Ma Tai Stream 馬大石澗+石壟仔石林

Fine 　BF1-2　18^oC　photos 相簿
馬大的出口是一條石屎渠模樣的地方，沒甚可觀。離開石屎渠後，原始的石澗才展現眼前。巨石纍纍的澗道一直延伸，途中所 見，不少被水沖刷光滑，形成奇特的弧形。下段全是迷你瀑布，要越過有著藍色鐵橋下的水壩，才陸續大些的。整段石澗也有 大大小小的水潭，有些看來頗清的，只是當你看過沿途各式的垃圾，當中包括幼童坐的玩具車，百佳手推車及不少石油氣罐... 等等，你便會認真考慮應否下水或取水煮食。石面上有時還留有灰炭痕跡，大概是有人曾在那兒燒烤或燒雜物，對澗道做成更 多的傷害。一些大石的沖刷面背對上游，可能是滾下來後，方向也掉轉了。巨岩纍疊形成大少間隙，偶然亦有可供人穿越的。 如不繞經車路越壩，可直接上攀。自該壩已可遙見右上方有一道企壁，壁前一小壩下有一瀑，瀑底形成一小水簾洞，洞前為一 人頭模樣的巨岩(英雄石)，它的"頸"後與崖間有一道小水溝，狀若頸巾般圍繞著"人頭"。此處岩石之巨，有的如七人車，甚至 可媲美小巴的尺寸。自右後方沿林徑上登至小壩，右方崖壁後，兩疊水瀑自縫中瀉下，注入面前一大潭中，那便是英雄瀑。水 壩旁有山徑繞至瀑頂，亦可試著上攀左方傾斜的崖壁。據聞自該處往後的澗道無甚可觀，因此自左方山徑離澗，穿越墳地至燒 烤場，再沿車道上走，先過大橋，抵支路過小橋後上山，經農地往馬鞍山村，當然你可直接沿車路往該村。其時天色已放晴， 雖則沙田海一帶仍有煙霞。很久不見的藍天白雲竟然重現"江湖"。村中有一大一小兩教堂，登鹿巢山途中回望該村，背景為企 陡的馬鞍山，襯在其時無雲的碧空下，真有世外桃源之感。
天帝糞坑對上的小崗圍網內新建了水務設施，附近的山徑已被剷出一條隔火帶，距工地西面數百米之處的丘陵地亦有明顯車痕 。石壟仔石林真的巨石如林，它雖沒昆明石林的石塊高大，但是要穿梭其間，還是蠻廢勁的，當然亦頗為危險。石隙深闊都有 ，有時候要從一巨石頂越隙下跳兩米，到另一塊只有不及一平方米的石面，或是走在60度傾斜的石面上，也是一種挑戰。表面 粗糙如砂紙的火成岩，被侵蝕出無可名狀的怪模樣，各種大小橢圓的凹陷，縱橫的坑紋與及如波濤的曲紋。有的巨石如佛手柑 ，有的則似怒海中小艇。而貌似三角巧克力的要算最多，實在另人垂涎！另有一石如劍拔弩張的眼鏡蛇，亦有一橫架它石間的 三角石柱，表面竟無明顯蝕紋。遙見山谷中的梅子林村有大片空置梯田，不知將有何發展。遊過上方的石林後折返，經414出鹿 巢坳下引水道離開，抵梅子林路過橋位時發現剛才在石林看到的梯田，便是這兒。從前的一些寮屋及果田全都被剷去了，路口 有政府的官地牌豎著，也有工程在進行中。

