Hiking @ Gasing

Soon Yean and I spent Sunday morning hiking Gasing Hill in PJ. The initial plan to start at 7.30am failed, as expected. We only reached the entrance at 8.45am.

The place was more crowded than I remember it to be. People of all ages were there for their walk, and it seemed like they were mostly seasoned patrons of the hill, confidently choosing their preferred route at each fork in the trail. Soon Yean and I were as lost as any first-timer would be. With no directions, each time we hit a fork in the trail we would simply pick the one which looks tougher since our goal was to improve our endurance.

I was an idiot for coming in my Japanese-style beach slippers. I was thinking I want to get my feet wet at the stream. We didn’t find a place convenient for wetting my feet. Slippers for hiking – a definite NO-NO!

It was really nice to greet and be greeted “Good morning” with a smile each time we passed fellow hikers. That really adds to the experience. I’m sure you know it’s quite hard to find such stranger-to-stranger courtesy here in Malaysia.

I must admit two things.
1) Soon Yean was able to keep up with me without water or rest for the duration of our hike. He even managed to step up the pace as we jogged the quiet part of the uphill-downhill trail. And he did not complain. I am impressed and I’m looking forward to reach the top of Kinabalu with him.

2) I’ve come to realize that I’m not as prepared for Kinabalu as I thought I was. The uphill-downhill-uphill-downhill pattern really pushed my endurance. It took a great deal of effort to maintain my ‘brisk walk’ pace as we climbed the steep and uneven hill. It took just as much effort to maintain a steady pace as we raced down just as uneven slopes pulled by gravity.

Our 1h15m journey was quite enough challenge to knock me out cold that Sunday morning. I slept the rest of the morning and even missed lunch. I expect our Kinabalu challenge to be at a much slower pace. However, we will have added weight on our backs. It’s hard to imagine how things will go as we make this highly anticipated journey to the highest peak in Malaysia.