Training Trips

I'm happy to have clocked 2 "Gunung"s for the past consecutive Sats as my trg to KK. However at the same time, i kinda guess i can't make it for the 3.5hrs cutoff time. Both are btw 6-6.8km and i oredi climbed til "cui", what's more for KK? :P Anyway, here are my training trip experiences.

Ophir - 3Oct with HH, Joyce, TCM, Cat & CY + Alan Law's gang
We started the trek at 10am+, slight delay due to the availability of guides. They allocated ours to other trekkers since we were late.

As the traditional Sagil route was closed for reno, we took the Tangkak trail which was new to me. I lost sight of the group within...like 10min? hehehhe. But it was ok. I know my fitness is not as good. It's gonna be the same during the race, so i'm not discouraged.

I soon found myself all alone, wondering where the other guide had gone to. U see...logically if u have 2 guides, 1 would lead the front pack while the other sweeps the slower ones. I was the last man hence "he" should follow me rite?? ARgh! But even when i passed Lay Yong & Liyun, there was no sight of the guide. I was entirely by myself til 10min before summit! Honestly, i freaked out a little at the stone slab. I was holding on (very tightly) to the rope, going, "i don't have a choice, i can only go up. I can't possibly wait for the 3 guys from another gp to arrive...they won't catch up so soon." With that, i struggled thru'. Phew.

My timing was 3 hours. HH, CY & TCM were the first few to hit summit at an impressive timing of 2 hours.

Time taken: i forgot but i know i reached foothill at 4.04pm.
I consumed 1 nature valley bar, 1 boost choc bar, half a bun for lunch & 1.2 liters of water (half plain, half isotonic). Good, at least i'm eating less now.

Belumut 6km/1010m asl with Joanne, Missy, Serene, TCM, Nicholas & gang from Schering Plough
It was my 2nd time with the SP folks. Last year, we were rejected at the entrance gate because it was closed for reno. This year, the guy at the entrance told us we have to obtain some forestry permit (duh!). After half an hour of haggling, the gate was opened for a price of SGD100 (kopi lui). Tsk tsk tsk. At least we din have to turn to Lambak, again.

The trek started at 12.24pm with blessed good weather. Earlier on, we have worried that the rain might affect our climb but thank God, it stopped completely when we neared the mountain.

Since we were participants i/o Joanne's aides this time round, I decided to treat this trek as my KK trg. The gradual ascent helped me a lot as compared to Ophir's staircase start. I was so happy to reach Tiger's Paw at 1.36pm (which i later found out i was only 6 min behind TCM & Nic).

Hmm, too bad i got lost later on. Mistook the campsite for Botak & turned left :( And quite coincidentally, the left trail has a marking but the river route that followed had no clear trails or markings. I walked up and down thrice to check for markings. Even went up the right side but still no markings. It was 3pm turnaround time. Alone with no headlamp and shoes getting "hungry", i reckon it's safer for me to turn back since i'm suxx at descending. Bumped into Eric, Kok Yong & Haryati's son. Decided to give summit push another shot. It was then we saw TCM & Nic who were making their way down. They brought us to the (real) Botak...a good half an hour to summit.

By that time, it was 3.25pm. Consensus had it that we turn back cos most of us don't have headlamps and Jo had already set the turnaround time at 3pm. We were already half an hour behind.

Hee, descending in a group always beats solo. Chitchatting takes my mind off the scary downclimb. We met up with Joanne and some others at Tiger's Paw and went down together. They tot i summitted :P Well, i know i could have but looking at the bigger pic, i am ok without it.

Time taken: 5.5hrs (foothill@6pm). Ate lesser this time round - 1 pc NV bar, 1 choc wafer, half a pac of gummy worms & 1 liter of water.