Mt Stenhouse+Ling Kok 陰山+菱角山

Smoggy　 BF3-5　20^oC
What a dismal day it seemed when I woke up to a smoggy sky with high wind. Setting off early at a brisk pace from Soku, we hiked uphill from Mo Tat [模達]. From then on, we had met no other persons until we're down at Lo So Shing [蘆鬚城]. It became more dangerous hopping among boulders, with such a strong wind blowing in from the SE. The first spot we've visited was the Crescent Moon Rock [月牙石], one might say that it's a pair of horns too. The other side of the rock face tended to slant downwards, one could not lie on the "moon" in an easy manner. Then there're the Bread Loaf, the Puppy [or Mickey with pointed ears?], the Dying Whale [垂死鯨石], the Tank and the Gecko Walls [壁虎岩]. We tried to brace ourselves up the walls in turns, posing for photos. Rock- strewn slopes with tumbled tors were common. The most exhilarating part of Ling Kok Shan [菱角山] was its winding tunnel [九曲地道]. We had to enter on all fours. A few metres inside, the ceiling became higher, we could then stretch our backs again. Some more metres ahead, we're forced to proceed on all fours again. At the next corner, we decided to retreat for lunch, without venturing the rest of the tunnel. The draught inside seemed to be alright so far ... no stench.
Unlike those on Ling Kok, trails on Mt Stenhouse was unpaved. Not only was they unpaved, sections of them had formed small erosion gullies. The wind seemed to howl even more, the higher we climbed. It was impossible to talk without gulping in lungfuls of raging wind. The Phallus Rock [陽元石] and the Ink Pad Rock [墨硯石] were just beside the path, whereas the Finger Rock was somewhat further away on one side. The Finger Rock [手指石] looked like a mobile phone from another angle, while the first one looked as if it was a giant paw pushing other rocks away from it. Soon we're at the trigon. pole, some minutes were spent exploring the indistinct trail down to Ha Mei Tsui [下尾咀]. Time did not allow us to stay any longer, hence we had to retrace our steps to the pole, then started our downhill leg to the Human Head Rock [人頭石] and the Eagle Beak Rock [鷹咀石]. The former also looked like someone was wearing a helmet of medieval era. People also see this rock as a Monster from below, yet I could only take it as some kind of toy animal made by Lego cubes. This was the only place where the 'dreamy' sun had tried its best to pop out its head for some precious minutes.
Just when we're ready to leave for the Buffalo and the Bullhead Rocks, the eastern sky looked as if it was going to pour. Though I couldn't say there's a leaden sky, the whole area on that side was blanketed with dark grey mist. There seemed to be some devils hidden behind the 'curtain'. On the other hand, the sun in the west was retreating, which had sent me a tint of worry. We hurried through a dense forest before emerging somewhere near those 2 rocks we're looking for. Yet, we didn't have the heart to search for them anymore. After a brief scan of the slopes, we rushed downhill towards Lo So Shing beach. It was strange that numerous police cordon tapes were found along the trails we'd just visited, ie, ever since we have gone up Ling Kok Shan. None of us had heard anything about a police search in the area concerned .... Reaching the paved paths off Lo So Shing Beach, I began to look for the newly set up giant wind turbine. I'd seen it while on the hills, it was turning clockwise behind the saddle near Hung Shing Ye Beach [洪聖爺灣]. However, even the policeman at Yung Shu Wan [ 榕樹灣] was only able to tell me a rough direction, we decided to leave it this time. It was dusk by then, I could only pay a brief visit to the squatter huts [with poles as supports down beneath the huts] along the O Tsai [澳仔] beach, before catching the ferry back home.

Ngau Kwo Lo,Dragon Boat Reef 牛過路+龍船石

Hazy with sunshine　BF0-1　23^oC　photos 相簿
八時許往海下的小巴不單沒有滿座，而且大部份人都在北潭涌之前下了車。發現了一條新開的暗徑，一路上都綁有一截截的警 察封鎖膠帶，大概是上年夏天那次搜山時留下的。嘗試沿該徑上山，大抵上多障礙物，還差數十米到山頂時更路徑分叉了，向 上那條結果不通行，需退回一點，然後入向西的支徑。那是上次定向比賽時來往起終點與賽事中心之間的指定山徑，不似之前 那條一直穿越樹林，這條較為開陽。可憐的是在我們找路時，曾於越過藤蔓時沾上了一身黑蟻，牠們叮人是頗疼的，幸沒發炎 。走回正路當然步速快多了，不消多久便抵達山上的平地。風微，四周都濃罩在煙霾中，陽光怎樣努力也驅不散它。只能隱約 看得見赤洲，近處的銀洲才清晰些。隔著赤門海峽的鳳凰笏頂像巨無霸的長臂般橫伸著，像是要擋住內陸吹來的毒霧。憑著定 向地圖輕易穿林過山，穿過林中的廢田不久，便要改換地形圖。一路上有數種指路帶，但是其中一種綁的位置有誤導成份，還 是靠自己吧！終於望見鵝頸咀，知道離小塘營不遠。將抵營舍前的一大片山坡已成劣地，希望此情形不要惡化擴大！那劣地的 小沖溝如樹根般向四面八方伸展。繞過荔枝莊廢田往大白角看龍船石，那兒的石質跟馬屎洲的相似，近碼頭處的較多色彩，另 一邊則多黑燧石層。吃過乾糧後上攀只有稀疏灌木的白角仔，繼而越過雞麻峒下蛇石坳。雞麻峒的南坡又是大片的劣地，唉！
在蛇石坳路交處一樹上竟釘了一張褪色照片，上有一句罵人話及張炳X的簽名。照片中好像是柏麗大道之類的購物街，人來人往 ，看來沒一個是主角，真不明為何會被釘在樹上，是又一個九龍皇帝的傑作嗎？上石屋山時正值一時許，隨身的簡陋寒暑表在 樹蔭下測得26度，陽光下則超過32度！加上該段無風及大部份時候無遮蔭，悶熱難耐。雖說那表不大準確，但感覺上開陽處應 有26度以上。深涌草坪上一個鮮橙色的營幕很是奪目，三杯酒躺在寧靜的企嶺下海中，令巨靈般的馬鞍山更顯得高聳入雲。沿 山腰一路微微上行，最終接上坳門的草坪，以及熟識的小片白千層林。路經嶂上營地對出的一些垃圾箱，牛群正在翻弄一地的 垃圾，不知垃圾是給牛弄出來的，還是本來就給棄在地上。其中有大量的發泡膠碗，大概是殘羹的味道引來了牛隻，其中一隻 還正在用牙弄開一個綁了結的膠袋呢！為何牠們好好地有草不吃？本來打算下龍坑旁的小徑，但當看到烈日正照著那邊山坡時 ，便改變了主意，轉為向岩頭山的隔火路走去。那兒其實也並不大好走，只因草頭濕滑。下抵坳位再轉入林中石磴古道，不用 說那是更陰暗濕滑的了。近山腳時有廢村，不久便接上車路經高塘的一些別墅旁出北潭路。