In which Jim encounters a ferocious beast

The makers of the TV series Lost must surely have taken Hong Kong as inspiration. Having rested up in Wong Nei Chung Gap and breakfasted on the beef entrails I was keen to be on the trail again, this time following stage II of the Wilson trail, but in reverse.

It seems the meddling Mandarins have concreted long tracts of the wilderness trails in the aim of increasing safety, which is not really in keeping with the surroundings. Even small drops are protected by huge railings which spoil the aesthetic somewhat. The money I feel could have been better spent on signage, which is often non-existent, unclear or just plain incorrect. Though thankfully some helpful soul has graffited corrections.

The second stage trail I began at Tai Koo, the trail beginning behind the station, I began the trail at night, when it was cool, and I was still on UK time, by now in the habit of taking an afternoon nap. Not long onto the the a rustling in the bushes had me concerned, I prepared to great who ever it was, but the sound was a grunty angry sound and getting closer...My first thought was wild boar, whose tusks are sharped every time they open and close their mouths, and like a rat's never stop growing! I backtracked slowly to the some WW2 era mass kitchens, the holes for the giant woks now filled with bougainvillea, passing another of almost identical construction, following on to the Early Morning Walker garden.

I decided to wait till the moon had risen, and hopefully Mr Piggy had run all the way home. It was a cold wait, so I tucked my trousers into socks, tucked in my shirt, and wore my neoprene laptop case as a hat. As it got steadily brighter I began to get braver, and walked on, but keeping a close eye for trees to climb, should an angry porker come charging.

Every so often I would hear budhist chanting, the smell of frangipani incense, and again rustling. This combined with the sound of clapping, I assumed I had wandered into the HK equivalent of Holt's Field, but there were no chalets, friendly hippies, or smell of ganj. The music was coming from hidden tape players in makeshift shrines, all over the place, and the claping was regular and getting closer...

Thinking it was somebody buggering about, when I was already weirded out by the music, and rustling I was prepared to deck whoever it was. Turning a corner was an old man walking and clapping his hands before, and behind him as he walked. When he saw me he looked terrified. I must have looked rather wild eyed, and later realised I was still wearing my laptop hat!

Following the trail backwards proved a challenge, as the descriptions did not mention the alternative routes, one could safely ignore if traversing in the opposite direction. The hikers guide mentions passing a radio station, and passing antennas to the right. This did not help, as since published it seems the masts are everywhere. An very strange place with hatches and restricted area notices everywhere, straight out of Lost.

By morning I re-entered the Wong Nei Chung Gap, this area was significant in holding off the Japanese, as it provided covering machine gun, and 3.7" gun fire over Happy valley. My camp was at section 5, a matter of tens of yards away from a pill box, captured from British and Canadian forces by means of a grenade down the ventilation hatch. The whole area was eventually taken, with huge losses on both sides.

Again came the rustling, and grunting, by this time I was prepared to go mano a cercdo with the beast and had my knife in hand..... I was so relieved to discover it was a porcupine, an inquisitive beast, that in my defence, makes a lot of noise for its size. My oft quoted mentor, Horrace Kephart, who wrote Camping and Woodcraft in about 1910 descibed the creatures as "inveterate camp maurauders, a voracious lover of salt, devouring anything that has the slightest trace of it, axehandles &c" I had visions of my sweatstained pack and cooking supplies being savaged.

Back at my base, my hammock was waiting for me, and a welcome sight, my stashed main pack undesturbed, and had a much needed snooze!

Note: I edited this post, having typed it initially on a "borrowed" open wireless connection, with sun streaming on the screen, so could not read what I had written.