On recent walks over the hill path from Luk Chau to Lo Tik Wan (the one that was going to be paved until residents protested--thanks Alan for organising the lamma paths website), my friends and I have noticed that quite a few rocks have been taken out of the ground along the path and thrown off the side. On Sunday I heard the sound of stone being hit with a hammer and noticed (and heard - I think they were speaking cantonese, but I am not certain) two men (one with mountain bike) on that stretch of path. my friend confirmed today that more rocks have been dug out of the path and thrown to the side and there are noticeable holes in the earth where the rocks were. This is already a seriously eroded section of path, about two mins walk before you reach the youth hostel main path, and this kind of activiity seems certain to encourage more erosion.

has anyone else noticed this? Is it illegal? What can be done to prevent people from destroying paths in this way? any ideas?

These paths are used, and even maintained, by mountain bikers as well as hikers. When organising the anti-concrete path protest some supported us. I'll ask some if they know anything.

thanks, Alan. I'll be interested to know what you find out. if it's a genuine attempt to preserve the path, that's great. but it doesn't look so good right now...

A lot of the mountain bikers actively maintain the paths as well as 're-open' old ones, some of which are now the best walks on the island.
There is a fine line between making a walk/cycle easier and erosion though but as I understand it one of the main organisers of the mountain bikers path clearing is an environmental engineer or some such and many of the paths have actually been 'reclaimed' and fortified.

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Yes, I've heard similar things about overgrown paths in Pak Kok being quietly reclaimed by mountain bikers, even ideas for future local mountain bike championships. It's definitely a growing sport on Lamma.

I'll ask them about this path. Any map, minibeast?

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thanks for the info, all. given what you say maybe my original assessment is too hasty. if someone who knows what they are doing is involved in this project, hopefully the path can really be improved for both bikers and walkers. that would be beneficial of course. then maybe the title of the topic can be changed to "hill path being improved"?

a good map of the area can be found through a link on the save lamma website at: http://home.pacific.net.hk/~sargent/ltp ... lcpath.gif

I managed to haul my lard ass over hills yesterday and saw all the ruts and erosion caused by the mountain bike brigade. Basically vandalism and hence why it is illegal for mountain bikes to tear around hillside in many parts ot the world. Not sure if it is legal in HK; but it shouldn't be.

I also like riding mountain bike .But mountain bike is a very destructive activity to the natural environment especially off-path riding.So I am only ride on concrete footpaths , although this make me losing fun.Really I am happy to know and appreciate that some bikers have the sense of responsiblity to repair what they have damage .However ,some sensitive area once damaged and erosion occurred are not easy to be recovered and don't say improved.Lose of surface soil and the formation of gullies will lead to bad land result . To recover the damages in such areas need many labours and money . I think holiday bikers will not ready to give out too much for recovery works and routine repair works .However I still hope the local bikers have more self-discipline and form a fund for recovery works . And also important is that they should limit their routes to some selected area hoping that this can help to minimize the scope and speed of damages and for repair works .
When you like something , you will undeliberately to find excuse or reasons to support yourself . So , be careful , don't blind yourselves and blind other people. Go out to see , the gullies on the slopes are getting deeper .When the rainy season comes ......the already delicated hillslope environment cannot suffer too much .Many works and responsiblity are waiting for you if you want to get fun from mountain bike activity .

Hi,
You might want a mountain biker opinion in here, I take the initiative.

The trail we call Snake Path (from the wind mill to the youth hostel) was cleared and made easy to use by mountain bikers about 10 years ago.

The Pak Kok Shan hill trail used to be an ancient path that you can still see on maps (check www.centamap.com ). The only access to the hill's top was a straight path - a rut - going all the way up. The trail which you can walk and ride now is nearly 3 years old for the easter section and 1 year old for the western section. After 3 rain seasons you can notice that it's not subject to erosion while it's ridden by mountain bikes at least one hundred times a week. It holds because the slopes are gentle and because the path is sightly off camber - all this preventing soil erosion.

Despite what people think mountain biking is not more damaging to the trails than hiking. Mountain bikers are really concerned about erosion since we don't like to see the trails rotting away. They've been some serious comparative studies made on erosion factors of different trail users group and bikes are coming equal with hikers (I'll post the reference later if you don't trust me).
If you want to get an example of very badly eroded paths by hikers only look at the hill above the first shelter (pagoda) on the "family path". Look at the state of the path going up the nearest hill to the youth hostel, look at the path linking Lo So Shing to the beach on the power station side. Those paths are extremely rarely ridden by bikes since it request a fantastic riding level. Those paths are giant ruts.
What is wearing out path is the "traffic" and the slope's gradient. For hikers or bikers, the highest the concentration is, the highest the erosion becomes - aggravated by the slope gradient and the soil nature.
People on foot systematically use the shortest link to go from a lower point to a higher point. The paths made this way are seen as "natural" but are actually the most damaging. It's a matter of trail configuration.

The only way to prevent further damage by erosion would be to build water drains on the steepest paths to avoid water streams to run straight down the paths and diverting the flow to the sides.
Some straight paths should be condemend and "erosion friendly" alternative paths should be created.
Their is techniques to erase the scares left by "natural" paths that I can explain for who ever want's to spend a couple of afternoon doing it.
But it's no point doing such a work without creating an alternative path - people will still climb up the hills the straightest way possible.

And to answer minibeast:
Moving away rocks is not an offence, such as clearing trails or trimming overgrowing scrub. People are not allowed to build permanent structures made of concrete and to cut trees (over a certain age - which I don't know).

I'm personaly against moving rocks off the paths because it's too hard to ride. I'll rather build up with stones to make it ride-able or simply get off my bike.

Thanks Jules for contributing a new perspective to this discussion.

I am not a mountain biker, I do not even ride a mountain bike. That, however, does not prevent me from appreciating the generous effort of a lot of Lamma mountain bikers in maintaining the various trails on Lamma - especially when I am one of those hikers who get to benefit from a fun and sometimes challenging hike up Mt. Stenhouse along some trails maintained by them.

How accurate when lyc said that when one loves the sports, one would do anything to preserve it and the environment - that's what the Lamma MTB riders have been doing - for years - without claiming credit as I see it. Let's not point our finger to those who devote their time and effort to maintain trails (imaging maintaing the trails on a very lovely and very hot summer day, on a weekend when you can just chill out with your friends and do nothing), and blame them for the inconsiderate action of possibly other riders who happen to ride mountain bikes on Lamma. For that matter, I doubt if it should be these people's responsibility to preserve the trails as "destroyed" by other, say, less committed and devoted bikers who come to Lamma and ride, dump rubbish along the trails and leave.

Big thanks to you mountain bikers on Lamma.