The Tigers Head Discovery Bay Hike is another hike I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time and glad to say I’ve finally done it. Part of the problems is getting there, for those who follow my posts you know I like to drive out and back, especially in the middle of summer when, by the time you’ve finished, you’re not smelling too good. Anyway, My original plan for the Tigers Head Discovery Bay Hike was to start at Discovery Bay, hike up to Tigers Head, down to Pak Mong then up Sunset Peak via an unnamed trail then back down to Tung Chung. That didn’t eventuate because the Tigers Head Discovery Bay Hike is more difficult than I imagined and was one of those days that was 33 degrees, 90% humidity with absolutely no wind.
I parked at Tung Chung (CityGate Mall), took a taxi to Discovery Bay (because apparently the bus takes over an hour). This was a first getting a taxi to Discovery Bay and quickly discovered Taxi’s can only drop you off at two places. Anyway no biggie, a 15 minute walk to the start of the Tigers Head Discovery Bay Hike trail and up I went. This is almost straight up, like tackling the twins, except there’s no shelter from the sun, no wind and I knew I’d be in for a long day as soon as I started. I’ve done Sunset Peak and Lantau back to back, quite a few 20km hikes in the middle of summer and run/hike up and around the Peak or the Twins three times a week and I was buggered half way up Tigers Head Discovery Bay Hike. It was so fuckin hot I’d drunk a litre of Pocari Sweat and half a litre of water before I’d reached half way. This wasn’t any fun at all. It’s not far up, in the cooler months I can see how this would be a lot easier but today, or rather last week, it was absolutely brutal and not one of my favourite hikes, simply because of the heat and lack of wind. Also the pollution was in full effect and that makes a difference.
The top bit is steep, there’s a bit of short cut marked by red ribbons, I took that. Once at the top there was a little bit of wind, but I knew I’d have to abandon sunset peak. The views were ok, as mentioned it was one of those (hundreds) of smoggy, polluted hay days. You look all over Discovery Bay and I can imagine on a clear the views would be awesome looking back to Hong Kong. Going down to Pak Mong was more fun, some excellent running trails but no shade for pretty much most of the way. There’s no views over Discovery Bay Golf Course, Mui Wo and some nice little rock formations along the way. By this stage of my Tigers Head Discovery Bay Hike I was thinking I’d fill up with water at Pak Mong, perhaps have some lunch, a rest, then head up Sunset Peak. However little did I know that Pak Ong Village has absolutely nothing. No shops or restaurants, at least on the main paths. Perhaps you need to take some detours, regardless, I was kind of glad in a way because hiking up Sunset Peak in that heat with no wind would have been an absolute nightmare.
So I passed by Pak Mong Village, took what is supposedly the Olympic Trail along the Airport Highway road and ran back to Tung Chung. Overall this took me about 3-3 1/2 hrs and was no longer than 14km. The usual run/hike I do around the Peak is 13km and that’s doable in 1 1/2 hrs up and back so you can see how tough it was. I’d like to do the Tigers Head Discovery Bay Hike on a cooler day and clearer day some time.
Info in buses here
And a few more images of Tigers Head Discovery Bay Hike
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