Owing to my family’s circumstances, I did not go hiking for
more than two months. I missed the beautiful, transient spring in the
countryside. I finally joined some friends for a short hike in Sai Kung on
Tuesday. Unfortunately, the weather was unstable, and it had been raining on
and off since Friday. How frustrating!
On Monday morning, the rain started again. After some
exchanges of views over WhatsApp, we agreed to wait until 7 o’clock the next
day before making the final decision on whether to continue with the plan. Anne,
living closest to the hiking route, volunteered to give us the latest weather
update on Tuesday morning.
I went to bed after 2:00 am on Tuesday morning and got up at
6:30 am. Peeking through the curtain, I saw that the sky
was packed with clouds, but there was no rain. I checked the weather report on the observatory
app, and it forecast a 40% chance of rain in the next four hours. I was
indecisive about whether I should suggest calling off the trip.
Anne sent us the whole observatory forecast report at 6:51 am. At 7 o’clock, I sent out a message that it was not raining in my area, and asked if everyone would like to continue. Nobody replied. I hesitated for a while but reminded myself I needed the trip. So, I got dressed, took my camera and put it in a plastic bag, and left for the bus stop to catch the 7:15 bus.