Out of all the locals and foreigners who helped me (both on the Hong Kong Trail and throughout Hong Kong), one person remained memorable to me until this day. Failing to follow in his footsteps, let me call him 'grandfather' as his identification who happened to be my unofficial trail guide of the Hong Kong Trail Section 6. Let's get started!
Starting the trail right, or so I thought.
After munching my trail food at the end of Hong Kong Trail Section 5, I was excited to do one more section of the Hong Kong Trail. Despite not having high hopes that I will be able to finish up to Section 8, I still feel good about this day compared to my first day of hiking (Section 1-3). I said, what could go wrong today?
Resuming my walk, I saw a healthy man who I assumed was in his 70s. Wearing a casual khaki shorts and a collared shirt, I thought he couldn't be hiking no? He was also walking ahead of me and there was quite a distance between me and him. So I just went on with my fantastic mood. I took my sweet time and even took selfies which was rare.
After passing distance posts, I can still see him ahead of me. I finally assumed he was walking on the same trail as I was. So I just followed him blindly and I stopped checking the map either. As we walked further, I was sure he was finally aware of my presence. He kept looking back (at me) before we reached the Tai Tam Upper Dam.
Crossing the Tai Tam Upper Dam
As we reached the dam, Grandfather didn't even stop to look at the beautiful scenery in front of us. The distance between us was getting longer but I wanted to savor the scenery. I was torn whether to stop for photos or continue following him.
But when will I get the chance again? Not tomorrow nor in the next year or so for sure. And I'm starting to lose sight of him. I am running out of time. Think Rochelle, come on.
Confused state of mind
At this point, I'm pretty much disoriented and that whole minute of thinking felt like a lifetime. By now you probably know, that I can go from a fantastic mood in a minute and then disoriented in the next. So going back to the debate inside my head, I tried to do both. I quickly took picture after picture (yet not fully absorbing the beauty of it) then quickly picked my pace.
Both of us crossed the dam and turned left. He is still walking ahead of me with his back to my sight. Then, a signpost caught my attention. 'Oh, another signpost....' I whispered to myself.
A few meters after passing the signpost, there's a slight itch at the back of my mind that I can't pinpoint. Was it the signpost or the left turn? Curiosity kills the cat. I stopped walking and lost sight of Grandfather. He probably noticed that I was not on his tail anymore but I couldn't care less by now. I'm too absorbed in the itch and way more disoriented than before crossing the dam. It took me a full minute to finally snap back to reality.
'Ah, it's the signpost! It's not the Hong Kong Trail's distance post!
I snapped back to reality and realized I was being complacent all this time. I trusted Grandfather but what if he's going to a different trail? At this point, all my rainbows and butterflies are gone. After having a hard time looking for the trailhead of Section 5, am I lost again? I'm not even bad at directions! Where did it go wrong?
Backtracking once again
Now that I got a hold of the situation, I walked backward. I checked different paths and crossed the dam multiple times but couldn't find the correct signpost. I was now frantically looking for them and I swear I've looked at the map several times to cross-examine my knowledge.
No matter where I go, the signposts are not there. My confidence about directions hit an all-time low since this is the 2nd incident of the day. But isn't this a wish of mine earlier? To enjoy the view? Wish granted by the universe but I'm as anxious as ever.
Eventually, I stopped sulking. I decided to let go of everything. I took several more photos to my heart's content.
Amidst the inner battles in my mind, the water in the reservoir is so calm. It's as if nothing chaotic is happening out there (a.k.a. the protesters struggling with their battle with the police/government).
I walked back again to the other side of the dam and took more photos from different angles. As I was browsing my photos from the viewfinder, I almost shouted Eureka!
Outside my bubble of overthinking
In the photo above (I hope it's visible), there's a fork at the end. Grandfather turned left while the trail continued on the right as per the trail map. But why did Grandfather turn left? And where were the signposts? This threw me off in the wrong direction and realized I was projecting Grandfather's trail into the map the whole time.
Coming back to my thoughts, I checked the trail on the right and followed it. The trail signposts finally showed up so I continued my walk while gaining back my confidence. I walked a few more meters only to find out that the trail on the left (where Grandfather went) and the trail on the right merged in the end.
Man, the time I spent overthinking, getting anxious and even having a distrustful mind. What a fool. Should I laugh? Fully awake from what just happened, I was trying to shift my perspective on what I should learn from this experience. Is it teaching me to trust others? Or not being fully dependent on others?
Fast forward to 2022 (at the time of writing), I still don't know the answer and that's okay. We don't usually get the answers we think we need. As I continue to tread my days forward, Grandfather as my (unofficial) trail guide in Hong Kong Trail Section 6 is a story I always revisit.
I guess the message is that whatever path we choose, we'll end up just fine. And don't project what's right into what's wrong. Plus, don't overthink, which I do a lot.
