After the first successful attempt in 2021, TrailWatch organised another year of accessible fall foliage tours in 2022 and conducted a total of 8 sessions. It was the first time to a country park for many of them, and some even had never been to the Yuen Long district before. For those who have been to country parks, it was also their first time seeing fall foliage.
There is a lack of public transportation to the starting point of the Tai Tong Sweet Gum Woods; therefore, this time TrailWatch arranged Barrier-free taxis to pick up wheelchair users. We had participants traveled by car but sadly they encountered unethical parking that someone took the accessible parking space without having a parking permit.
After entering the country park, the trail is generally flat but with a few uphill sections which made it slightly challenging for some caretakers and self-propelled wheelchair users. However, we were thankful to fellow hikers taking the initiative to offer help whenever they noticed the wheelchair users were in need of assistance and these helpful offerings smoothed the experience of our participants.
One of the participants likes to draw and she shared that she seldom had the opportunity to detailly look at the texture and form of the branches in person. She took plenty of photos so she can refer to them when she draws at home later. Another participant also brought along a camera to capture the beauty of red leaves. There were two families joining together and it was both their first time to visit the Tai Tong Sweet Gum Woods. They were joyful that they could spend some family time with their children. During one of the sessions, a participant was so excited that she tried to leave her wheelchair briefly and walked several steps just to touch the tree. We were amazed by the healing power of nature.
After two years of trials, TrailWatch hopes not only to explore accessible trails in country parks but also to host more activities for wheelchair users and become a bridge between wheelchair users and country parks, so that more people can go into nature and enjoy it.