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Penang Hills and Trails - Another Stairway to Heaven |
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This is one of a series of pages on walking the hills of Penang, click here for the index. This is a long, hard Grade 3 walk, with some of the rope work some might consider it to be Grade 4. There is a sketch map at the bottom showing the route followed. Click here for a list of the known PBA rain gauges. This account is linked from my Penang Peaks page which lists peaks over 400 metres as well as other places of interest and viewpoints. To find other hikes which visit this peak please check the maps of this are using this link. Please visit my Penang buses page for information on accessing the starting point. We'd got to know Penang resident Mike Gibby through a mutual interest in both of the Penang Hill Railways and he arranged for me to join a group to take on what is widely considered to be Penang's toughest hike. Penang's highest point, Western Hill, lies in a sensitive security area and it's currently impossible to access, particularly from the north coast of the island - hikers can access a point close to it from the Batu Ferringhi aqueduct or from above the Botanical Gardens but have to descend on the other path or return the same way. Bukit Laksamana is the second highest point (outside the main range), and is accessed by narrow ridges whose steepness requires the provision of ropes. However, as long as you obey the principle of three points of the body in contact with the ground at any instant, a reasonably fit person should not find it more than 'challenging'. Certainly I felt tested by the experience, but this is definitely not one for the single hiker, you could wait a long time for help if you turned an ankle or worse. Yuehong generally doesn't like routes with ropes and stayed home, she's currently thinking about whether to try it... We gathered at Taman Rimba (Forest Park) next to the Teluk Bahang Dam for an 08.00 departure. We were a very mixed bunch, most had done the walk at least once before and had a better idea than I what to expect. That's an early start by my standards and the light levels were still low, at least it was quite cool. There are a number of marked trails within the park, we took the main one up and soon got to 'Junction 1' where our route was clearly marked to the right. There are precious few junctions after leaving the park area, this means it is difficult to get lost but also that there is no real option of an early exit. If you don't like what you see you will have to return down the same trail.
The sign says 'no entry' and in this context means not to wander off the trail; of course we took the branch that climbed. This meant we left the valley behind our starting point and were heading up to the main ridge that runs from the north coast west of Batu Ferringhi all the way up to the summit of Bukit Laksamana. So it was quite steep, ropes were provided, but were not really needed, maybe exhausted hikers coming down in the opposite direction would have appreciated them. When eventually the path levelled out it was clear that we were approaching that ridge.
There, we were at the only significant junction of the hike. As everywhere in the world, authorities feel the need to protect their backsides. It was a Sunday, I guess phoning the emergency number wouldn't have been much use. The station signs were a regular feature but as they don't give the height they are of limited use, I'm sure the height here is available on some electronically tagged trail but my terrain map suggests we were already above 300 metres and maybe 400 metres. Further, you can subtract 4700 metres from the distance to Penang Hill as that last section is on tarmac. At this point we were joined by the trail up from the Chin Farm and this would have been an alternative (but longer) way down. It had been a hard first (nearly) hour.
A feature of the trail is that it is not an unremitting 'up', there are a series of minor summits with short 'downs' which of course have to be paid for afterwards. I'm built for stamina and not speed and as you will see, my companions tended to race ahead. Mike kindly held back to keep me company.
Some 20 minutes after leaving the junction, the path levelled out, it was an indication that we needed to engage second gear.
It's a well preserved environment, there were precious few views out even though on either side the hill dropped away steeply, that's looking back towards the north coast. We came to the first of four rain gauges, this one (RG 14) looked less disused than most I didn't know it at the time, but we were already well over half way to the summit, however, it seemed we had gained almost no height since the junction.
So down we went again, but not for long, the final slog was ahead. With a narrow steep ridge, there is real risk of erosion and path degradation and for a while there were concrete steps which had been inserted although about half were no longer of any real use.
We weren't going down! The angle of the sun indicates that this is looking back down a pleasant section. Not all the original station signs were still present, it's clear that there is a zero maintenance policy here after the initial burst of activity which saw the trail inaugurated some time back. It's what they call in the trade 'systematic neglect' and sadly it's a trait that runs right through Malaysian culture. It's the reason many millions had to be spent on upgrading the Penang Hill Railway when almost nothing had been spent on it in the previous 30 odd years.
Looking back, this was the only tree down across the trail, but it's been there a while and there's a 'temporary trail' round it which is causing erosion. Soon we came to the second rain gauge (believed to be RG 13)
The concrete blocks were all over the place and at one spot the path had washed away altogether..
First gear stuff, no doubt about it, the tree roots had proved more durable than the concrete blocks. Looking back as we entered a small clearing you could be forgiven for imagining that the path was level, the presence of ropes tell another story.
