Gasing Hill revisited..

That Saturday afternoon itch to go hiking...
It was a hot afternoon and after some deep thought, I decided to pack my macro gear to shoot some bugs at Gasing Hill.
I roped-in Michelle who was more than happy to go with me.
It as a good break from cycling as I was too lazy to do so.
So, there we were, on the trail again. Before we did that, we made a pit-stop in USJ11 for an early lunch.
Gasing hill is not that crowded around 1pm and it was great to have the trail all by ourselves.
After I parked the car, I saw two photography enthusiasts with their macro photography gear. 
The sight of a home-made diffuser snoot is unmistakable. 

At the trail head

A tree snake

Fern butt

 Mrs Green-fingers
While setting up at a hut donated by the Lions Club, I noticed an elderly lady and a young man who were chatting there.
Later, I was told that the lady was responsible for planting flowers at the entrance of the trial.
Michelle and I worked on looking for some subjects.
I spotted a black jumper and managed to get a few shots before moving on.
Just metres away, there was a tree snake perched on a fern.
Michelle managed to get a shot before it slithered off..

Michelle on the trail

Getting close and closer...
I found at least two subjects that made my day.
First, was the Single Striped Grass Spider.
These are very common in Gasing Hill and are out in huge numbers.
I managed to capture a set before moving on.
Next, there's the Jolly Telamonia jumping spider.
Now, this one - I paid careful attention in capturing extreme close-ups with my Canon MPE-65 macro lens.
Aided with the MT24EX twin flash, I didn't have much issues capturing the spider under high-magnification settings...

Happy camper: Samo on the trail..

Testing the camera's twin flash setting on an Orb weaver

On the whole, I was very happy to get at least two working sets of photographs.
The Single Striped Grass Spider and Jolly Telamonia was captured in its full glory.
Just minutes after we left, the sky became gloomy.
This is typical weather at the end of the year and we were just happy to be on our way..

Projek Broga

The road to Broga from Semenyih

Bob, taking snapshots of the reconnaisance trip to Broga

Bob Lew and I had started an experimental patrol from Victoria Institution in September.
We had four boys aged 14 - 15 in a single patrol whom we are grooming for their merit badges in the new National Scouting syllabus.
If they complete all the requirements including five merit badges in their Senior years, the boys would be eligible to be assessed as King Scouts.
But the road ahead is a long and winding process.
At this point, there were plenty of criticisms including some from our peers.
With or without their support, we pledged to carry on till at least one of them are entered in the King Scout camp.
Right now, we are lagging behind due to poor time management by the kids we are grooming.
On Dec 4, the boys would attempt a 6-km hike to Broga, in the outskirts of Semenyih in Selangor for their first merit badge - the lencana Usaha.
This would be followed by a Camporee in Victoria Institution where they are expected to wear their merit badges.
Next year, we would have our hands full when they progress to the Maju and Jaya badges.

Mount K diary - Day 2 - Mesilau - Laban Rata

We started our day early in Mesilau.

Shortly after breakfast, we met Atong, our guide at the summit trail's gate.

This was to be a 6-km hike to the basecamp junction at Magnolia hut.

Now, I was told that the Mesilau trail has plenty of promising sights. Its also much longer than the Timpohon trail which we were supposed to have hiked.

At 8:15am, we began our ascend up to Mount Kinabalu.

The first 3km hike was a breeze until we hit the next half of our journey.

At about 3.30pm, we reached a steep incline on km 4.5 which proved to be really tough.

My legs gave way because I was hauling about 13kgs of gear and equipment.

We switched baggage between our guide and Michelle, my wife to push on.

With the cramps setting in on both my legs, each step was agonising.

I had to put up with the pain and just a short distance away, I saw a big guy sitting down on the steps.

His guide, a young Kadazan boy said the man had cramps on both his legs.

He was hauling a small sling back. That was it. From his accent, I discovered that he is West Malaysian and was left behind by a group of climbers we met earlier during breakfast in Mesilau.

The poor dude had to limp his way and from the tone of his voice, I knew he had given up.

From what I heard, the plan was to divert to Layang-Layang staff quarters where he will spend the night before descending down to the Timpohon gate.

At 5.30pm, we reached the Laban Rata junction and were already exhausted.

This was followed by a 2-km hike up to basecamp.

Luck wasn't with as it poured heavily.

Strong winds made the situation worse.

Nevertheless, we pushed on to the next hut and took a short break to mount our headlamps as daylight was fading really fast.

At 7:35pm, we reached Laban Rata and were the last team of climbers to check-in.

We had packed dinner and settled-in early.

My motivation to reach this stage of the summit attempt, was a cup of hot tea and my chocolate bar which was already chilled...

May 23 Broga clean-up

Last weekend's trip to Broga was an eye opener.It dawned on me that I was totally unfit for straight hauls especially on the new hill route
created by hikers and members of the OUTBAC camp led by Dr Yap Heng Kai.He invited me to cover the Broga Hill clean-up on Sunday May 23. When we got there, the event was already over.Michelle and I made our way up the hill with our kidsThe boy can certainly pull, but at the mid-point, he was clearly tired and exhausted.I was literally fighting to gain control of my legs which was hurting due to the hard and
uneven soil.While the body was not, the mind was willing to push all the way.On certain point of the hike, I rested to gain composure and pushed on until we hit the
peak of the hill - which is roughly about 45-minutes hike from the trail head.Since the sun was scorching the soil, we decided not to stay on and ascended down the
hill with the kids.That said, there's much to be done on building my stamina. Now, my priority is to control
my weight.