Tuesday, March 3, 2015

West Dog's Teeth (Kau Nga Ling - 狗牙嶺)

(Updated: 2021/01/02)
Duration: 7.5 kilometers (4 hours)

Difficulty: 8/10. There's scrambling so if you are afraid of heights, not a good one for you!

Cel phone coverage: Everywhere

Water needs: 1.5 liter. 20% shaded.

Appreciation: 10/10. Very scenic

Transportation: MTR to Tung Chung, then bus #11 or #23 (gets quite busy on weekends). Or ferry to Mui Wo, then bus #1 or #2. Get off at "Shek Pik Police Station" (Police stand. Right before the dam. Or, next one right after the dam if you missed it. There are toilets right after the dam)
Return via various buses at Big Buddha or via cable car to Tung Chung.

Why it's worth it:


Map & Details: 




Exercise Area: No
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Get off at "Shek Pik Police Station" (police stand). That's the stop right before the Shek Pik reservoir.

From the stop, retrace your step in the direction the bus came from (so, opposite the dam). There's a sidewalk all the way on the left.

After about 500m, you'll arrive at the Country Park entrance.
Go past the barrier and keep walking towards the first bridge, about 100m away

Take the bridge and just follow the path. There's no really any other way but for the well delimited path

Some stairs... keep going... the path will meander. 





About 1 hour into the hike (~3.3km), you'll arrive here. That's where you leave the path and start your ascent on the "teeth" proper (the ridge). On your right, there's a red sign warning not to climb the rock, danger, blah blah, and white markings on the rock. Well, that's where you're climbing buddy! The next 500m or so is quite heavy scrambling. 

The rest is pretty straightforward; while there's no "official" path, the ground is beaten from the many hikers that have taken it and you won't get lost. Furthermore, you're on the ridge so, there isn't anywhere else to go. Look back from time to time as it is very picturesque!




Final destination (Da Big Budha/Ngong Ping) will be on your left while you're climbing the ridge



This is the rock formation that will mark the end of your climb for today.

About 5.3km/2h 40min in, you are virtually done climbing (just a tiny bit more, and easy).
Keep going towards the top, don't take the path that is going down. The rock that you see up at a distance...

... is this rock. You are done climbing. And you are now on Lantau trail.
The stairs on your left will lead you to Ngong Ping, the end of your trip. There are a lot of stairs though...

Almost at the end. Go straight

Budha in sight. Buses and the cable-car are not far behind.
A superb trail!

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Please, don't litter!

Hiking is about communion with nature. So please pickup after yourself. There's no excuse to leave plastic bags, water bottles or any rubbish on or around the trails; if you managed to bring it, you can manage to bring it back!