Razor Hill ... Shek Nga Shan 鷓鴣山...石芽山

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The day was chilly, overcast and had intermittent drizzles. Yet, to me, the first two conditions made it a wonderful day for hiking. Besides, the hiking group I joined met my preferences very much since they departed sharply on time, had no smokers, and have no break of more than half an hour [on a later trip with them, it was found that not all of their leaders banned smoking, what a pity!]. We started going up Yau Yu Wan [魷魚灣] Traditional Trail at Razor Hill. As one could realise form its name, the slopes of this hill was steep. Its ridge rose upwards gradually with several small peaks. Disappointingly, the haze and drizzles made it almost impossible to view the scenery properly. At the trigonometrical pole, I only had a short break for photo-taking, then we had to rush in order not to become frozen up there. The descend was somewhat slippery at certain spots, though the one done later at Shek Nga Shan [石芽山] was all the more slippery.
Crossing Clear Water Bay Road, we took a lane between Pik Uk Prison and a village, bounding for Hebe Hill [尖風山]. At Lower Hebe Hill [葵拗山], a hidden path led us pass beside Hebe Knoll, then down to Nam Pin Wai [南邊圍]. This part of the leg covered mostly indistinct paths in the forest. From Nam Pin Wai onwards, we took the vehicle track to Kai Ham [界咸], passing by a golf course. The path leading uphill to the ruin of Tai No [大腦] Village was hidden behind a boarded up small construction site. The stone steps led us to the side of an almost dried up waterfall of Wong Chung [黃涌石澗]. After a break outside a clan house, we headed for the Maclehose Trail via Sheung Yeung [上 洋]. The path cut through a thick bamboo wood, out of this wood, a maze of trails in the sea of sedges lie before our eyes. Such a maze did look like a brain [Tai No]. Spectacular views came into sight ever since we ascended West Buffalo Hill [黃牛山]. Sharp peaks of Buffalo Hill [水牛山] and Shek Nga Shan seemed to compete with that of Ma On Shan. At Ngau Au [牛坳], we turned south-west for Fa Sum Hang [花心坑] where Kwong Yuen [廣 源] Estate was within hearing distance.

Ho Hok to Tai Lam 蠔殼山>掌牛山>四排石山至大欖

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從兩個可能路口中選了較近的一個，那即是從油站旁路口進入。可是地圖上部份路被封了，後來得村民指點才得以越閘上蠔殼山。但仍沒有山路，只有一片剛從山火中復原的雜草地。山頭上有著十分遼闊的景觀，只是霧還沒全散去，一些較高的山頭，譬如雞公嶺就蓋了一頂小白帽。由於四周大部份是本地少有的平原區，十八鄉，元朗市中心，錦田及八鄉等，全都盡入眼簾。今天本來是約好了去薄刀屻的，但天氣預告說有霧又有微雨，惟有改地方，結果卻十分好陽光又熱！加上初時的兩山不屬於郊野公園，植物不高又少，更覺炎熱。不知是否只有元朗區好天氣呢？
下一個山丘便是掌牛山，這山比前一個高一點，接著的四排石山則再高些。從掌牛山開始便有不少大小沖蝕溝，跟青山大冷水的差不多。而大欖郊遊徑自四排石山起始，很多石級面已被侵蝕，令得那直豎著的石屎板有機會絆倒下山的人。郊遊徑接麥徑的永吉橋段，繼後我們訪伯公凹的其中兩間小廟宇。後應要求改下麥徑十段走塘畔迂迴小徑出掃管笏，並加遊黃金海岸。在水塘範圍的車路上，不時有私家車風馳電掣的經過，彎也沒先響號，對行人做成很大危險。那不是限制道路嗎？以前已常聽到有遊人不滿，我也在吉慶橋那兒見過不少私家車經過，活像無王管。其實這次我有遇過漁護處巡邏，可是那時還未碰上私家車。