Bt Timah Nature Reserve orientation

I was somewhat hesitant about today's trail recce of Bt Timah hill. For one, I have heard how tough the slopes are (indeed they are formidable), but I was more worried about the downslopes. Treacherous, slippery, narrow are some of the adjectives I have heard. In my mind, I see the steep ski slopes that, well, accentuated my fear of heights. There. I said it.

Started off at the Bt Timah Nature Reserve Visitor Center with WD, a fellow NF100 participant who was new to BT trails like me. We used the route mapped out by PK. My game plan was slightly altered after speaking to the nice helpful gentleman at the info counter. Did the Senapang Link-Belukar-Hindhede Way anti-clockwise instead of clockwise, on his advice. Bikers go anti-clockwise and it is safer to go the same direction.

The first loop is Hindhede Road- Jungle Fall Path - Seraya Loop - Dairy Farm Loop- Catchment Path - Cave Path- Hindhede Rd. The first 200 m were steep upslope. Until the turn, when we were greeted with even a steeper slope! Supposed to be 30-35 degree incline, but felt steeper. My strategy is to simply walk the upslopes. This was the easy part, as it turned out to be. The rest of the trails were steep steps up and down. What run? We were just climbing and walking!

After much huffing and puffing, we were at the summit. No view, unfortunately, due to the tall trees. To add insult to injury, when we were back at Hindhede Road, we took almost 50 min and the distance covered was only 3.5km! Gosh!

One new thing we learnt today was walking down backwards. A few elderly gentlemen were going down Hindhede Road backwards, and we did the same. Amazingly, I found that it helped stretched my hamstring and was very refreshing. Nice trick!

We started off the second loop up Hindhede path, but took the walker's path by mistake. That took up to a viewing point of the quarry. It was a gorgeous sight, so the detour was worth the while. Back on track, we resorted to more walking. The trails on the western part were more challenging, and took us a longer time. Once we were on the Belukar path, it was familiar territory. Past the rifle range and back to the Visitor Center. Amazingly we took 2 hours (not counting stoppage time, another 30 min or so) to cover 10.7 km! Probably the slowest run ever.

That is why trail experts recommend running by time instead of distance where trails are concerned.

Thanks to WD for accompanying me! The conversation made the whole run less of an ordeal. It was a good workout, more of a hike than a run. I am more optimistic that Bt Timah hill is not going to be my nemesis. I think endurance - lasting 8 to 9 hours - may be. Where's the Energizer Bunny?



View route in Garmin connect.