Here are the details:

Date: 30 November 2008

Time: 0830hrs – 1400hrs

Venue: Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Where to meet: 0830hrs sharp outside the visitor center toilet!

Fee: What fee? Its FREE! (Thanks Ana, for asking though)

We’ll be taking the smaller trials and this will probably take 3-4 hours, depending on the group size and speed. From my previous experience, there will be quite a lot of steps (enough to get you panting if you don’t train regularly), so be prepared.

According to the NParks Website, the yellow trial takes 2 hours. We’ll be taking the black route. Yes, that’s my drawing

You’d probably want to allocate until mid afternoon for the event, if you are an time planning fanatic like me.

Please post a comment this blog post to indicate your interest!

NOTE: Please don’t leave your contact numbers and email in the comment box, because this is a very public blog and you don’t know what people do with numbers they find on the net. Put your email only in the “email” field. I’ll get in touch with your via email.

Here is the group photo we took today. If you want the original hi-res photos, drop me a comment, and I’ll be in touch over email!

So what’s next, Kian Ann?

Ha ha… now that we’ve met up, we can work on some longer and more interesting treks (I see that today was kinda “no sweat” for many of you!).

Shall we go Bukit Timah next? What about Sat 30th August, or Sun 31st August? This will be slightly more challenging than today!

Meanwhile, I know many of you have plans to go overseas and are already looking for kakis! Heh… I’ll set the forum quick so you can communicate with each other!

More about it is reported here.

From the report, apparently the climbers met with the avalanche on their descent and K2 has the deadliest descent:

Those mountaineers who reach the peak have a much greater chance of dying while descending than on other peaks: 27 per cent have perished making their way back down – a rate three times higher than on Everest.

This is a real tragedy, and I express my deepest condolences to the families of the climbers – and lets all also pray for the best for the climbers who are still on the mountain fighting for their lives.

… and my belly’s got bigger too.

Well, I’m glad that I started this blog, if not I guess my trekking days will be over. Its great to know that over the year, the community has grown to a good size (at least enough to be a community!)

Recently, there has been a little more activity, and a few of us have decided to get started with a small activity – just as a warm up… lets go for a walk at MacRitchie Reservoir next weekend!

Here are the details:

Date: 10 August 2008 Sunny Sunday!

Time: Meet at 0815hrs (please come on time, we’ll leave at 0830hrs sharp!)

Where: Bus stop at MacRitchie Reservoir (refer to map below!)

What: Walk, 1 round MacRitchie ~ 2 – 3 hours, and get to know each other better! (so we can work on longer treks!)

Grade: Suitable for everyone! Bring water, cap, snacks (if you need) and insect repellant if you are very sensitive to insects.

Who: You! If you are reading this… and bring your friends along! No need to register or pay anything, but do leave a comment on this post, so we know approximately how many to expect!

Here’s the map and how to get there:

View Larger Map

Excited!

The trek crosses through high altitude regions with rivers, and passes, highest point being about 20,000 ft (about 6,000 meters). According to Ravi (our member), this trek is only suitable for people with experience trekking.

The trek is scheduled in the month of July, as this is the only month when these pass are accessible. The cost of the trek is about S$2000 apart from the air tickets.

Do drop a comment if you are interested, so I can connect you up with Ravi!

It seems like this community is growing, and there is a demand for details and contacts to get to the different treks in Malaysia. I apologise because I don’t have all the contacts at the moment, its been two years since I’ve been trekking regularly. But what I will do is I will start to compile them, and then put them up on this blog (or maybe start a wiki, so everybody can contribute?)

My guess is that I won’t be doing much trekking for the next few months. The uphill and downhill treks at Endau Rompin took the toll on my right knee. I might need to rest again for a few months, eat more nutritious food and do more soft exercises to build up my knee again. Argh.

But I won’t give up trekking. Too fun. Maybe no Kilimanjaro, but definitely there will be more Mount Ophirs, Gunung Stong etc.

After exchanging a few emails with the group, we figured most of us wanted a trek where we could just nuah (relax!) in the waterfalls, and isn’t too physically demanding. In the past, we always chose Lumbong (Pelepah) falls for a quick no-need-to-plan weekend getaway, but word has it that now there is a need of a permit (which costs money!) to enter the grounds, and we are not allowed to camp overnight there anymore.

So, the discussion brought us to the idea of exploring Ken waterfalls in Kota Tinggi. According to the BOAC website (that seems to be the only agency doing a trip there now), it seems to be a fairly easy trek – sounds even easier than Pelepah, with less than an hour of uphill trekking.

But the issue is that there doesn’t seem to be any resources online about where exactly the trail is, the administrative procedures (if necessary), how to get there and the condition (or availability) of a campsite.

Anyone been to Ken waterfalls before? Care to share some details?

Eventually, the momentum dies down and then we find either people trekking alone, or at maximum in pairs… and the rest of us give up the recreation completely.

I don’t want that to happen to me. I want to continue to take trips out of the busy city life even when I am 40, 50 or 60 – as long as it I am physically capable of overcoming the trails and obstacles.

So, I want to hear from you – where do YOU want to go this June/July? Gunung Tahan? Berkelah Waterfalls? Mount Ophir? I want to build a community from this website, so we can all meet and plan trips together.

And yes, it doesn’t matter if you are old or young – as long as you love the outdoors and you love mixing and meeting around with people… and you love trekking.

I’ll be hearing from you – where do you want to go?

According to a friend, the mountain’s terrain is not difficult technically, and the main issue concerning most trekkers is the altitude sickness.

Its still a year away, but I’m not taking any chances with my fitness. So, what treks shall I go for in 2007 to prepare me for Kilimanjaro in 2008?

Here are some which I think I need to conquer first – to conquer my fear of that 5000m mountain in Africa.

1. Gunung Tahan – a must go!
2. Gunung Rinjani – I heard the scenery is too breathtaking not to go!
3. Kinabalu – I want to go there again!
4. Mount Ophir – Maybe for a night trek to the sunrise

Apart from these, I think there will be a lot of Bukit Timah Hills and a lot of stairs climbing to do. I’ve already got my stairs climbing training schedule out, but I’m still reluctant to travel 2 hours to climb a 165m hill. Heh…

So onwards I plunge into 2007, onwards with more treks for myself to train towards Kilimanjaro in 2008!

Cycling to Desaru is one very popular trip for many professional cyclists in Singapore – from what I know, the whole trip (one way) is about 70 – 90 kilometers, and it will take about 5 – 7 hours of to get there, Desaru is a beach resort, but I guess by the time we get, there it would be almost time dinner and a good night’s rest.

Besides, I doubt we would have the energy to play with out butts cracked and legs sore from cycling 70 kilometers!

I was supposed to make trip there once this year, but something cropped up (I forgot what it was) and I wasn’t able to make it eventually. This time, now that most of us are not burdened by school stuff, we hope to organise a group of at least 8 people (from our rovers committee) to make a trip there this early Feburary!

Let’s hope things flow smoothly, I’m really looking forward to some adventure!

Oh.. pardon me with the Datuk photos – I am planning to make some changes to this blog (making changes to the installation), so I will upload the photos when I’m done with that!