Hiking after a long hiatus

One of the sights which greeted us as we hiked up our usual trail this morning. These are bottles of water left at the start of the hiking trail....to be carried up as extra weight, for those who want a little extra workout. Been almost a year since we went hiking. Used to be a weekly affair for a few years, the hike up the hills of Pokok Sena. The drive there takes about 20 minutes. When Son hit secondary school, we started going hiking. Figured he was getting too soft and not used to the outdoor life... ! So this morning the 3 of us went again! Getting him up was slightly difficult but he was quite agreeable to go! 8)

Early shots of the rubber plantation as dawn breaks. It's dry season now, so most of the leaves have dropped off....

Hiking was something we started about 4 years ago. Since it was something that Other Half and I used to do in our teens, we picked it up again quite naturally. But getting our boy to go those days was a real effort. He had to be forced and every Friday evening we'd literally drag him there. Did for 3 years straight except for last year when everyone of us got bogged down.

I'll always remember the first hike. We had to hold his hand all the way up and down. I even had to remove the leaves from his path cos he was so afraid of falling. LOL! But by the end of the year, he was running up faster than us.

Looking down from up... the trail that has been made. The HASH people have thoughtfully put up paper trails. One won't get lost if he follows the trail. This is actually a rubber plantation on hills. We bumped into rubber tappers going about their work on our way up. Imagine the kind of stamina these people have. They not only have to walk the hilly terrain but also carry the rubber latex down.

Up on the hill... there is a clearing and somehow the good souls carried all these stuff up there. There are even 2 swings. And this time, I noticed they have planted shrubs all around. And the water in those bottles?? You can use it to water those shrubs. Then you carry it down again empty to be filled and someone else who comes will take it up again. How's that???

The denuded and now flattened hills. They had this big development project planned for this area. It's been a year.... and nothing! Guess the project is on hold. Economic outlook also would not permit it to commence, I supposed. It used to be all green, down there. Used to be our original hiking trail... all gone!

Sun was up by the time we made our descent. Hence, it's always good to make the climb early in the morning.

What were once upon a time hillocks... now almost flattened by the constant 'mining' of soil to fill the nearby area.

Down at the starting point....40 minutes later. You can try to go from tree to tree via the ropes. Quite fun to hang on and move along on it. The HASH people built the shed for their activities which all of us get to use also. Taking photos was a breeze with my SE C905 camera phone; no need to carry an extra gadget. 8) And the pics are not too bad.

We should start going more regularly again. Doing this together takes effort but it's something that is good. Kids and nature.... I think it's important that they understand and feel at home with nature. The world my kids live in is very artificial and sterile sometimes.