I wanted to check all the different tributaries of the well-known Tai Yuen stream. None as good as the original, but this one is definitely fun.
- Beauty/fun: 6/10 a couple of beautiful waterfalls, fun scrambling, a bit too bushy atop.
- Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 7.5/10 two of the main waterfalls are not easy to pass on a wet day, slippery high. A bit of dense vegetation navigation required (cover yourself properly). Once in the upper section there are no easy escape routes but going back down. Rope recommended if with weaker hikers.
- The map (how to download to your phone offline maps)
See full screen & Garmin track.
The first sections are exactly the same as what I explained in the previews post (more pics and info there). Copy paste of the start: You can walk up from Tai Wo Hau Station MTR station or, if you want to avoid the extra concrete km, take taxi or minibus to Yuen Yuen Institute. You can skip the first section or head directly to the stream. Continue going up and once you arrive here find the tributary on the right side, behind that peculiar rock + waterfall formation. Approx where Joan, blue tank top, is.
A disclaimer about the pics. It was early March, the first rains of the year. So not much flow. In the summertime, obviously, this stream looks a lot better. The beauty/fun mark is in those conditions.
Nothing relevant in all this new initial section, connection with Lung Mun Country trail anyhow.
Cross under the bridge and improving little by little. A first shower and jump into a pool.
Smaller waterfalls and the first big one.
Too perpendicular to try to climb with no rope. 7m high (?). We passed it scrambling on the left wall, slightly muddy.
A bit further another waterfall that was easier to climb within in those conditions. Everywhere was wet. The wall on the right, which should be easy to go through dry, was quite wet, therefore very slippery. Climb. Good solid tree on top. Set up the rope just in case for these guys. And all of them up, without almost using it. Good handholds if checked carefully.
Super dense fog. My phone camera was struggling moving forward. A bit later the last big waterfall. Climbed within also. Tania doing so in a not very orthodox way and me after setting the rope to help from above after.
As per the map, there should be side paths around to avoid the climbs. Although we didn’t check them.
From here on the waterfalls are smaller and with less slope. So significantly easier. With a few sections of dense vegetation. We didn’t use the pruners, but James used his ex-army guy “techniques” to open the way 😄 Full body jumps over the thorns and others.
Once atop you have tons of different options. You could go to the rock forests for example. But with zero visibility at that height, I decided to take them down through Wo Lei Pit. I’ll explain this stream in a future post.
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