We were approaching 'Eagle Point', under those ferns are the remains of a wooden observation tower that has 'fallen down'. Across the valley, we could make out the radar domes on Western Hill. We'd been going for just under 2½ hours, it didn't seem too far away but it would be another 2 hours before we joined its access road.
At long last, it was time for a view. Take your pick of looking down to Pantai Acheh (and the egregious development above it), the west end of Batu Ferringhi or the Teluk Bahang Dam.
It was time for a break, a snack and a serious attack on the contents of my water bottle. I took my turn on the only seat available - it's a twin of the one we saw a week ago above Pulau Betong.
It was time to move on, but not before I had noted an even greater challenge, the path down to the Tropical Fruit Farm...
As I have said many times before, this is where the story really begins. The Gods forgot to put in a simple connection between Penang's two highest points. Ready, steady, go down, this is really easy, no problem la and there's another rain gauge (RG 12).
According to Forest Ang's book there used to be a junction here, which might explain what is now a rather pointless sign as there was no alternative available. Hang on, what's this? It's a warning sign and things are about to get a shade 'interesting'...
Looking back up, it doesn't seem too demanding but sometimes looking down, you're not too sure where to put your feet. In fact, taking my time and with the more than occasional assistance of the rope, it was just a question of time.
You just have to remember that there should be no more than one person using the rope at a time (easy when all the others except Mike are far ahead) and there is almost no bare rock involved.
The station sign is good news, that's just 1½ km left till the road, the fact that it would turn out to take 1½ hours was one of nature's 'known unknowns'. The descent went on and on, I read afterwards that it amounts to a height change of 300 metres. It doesn't matter whether you're looking down or up, that warning sign has been erected by the 'Department of the Blindingly Obvious'.
Considering the nature of the terrain, the path is holding up very well but there bare parts that could do with the urgent attention of its extremely active guardians, the state forestry department. At long last we were back in attractive hiking conditions.
Waiting for us at the bottom by what must be RG 11 were the rest of the group. Just after to the right is a marked trail. I had read on the web that it will reach the Tiger Hill Valley, and indeed a few days later I confirmed it. It's a great trail, not very long and it and avoids the last up, down and up completely although obviously there's a climb out of the Tiger Hill Valley to be substituted. A couple of strategically placed small branches across it are an indication that it is not the main trail.
The station signs kept on appearing, we were getting ever closer to the magic 4700 metres and in retrospect, this was great hiking country, we'd been on the go for about 4 hours by now.
The group reformed and we climbed to a significant point. Forest Ang's book suggests the possibility of ignoring this sign and continuing on the ridge up to the fence around the Western Hill radar station. These days, it's very strongly discouraged and, from the condition of the path, I doubt many people do. At best, for a foreigner, it might mean a dressing down from security or at worst (unlikely I feel) an early return home. Certainly on the north side there are very strong notices and it's likely they are on this path further on too.
It's unfortunate, because it means that the path has once again got to lose height. As the route is not 'natural', the path is not great, but it was only 10 minutes down until we reached a small stream which represents the head waters of what eventually emerges at Titi Kerawang having traversed the Tiger Hill Valley. There was one last climb ahead.
Fortunately it was shorter than I anticipated, a mere ¼ hour, because we emerged on the summit road well below Western Hill. It was not a race of course, or anything resembling it, but these two gentlemen of mature years had put up a cracking pace for the last 4½ hours while I plodded along.
The group was now to walk 45 minutes along the Summit Road before taking refreshments and going down on the train. Now the fare on that is discriminatory for those without a Malaysian ID card, I boycott it as far as possible and I had no intention of walking down from there instead. So my plan had always been to take the relatively gentle descent through Tiger Hill Valley, climb up to the '5 way junction' and walk down past the Da Ba Gong temple to Titi Kerawang. Since I had brought 5 litres of water and had almost half left, this was never going to be a problem for me. Unfortunately, I missed the 14.30 501 bus from Teluk Bahang by just 10 minutes - I saw it go up the hill from above. So that meant I had to go home via Balik Pulau Fortunately, the Malaysians on the buses were too polite to complain about sharing them with someone who smelt like a goat.
Thanks firstly to Mike for inviting me along and secondly for the rest of the group for putting up with my snail's pace. It was a great experience, I'm not sure it will be added to our normal repertoire but if Yuehong decides she must do it too, then I might just be persuaded to give it a second crack. In case you might be tempted to think I had 'borrowed' the pictures above and added 'one Yuehong had taken earlier' elsewhere, I have been sent the following trio of snaps which show me somewhat exhausted near the end...
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