River trekking

River trekking or river tracing is a form of hiking or outdoor adventure activity, particularly popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and, in some ways, similar to canyoning or canyoneering. River trekking is a combination of trekking and climbing and sometimes swimming along the river. It involves particular techniques like rock climbing, climbing on wet surfaces, understanding the geographical features of river and valleys, knotting, dealing with sudden bad weather and find out possible exits from the river.

River Trekking in Different Countries

Hong Kong

River trekking has developed in Hong Kong since mid-20th century. Currently, there are numerous hiking groups organize regular trekking activities in Hong Kong. However, river trekking is a bit underground. There are no formal schools, formal coaches, formal sites, official recognition or qualifications on river trekking, even though it involves particular skills and certain level of risks. In Hong Kong, any natural rivers can be found in the country side, there would be the possible sites for river trekking.

Attractions and Popularity

River trekking is especially popular in Hong Kong because it is totally a surprise that in this highly developed region are preserved a number of excellent geographical features in its rivers in the countryside. Through river trekking, it is possible to access numerous waterfalls, large ponds, pot holes, other special geographical features as well as special species of animals and plants. Also, it is a very cheap activity in comparison with other challenging outdoor activities like rock climbing, rowling and wind-surfing. No training courses are needed because there is no one in Hong Kong who would provide training for river trekking. However, river trekking has long been one of the most popular outdoor activities in Hong Kong, even though most of the river trekking routes or sites are indicated as "danger" or "no entry" by the government. There is a trend that more and more foreigners and even tourists are taking part in this activity.

The Nine Big Rivers

The Nine Big Rivers (九大石澗) are the nine rivers that are most popular among river trekkers in Hong Kong. The Nine Big Rivers include:

*Tai Shing River (大城石澗), located in Tsuen Wan
*Wan Chung River (橫涌石澗), located in Tai Po
*Ng Tung River (梧桐石澗), located in Tai Po
*Wong Lung River (黃龍石澗), located on Lantau Island near Tung Chung
*Sheng Luk River (雙鹿石澗), located in Sai Kung
*Man Cheng Po (萬丈布), located in the west of Lantau Island
*Lotus River (蓮花石澗), located in Tai Lam Country Park
*Ngon Sam River (昂深石澗), located on Lantau Island near Great Buddha
*Ping Nam River (屏南石澗), located close to the border between Hong Kong and mainland China

Taiwan

This sport is popular throughout Taiwan, where it is generally called river tracing (溯溪).

Rating of Difficulties

As river trekking has a certain level of risk, experienced river trekkers or hiking groups have developed rating systems about difficuties on different rivers. The ratings usually are various from 1 to 5 stars, even though a few rivers can be more than 5 stars because of their extreme difficulties. Such ratings are largely subjective, depends largely on river trekker's own experience. Therefore, different people or hiking groups would give different number of stars on the same river. According to Hong Kong Adverntruer, an English Website about hiking and river trekking in Hong Kong, difficult scale of different rivers as:

*1 star: can be handled by normal healthy persons
*2 stars: not too easy
*3 stars: fairly difficult
*4 stars: difficult, absolutely not for beginners
*5 stars: very difficult, very demanding in term of strength and skill

Risk and Danger

River trekking has certain level of risk. There are occasional accidents in river trekking, including falls from steep cliffs or waterfalls, drownings, exhaustion, or getting lost. Risks that should be prepared for include the following:

First, sudden changes in weather, like rainstorms, can cause rapid rises in water levels and speed in the river. Also, the number of viable paths and climbing areas inside the river valley would be reduced suddenly in a very short period. Besides this, bad or misty weather would also cause low visibility. Low visibility may come in to quickly for trekkers to adapt to. Therefore, a torch (flashlight), preferably a head-mounted one, is a must for river trekking.

Second, steep cliffs inside river valleys require a certain level of rock climbing skills. However, because of the humid environment inside the river valley, some rock surfaces can be very wet and some rocks can be very loose despite appearing solid. To deal with such wet climbing conditions, a pair of professional river-trekking boots are strongly advised.

Damage to Stream Systems Caused by River Trekking

Due to the increasing popularity of river trekking, the activity has resulted in some damage to certain streams. The most noticeable kinds of damage are:

* Rubbish left by river trekking groups
* Use of aerosol spraypaints to mark route directions on rocks and trees
* Discarded climbing equipment and unnecessary bolting
* Damage to trees and other flora when used as leverage by trekkers
* Graffiti written in paint, ink and correction fluid

Such damage is, unfortunately, quite common in Hong Kong and goes against the philosophy of leave no trace, which most outdoor adventure sports adhere to.

ee also

*Canyoning
*Hiking
*Geography of Hong Kong
*Country parks and conservation in Hong Kong
*Ecology of Hong Kong

External links

*HK adventurer, an English website about hiking in Hong Kong includes many river trekking routes
*http://www.hkadventurer.com

*HK Waterfall, an English website about waterfalls and river trekking in Hong Kong
*http://hkwaterfall.net/

*越野雄心, a river trekking website (in Chinese) http://hk.geocities.com/outdoorriver/river.htm