Bkt Gasing - the Telekom Tower loop : 23 Oct 2011

Went to Bkt Gasing, Sect 5 Petaling Jaya for the 3rd time this month. This time my 3 daughters tagged along. Mama dia tak ikut naik bukit, katanya suffice for her to jog kat bawah near parking area jer .. huhu ;)

Previous two attempts covered the Observation Tower n Suspension Bridge loops respectively. But this time my target was to recce n 'conquer' the Telekom Tower / Sivam (Indian) Temple loop on the right side of the hill (bottom section of the map above) ..

One for the album, (from left) Syaida, Syaza, Syamimi n yours truly .. at the main entrance of Bukit Gasing .. Another father-daughter quality weekend time well spent ... ;)

Untuk ke Telekom Tower, panjat stairs nih n amik trail panjat bukit sebelah paling kanan immediately after the pintu gerbang main entrance Bkt Gasing .. ;)

Trek dia agak mncanak pd peringkat awal, laluan kurang jelas sbb org kurang lalu kat situ. But as u ascent to the summit of the hill, laluan makin jelas mcm kat gamba nih .. Overall, i feel that the trails here within this loop can be a bit confusing at times coz there are quite a number of forks (cabang) that u hv to decide wh one to take .. To be safe, amik lah laluan yg lebih terang n jelas .. ;)
After abt 20-25 minutes trek u'll see an exit towards a tar road .. This small road (to the left) will take u further uphill towards Telekom Tower n Sivam (Indian) Temple .. But be extra careful sbb jalan ni 'sgt sunyi' .. Eeeiiieeeeiiiieiiii .. takuuuuuuuut .. ;)
After walking abt 100m on tar road, we were suddenly approached by a cyclist (coming out from no where - mungkin kah Malaikat?) by the name of Din warning us not to proceed towards Sivam Temple bcoz there were several drunkards up there harassing n shouting at passers-by going towards the Temple ..

Having a parang in my backpack gave me some confidence (just in case .. ), but after considering the fact that my 3 daughters tagging along w me, i decided x to take the risk, n immed turn left towards Telekom Tower (thus avoiding Sivam Temple). From here we exit downhill by taking the small opening into the jungle trail just besides the chain-link fence of TM. This trail takes u downhill towards the river ..
Trek dia agak tebal dgn dahan2 shrubs n small overgrown trees sbb kurang dlalui org .. juga ada byk pokok brduri .. so kena jaga sikit tangan tuh jangan dok pegang sana sini. I consider this trail as least popular among Bkt Gasing regulars. Mula2 tu cuak jugak nak ikut situ, tapi dgn tekad n brbekalkan bacaan Ayat Kursi kami blasah jer ! Lgpun nak 'jaga nama' blog saya yg bernama Taking The Path Less Travelled .. so kenalah 'beranikan diri' .. huhu ;)

Trek downhill is steep .. mmg 'mengancam' n mncanak, tp mujur kami tgh menurun .. Laluan byk yg licin akibat hujan lebat mlm semalam nya .. ;) Trdapat byk 'barang2 buangan' dsepanjang trek .. ada 2 big barrels, juga trdpt botol2 arak yg pecah bersepah atas tanah dimerata trek .. so kena xtra careful takut trkena kaca .. :(

Another tough manouver .. mencanak bro !

Tin Carlsberg pun ader .. u can imagine what kind of ppl that frequents this particular trail .. I guess that's why this trail is x popular among Bkt Gasing joggers/ trekkers .. quite risky .. huhu ;)
Alhamdulillah .. akhirnya sampai level bawah ..

We finally reached ground level zero n were greeted with a small river. The water may just be at ankle deep, but its clear n cooling water is very soothing to the eyes .. Sempat basuh muka dgn air sungai yg sejuk ini .. sunggoh menyegarkan !

After spending abt 5 minutes 'having fun' in the river, we crossed over towards the Menara Tinjau (Observation Tower) .. another uphill challenge ! Actually, only from this pt onwards that u start to meet other trekkers .. 'traffic' dah mula heavy .. Jungle trails from Menara Telekom was really 'deserted' n can b a bit 'scary' if u r x familiar with jungle setting .. ;)

The trek from the river up to Observation Tower is quite steep .. but we manage .. ;)

From Observation Tower u can see the Telekom Tower in the background. That's where we came from the last 30 minutes or so .. ;)

My 3 kids clowning around while taking pictures along the way down to the main entrance. Covered the Telekom n Observation Towers loop in 1hr 20 minutes .. kira ok lah for a quality trekking time with family over the weekend .. huhu. Tq Allah ;)

Bukit Gasing PJ - the Suspension Bridge loop : 01 & 08 Oct 2011

It's been two weeks in a row that i went to Bkt Gasing (located in Sect5 Petaling Jaya area) - 1st was on 01 Oct 2011 for a recce of the place (with my wife n kids) and one wk later on 08 Oct with two trekking buddies .. Muhammad n Syazwan .. Actually this place was 1st introduced to me by a colleague Hasnah Shamsuddin .. ;)

How to get there ? Armed with only basic info of its location from Pakcik Google, I took the Fed H/way and after the Arch turn left at KWSP towards Jln Gasing, drive on for abt 2km till u c this sign post (photo above) for SMK La Salle (Jln Chantek) .. enter n drive all the way till u pass La Salle n reach a T-junction, after that turn right.

