Gasing Hill Trail Running

Listen! Listen! Listen! There are no cows, no goats, no chickens at Gasing Hill, and there is tiada masalah (no problem) having trail running there also on 19 January 2013, Saturday.

Let me speak! If one thinks Gasing Hill is easy, then it is wrong. If only you could traverse beyond the standard Bukit Gasing loop, trekking or trail running at Gasing is tough – never mind, still there is no problem ... :-)

Do click here to view or download 92 photos courtesy of yours truly (KC Leong). When in photo album, click Slideshow; hit F11 key for actual large displays.

 A unique starting point … some say this chicken rice, though very famous, is not nice; then some say the one next to it that is equally famous (on the left of photo), Satellite Chicken Rice, is also not nice … :-)

The Team Lead for this long-haul trail running is Raymond Ng who knows the terrain well. Definitely, the starting point for this event was a bit unique. It was not the usual “park by the road side near to Gasing Hill” type. Instead, we parked our cars in front of the famous Ipoh Chicken Rice Restaurant along Jalan Gasing near to EFP Building. The good thing of parking there was that there were ample parking bays and after the run, the restaurants for refresh and refreshment were just there. The only catch – it was more than 1km to Bukit Gasing. Anyway, there was still no problem as trail runners are supposed to run for long distance, whether on tarmac or in the hills.

 (left) Agnes Yew, Michelle Looi, Phoebe, SooMChing, Debbie, Yvonne Teo, Raymond Ng, Jason Loh, Michael Tham, KC Leong … Suspension Bridge behind.

After running passed the housing area, the first landmark of Bukit Gasing unfolding before our eyes was the Suspension Bridge.  Not far from the bridge, then we tackled the first steep ascent. We then passed by an abandon house en route to Kerinchi Park. Here we were greeted with another mother-of-all hills in Bukit Gasing. It was as steep as Apek Hill, Cheras, but with a shorter distance.

We emerged from the jungle and were surprised to see there was a function at Taman Rimba Bukit Kerinchi. The photographers there were also quite surprise to see us and started clicking away while we passed by the area.

 Continue with another segment of uphill run …

After some twist and turn, we finally return to the Watch Tower – the usual landmark in the standard loops of Gasing Hill. From there, we started our ascent to the Indian Temple and the transmission tower high above another hill. Going up there was tough and the final steps were steep with the loose yellow earth below our feet. If it takes a slip and the fall would be 50 meters rolling down the hill.

 At Taman Rimba Bukit Kerinchi

We then ran downhill passing by a huge sewage treatment plant. As informed by Raymond Ng, there is one piece of land where the developer is building many units of bungalows that were greeted with much protest from the nature-loving people. I think the purchasers of the bungalows are not aware that their prize property – nestled within the greenery of Gasing Hills – is only half a hill behind the huge sewage treatment plant.

We then ran passed a reservoir en route back to the usual trails of Bukit Gasing. Crossing the red wooden bridge, that indicated the outer boundary of Gasing Hills and the end of our trail running.

Total distance for this challenge was 9km that took 2 hr 45 minutes to return to car park.

 The ladies are unfazed with whatever Raymond Ng sees …

 At the Indian Temple on top of Gasing Hill 

 Going down a trail traversing to another hill 

 Earth-based rock climbing … Michelle Looi, Phoebe and Debbie.

 Bungalows to be built here at Bukit Gasing

Going down another treacherous slope

Bukit Gasing trail map charted by Garmin FR610 GPS-enabled watch;

Total distance: 9km; time taken: 2 hr 45 minutes.

Posted by KC Leong