Cows?

On a cool Sunday morning this past fall while adventuring in Hong Kong my fiance and I decided to experience some of the more remote aspects of the country. We boarded a boat in Central for the 1 hour ferry ride to Mui Wo located on the southeast side of Lantau Island; one of the country's less inhabited locales. This location provides a stark contrast to the busy life of Hong Kong with it's long sandy beach, vast forests, and relaxed lifestyle.  Upon reaching the island we caught a nearby bus to the 2nd stage of the 43 mile trail which travels roughly around the south side of the island. We had planned a 7 mile day hike traversing the 2nd and 3rd highest mountains in the country, Lantau Peak and Sunset Peak.

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Gaffing Craziness.

About 30', not bad for a first day.

So today I decided to try something I've never had the chance to do before but always wanted to; today I climbed a tree without branches. Given it did have branches, but not until about the 30 foot mark.

Now I'm not a lumberjack, or a linesman, or signal operator or anything of the sorts; this is just something I decided would be a great idea at the time. A few years ago I happened upon a set of pole gaffs at a flea market for $15; they looked quite old and a bit rusty, but still appeared to be functional so why not. Now if you're not familiar with pole gaffs  they basically look like the leg braces that Forrest Gump had on his legs as a child.  Attached to these braces are gaffs: small, sharpened metal spikes. These spikes stick into the bark of the tree and stick into the outermost layer of the wood and allow you to easily (subjective) climb up.

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