Hiker: M. John Fayhee, author together with editor
executive summary past times darmansjah
I heard most this trail equally a nestling from my Uncle Jack, a retired sergeant major inwards the British Army. The mount footpaths that were eventually spliced together to brand a continuously marked proper trail had been used forever for fitness competitions betwixt the diverse national components of the British Army. Uncle Jack, equally macho a someone equally has always been bred, genuinely graciously deferred to the Gurkhas of Nepal when he described the MacLehose. He stated that, tough equally he together with "his lads" were, they could non concur a candle to the famed Gurkhas. I hiked this trail inwards 1987 over the class of a calendar week together with it kicked my ass. —M. John Fayhee
Length: 62 miles
The Details: While Hong Kong may survive i of the most densely populated places on the planet, the surrounding New Territories are rural together with quiet—and they are tough terra firma to hike. The MacLehose Trail makes constant, grueling 1,000-plus-foot descents followed directly past times ascents along the fingers of ridgetops, making it to a greater extent than challenging than its mileage suggests.
The trail is broken downwardly into 10 sections, starting at the stunning eastern beaches earlier climbing upwards into tropical mountains, where monkeys chatter from the branches—watch out for cobras—and winding past times 3,140-foot Tai Mo Shan, the highest peak inwards the area. It unremarkably takes v to half-dozen days to consummate the trail, which has been made a flake easier since the days of the Gurkhas amongst rock steps together with paths together with first-come-first-serve costless campgrounds. Occasional nutrient vendors offering to a greater extent than comfort along the way. When you lot are done, accept a cab dorsum to a hotel inwards the metropolis. When to Go: Winter (November-March) is best since summertime is really humid.
About Fayhee: Besides beingness an practiced on the fine arts of smoking cigars together with occupying a barstool, author M. John Fayhee has spent a lot of fourth dimension walking across the planet together with observing nature together with the humans who see it. The sometime contributing editor at Backpacker together with author of Smoke Signals: Wayward Journeys Through the Old Heart of the New West (Raven's Eye Press, 2012) was also the longtime editor of the Mountain Gazette, where he built upwards a faithful tribe of mountain-town followers who eagerly awaited his monthly columns. An unassuming heir to Henry Thoreau, Edward Abbey, together with Hunter S. Thompson, Fayhee has constitute inspiration on trails from Mexico's Copper Canyon to the Rockies’ Continental Divide, but his bucket listing trail is inwards i of the world's largest cities.