

Two water bottles each was not enough.

We encountered hundreds if not thousands of butterflies... 

climbed hundreds if not thousands of steps...

 

Among other things, we saw the biggest spider either of us had seen in our entire lives.  In fact, Wayne walked right into its web which was spun over the path, but high enough so that he only tore the bottom part of it... but then I was afraid to go under it (I was following Wayne) because I was afraid it was mad and would jump on my head... I summoned up energy I didn't know I had to run very quickly under the web, after taking a couple of photos for the benefit of you, my loyal blog readers.  (Since you can't really tell from the picture, let me tell you, the spider was about as big as the spread of my hand).

You can see the landscape was breath-taking.

And at the very end of the trail... a field of golden lilies.

To be utterly honest, we would have preferred finding a taxi, or a vending machine with ice cold water. 


How many are your works, O LORD!      In wisdom you made them all;
    ... teeming with creatures beyond number — living things both large and small...     --Psalm 104