Mark Hiscoke embarked on a demanding solo trek across Hong Kong’s four major trails to raise funds for Batten Disease, pushing himself well beyond his comfort zone to celebrate his 50th birthday milestone. Read more and donate here. Let's get behind Mark and show your support - to reach the $10,000 goal!

A letter from Mark

I had an amazing experience Hiking the Hong Kong Four Trails to help raise funds and awareness for Batten Disease back here in Australia. 

I’m not afraid to admit hiking is probably not my forte, so this experience got me out of my comfort zone but at the same time was equally rewarding knowing I was doing something bigger than myself to hopefully help others in need. 

The journey was full of highs and lows and since I did this hike solo I had plenty of time to think…! 

Hiking in Hong Kong (HK) is definitely something different to hiking here in Australia, with little to no flat terrain you were forever either heading up a mountain or coming down one, and if I never see another stair again it won’t be too soon! There are no switchbacks up or down mountains or hills in HK, they are just straight up paths of steep stairs all the way to the top!

Doing the Wilson Trail (my 3rd trail), was my toughest trail. Although not the longest out of the four it’s considered the most difficult, due to the elevation gains. I did the trail in reverse and towards the end of day one coming down “The 8 Immortals” (8 peaks in quick succession) and nearing dark I rolled my ankle badly; snap, crackle, pop! I managed to get myself down and found a service road that I followed to safety but needed a couple of days to rest and asses where to from here. Afterwards, I made the probably silly decision to battle on and try and finish this leg of the 300km challenge, heavily strapped with the aid of my trusty hiking pole. 

Although previous to my ankle mishap I found going up hill the most challenging however afterwards I found going uphill better than downhill as I was constantly having to load weight onto a bad ankle on the way down. 

After pushing through the brutal ups and downs to the end of the Wilson Trail I decided the smartest decision, after some near mishaps to what was most likely small tears to my ankle ligament, I decided that the smartest decision would be to postpone the last trail of the hike (Lantau Trail 70km), taking my total number of kilometres completed so far to 240km, with an elevation gain of over 10,700m. 

My contingency plan if I didn’t finish the hike in HK was to make up the kilometers by completing the 80km Bondi to Manly walk which will take me up to just over 300km in total (my goal). 

Stay tuned for the date of this, it’s an 80km hike that I hope to do over the course of 1.5 days!

Mark Hiscoke

Some photos of the journey below