On Sunday, my dad and I went on a hike to Mt. Collinson. Mt. Collinson is at the north end of the Dragon’s Back, which is near Shek O. The Dragon’s Back is a high ridge that has great views west and east. According to Wikipedia the Dragon’s Back was selected by TIMEasia as the best urban hiking trail so it is very popular. We have walked it before but did not go up Mt. Collinson. On the way there, it was raining, but luckily by the time we started hiking the rain had stopped. We got up to the top of the Dragon’s Back and thought we had done most of the hard work (we were wrong!). The path along the Dragon’s Back is very easy and we continued along it until we came to Mt. Collinson. Very few people climb Mt. Collinson because the path leading up to it is not marked and you can barely see it. The path is very narrow as you can see from this picture 
When we started climbing, the path was very wet. We slipped a huge amount. Because my dad was at the front, he got a lot of spider webs in his face and his clothes were wet because he brushed against the wet trees that overhung the trail. Some of the spiders in the webs were pretty big. When we were near the top, we saw a orange crab scuttling across the trail.We took a few photos of it. They aren’t very clear, but if you look closely you can see the orange claw near the base of the small tree. it was a real surprise especially as we had seen a smaller crab on Mt. Parker in an earlier hike. The crab was really brave – when I moved close to it, it didn’t run away but lifted its claws like it was ready to fight!
When we finally got to the top, the sun was out and we ate our sandwiches at the trig station and enjoyed the view over Big Wave Bay and the sea to the east. We could also see a big black cloud moving north over the Dragon’s Back.
Trig Station on Mount Collinson
It was a very hard climb down Mt. Collinson on the north side because it was steep and slippery. We went slowly but slipped a few times so when we got to the bottom we were filthy with mud. Overall, I think climbing Mt. Collinson was fun but wouldn’t recommend you doing it unless you are a really keen hiker, although my dad says it would be a better walk in winter after a period with no rain. It was really satisfying to climb somewhere that few people get to, and it leaves only 2 more mountains on Victoria Island for us to climb!
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