Drive on till u c the Main Entrance to Bkt Gasing on ur left (photo below) .. cari lah parking yg sesuai kat tepi2 jln depan rumah org kat situ .. ;) There r no parking tickets and u park at your own risk, so don't forget to lock ur vehicle and recite a doa .. insyaAllah it'll be safe .. ;)

One for the album with Syaza, Syaida n wifey Safiah .. Taken on 01 Oct 2011 (recce trip) .. For those yg selalu 'bocor' pls bear in mind that this place does not provide toilets. Kalau dah trpaksa sgt tu, pandai2 lah carik lokasi sesuai kat semak2 kiri kanan laluan tuh .. Pastikan bwk water bottle with u, just in case .. huhu ;)

As u can see, this whole area comprises of a cluster of 8-9 small hills with heights ranging between 262-525 ft ASL 'jerw' .. Difficulty level ranges from Easy to Moderate (based on my own scale) .. Suitable for 1/2 day wkend lite trekking / jogging in a jungle setting. Tp ada gak arr 1-2 lokasi yg agak steep / 'mncanak' (esp bukit yg after Suspension Bridge tuh) .. leh kalahkan Broga or Saga Trek A ! Klu x fit mmg mengah jugak lerr .. ;)

The trekking routes can b sectionalized into 3 main areas or loops. The bottom loop takes u to the Indian Temple uphill. The middle loop takes u to the Observation Tower (Menara Tinjau). The top loop passes thru Jambatan Gantung n takes u all the way to Kerinchi .. wh they say ada gerai Nasi Lemak yg best .. ;)

But my first recce trip just covered the middle loop (Menara Tinjau) wh took us abt 1 hr on relax mode while 'interviewing' fellow trekkers/joggers to gather info n taking photos here n there ..

Took the 2nd bridge that leads to the Observation Tower .. part of the trek already have man-made steps (wh i hate !) .. tp mujur lah kat tepi tangga tuh ada laluan atas tanah .. better for ur feet actually .. klu x pcaya cuba lah ;)

The observation tower (Menara Tinjau) .. nun jauh kat belakang tu leh nampak the Indian Temple .. utk ke sana kena ikut loop yg satu lg (the bottom loop) .. but regular joggers here said "there's nothing much" to see there except for the temple of course .. Plan to try this trail next visit .. ;)

From the Observation Tower we took the trail that leads to the Suspension Bridge along Trail 4 (Denai 4). Brehat seketika .. sambil2 tu Muhammad wat setting MotionX-GPS utk apps tracking sys kat iPAD dia .. ;)

One of those locations considered steep / 'mencanak' .. Syazwan kata naper lah aku ikut diorg nih .. ;)

A group of teenagers dgn selamba jer panjat .. ada yg siap bawak guitar .. ;)

Denai 4 .. laluan Suspension Bridge ..

Ramai gaks trekkers / joggers (abt 95%) yg pilih utk lalu kat bawah jambatan gantung .. gayat kot ?

Actually 'pihak pengurusan' Bkt Gasing dah pun letak tali merah-putih "Do Not Cross" kat jambatan tuh, tp ada lak mamat mana lah yg potong2kan tali tuh n redah selamba jerw .. Kami bertiga pun ikut jer lalu situ .. taking careful steps of course as some parts of the wooden plank floor already rotten, and some even missing (like in the photo below) .. ;)

Ini lah antara sbb nya ramai trekkers / joggers decided tak nak ikut Suspension Bridge nih .. ada sbhg bridge tu dah xder papan utk d pijak pun .. Trpaksa lah pijak kat wire besi tu jer .. Fuuh, leh kalahkan Man Vs Wild .. huhu ;)

Mission accomplished .. Overall, Bkt Gasing is a nice place for those 1/2 day wkend trekking /jogging in a jungle setting .. easy access thru Federal Highway (just behind our backyards), safe trails ranging from Easy to Moderate .. Will definitely come back again in future !

Sbg upacara penutup xtvt .. Syazwan took us to Kg Baru utk pekena Nasi Lemak Amir kat situ .. tapi mahal beb ! Mmg xkan pegi dah ke situ lagi pasni .. huhu :(

History Note :

Bukit Gasing was once a rubber plantation left idle for 50 yrs. Since then, the course of nature has overtaken the hillsides to produce a lush secondary forest with woody herbs and large tropical trees .. thus providing excellent flora and atmosphere for lite trekking and jogging in a jungle setting .. ;)