The 6 hour hike

The highlight of September will be our hike to Mount Kinabalu at the end of the month. SP has been training hard for months in preparation for the hike, while I subscribed to the "sink or swim" philosophy - either I make it to the peak in a blaze of glory, or I collapse midway with barely a whimper.

SP's friends decided to have a pre-Mount Kinabalu climb to gauge their fitness level. "OK," I thought, "I've climbed Mount Kinabalu before, and I've lived to tell others about it. How hard can it be?"

We were told it was a three hour hike. That didn't sound so bad. I did a little research based on what little information that was given to us and found this from the Tourism Penang website:

Penang Hill Forest Challenge
(11.3 kilometres, 8 hours, 10 station stops
between Recreational Forest and Penang Hill) - Trail 5


This forest trail, called the Penang Hill Forest Challenge, is developed by the State Forestry Department. It starts at the Forest Park, winds through eight stops before reaching Bukit Laksmana and the permanent forest reserve. After reaching Western Hill, you continue your hike on a tarred jeep track until you reach the Upper Railway Station. From there you can use the jeep track to descend to the Botanical Gardens or Air Itam town (via Hye Keat). If you are too tired to walk down, you can always use the funicular railway. Apparently there are two ways of tackling this challenging trail. One is the tough version, which starts from the Forest Park and involves an uphill climb all the way. The other is the easier version, which starts from Western Hill and goes downhill until you reach the Forest Park. The distance between the Forest Park and the Penang Hill Top Station is approximately 11 kilometres.

Hmm... the website says the trail takes 8 hours. Something doesn't add up. That was the first warning sign that I missed.

So yesterday we met up with the rest and I had my first look at the organiser. He had calves like tree trunks. That's when warning alarms rang in my head. This wasn't going to be a simple 3 hour hike. I was already there, and I couldn't chicken out. There's male pride involved. There's my reputation as the guy who's been to Mount Kinabalu at stake. It's sink or swim time.

The first two hours of so was a gruelling uphill hike. It didn't seem to end! I didn't fare too badly. I could still joke around and keep up with the rest, at least past the first station.

There's a strange blue thingamajig sticking out of the ground. Don't know why it's labelled "14" because we didn't see any more after "11".

Then it started to rain. I didn't bother taking out my raincoat because I was already soaked in sweat. It rained, and rained for another 2 hours. The trail was a little more forgiving. Some downhill trails were very steep, and the rain made it all the more slippery and muddier. My clothes were soaked, rain was pelting my glasses and that was very distracting and uncomfortable.

Several times I felt like giving up. Sure I was tired, but not so tired until I couldn't continue. It was the rain, my wet clothes, my aching back (the cause of which I'm still uncertain) and no clear indication of our progress. Every hour we walked, we'd pass a signboard showing the distance to our destination and everytime we passed one, the distance never seemed to diminish. An hour's hike, and the signboard would indicated we'd only hiked a few hundred meters. It was very discouraging for me.

SP was quite the trooper. She didn't look tired and was the source of motivation for me to keep hiking. One last uphill hike and we finally reached Penang Hill! But the hike wasn't over. We still had to walk to the Upper Railway Station to take the funicular down to where we parked the cars. Fortunately the rain had stopped. 30 minutes later and we rested at the food court near the Upper Railway Station.

I was so thirsty. We really didn't bring enough water for the hike - a 3 hour hike that turned into a 6 hour hike. I downed a can of 100+, a cup of iced Milo, a bowl of Ais Kacang and a can of Coke, all in that order. *burp*

Before we boarded the funicular, I stopped to capture a pretty clear view of Penang. Click the image for a larger version.


I'm still tired from yesterday's hike, and I'm still taking lots of fluids. SP seems to have recovered from the hike. She's been busy cooking and I've been busy eating. Ah...