The Bataan Death March: Part 1

Surprisingly, Hong Kong is surrounded by an intricate net of trails that run along the hills and back ways of the city. Soon after the nightmare of SARS, the number of hikers dramatically increased as people decided to take steps to improve their overall health. Once a year, there is a massive 100 km, 2 day race that takes people all along the MacLehose Trail. Me, being an absolute moron, thought that this might be an interesting goal to aim for and as far as I could tell, it was a challenging but doable goal. The village where I live, Tseng Lan Shue, is on the route of the Wilson Trail, so I thought that this would be an easy way to start training. My guide book’s description of my 8 km route gave me the sense of a walk through a shaded subtropical rainforest, a bamboo grove and then open hillside.

I knew that my main enemy would be the heat and dehydration so I was sure to pack water, bring a hat, and dress lightly. The idyllic forest walk was a bit more difficult than expected as the rock path was slick from the high humidity. I spent most of that portion walking just off of trail where I could get better traction in the gullies. Finally, the trail opened onto an open road and I started a short jog as I felt motivated by a number of people who seemed to be running the trail.

Once it hooked back up to rough trail and started heading up hill, I slowed down and took the approach carefully, mindful of my exertion and hydration levels. Being someone who hikes up the grouse grind, I felt that this portion should have had little affect on me. Here was where I was dangerously wrong. The shaded portion of the hike was reasonable and I tackled that without much difficulty. Once I entered the open brush I realized that the trail was taking me up a 650 m hill in the formidable sun. Here was where I took many breaks and finished most of my water. Luckily for me, there was an experienced hiker who told me which parts of this hill held areas where you could catch a breeze. I had brought a long a hand towel, now drenched and slung around my neck, and aired it out to cool on these portions to before placing it back on myself like a cold compress. The hill seemed to never end with bends in the trail hiding the actual peak and I considered turning back a few times. The 32 degree heat and the 87% humidity were really taking their toll on me.

Fun Fact! Above 80% humidity, your sweats ability to evaporate is diminished and tends to just pour off of you without cooling you down!

Luckily, I found the summit and the trail wound its way down to a paved road. This portion was much easier as there was a bit of a hillside breeze and I was actually able to lightly jog much of the final distance to a small café where I quickly downed a liter of juice and a liter of water. Someone actually gave me the thumbs up as a jogged the descent from the peak. If only he knew how close to getting heatstroke I really was.