Penampang Tua Paau Hash House 18 October 2009
Runsite: Kg. Maang, Penampang, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
For the run outside the city parameter of Kota Kinabalu, Kg. Maang along Penampang-Papar old road would seem to be a long drive considering d’Wanderers had just driven about 2hrs from Ranau following an overnight escapade with the K2H2 Bunnies.
However, PTH2 members were really serious about hashing ‘coz their vehicles were already lining up the whole stretch of the road. It was exceptionally hot & dry evening even tho’ dark clouds were hovering all over the Kota Kinabalu. And by the look of it, the heavens would just open up its floodgate but that didn’t happen at all. By 4pm I saw d’Wanderers slowly moved across the street & wandered into some private dirt road. Few more early starters followed them from behind then without hesitation Charming Cock (Kok Chan Ming) tugged me towards them which I happily acquiesced the subtle prodding.
Reaching the foot of the hill, we climbed the well-trodden path slowly as it was going between 60-70degrees slope. When I reached the top, Wanderer was still loitering around then I decided to go for short run as well. We took advantage of the slope going down and sped up a little as we followed the track further down to a ravine. From there we went crabbing along the skirt of the same hill—a definitely Sotong signature run where on few occasion I could hear Wanderer’s “Ouch!” as she yanked her heavily-gloved hands from the thorny branches.
Sometimes, the trail passed thru’ a firm ledges but most often we had to grab trees, roots or even uprooted grass just to balance ourselves while manoeuvering some tricky parts. From the distance, we could hear sound of chainsaw cutting woods somewhere down the other hill, but due to the density of the jungle, I couldn’t really pinpoint which hill was that.
Then the trail crossed another ravine which brought us farther away from the base, but the humming sound of the chainsaw was still audible. By the time we set foot on the firmer ground, I just realized we were already on the other hill which was equally dense and also infested with giant thorny vines. Since we had to go up at 60deg angle, there was no way clearing the trail without entangling with the wayward vines. The challenge was untangling yourselves from the thorns that caught your shirts & pants. At least Wanderer was fully equipped with thick gloves & walking stick where she could just pin the vines to her side. Some more energetic young ones overtook us as we made our way around the hill.
As we climbed further up, the vegetation shifted from dangling vines & distorted trees to sea of ferns. I saw few types of ferns but it was the giant ferns that caught my attention, ‘coz one particular tree stand to about 15mtrs high. At the open space where the cross-point for long & short run was conspicuously marked, we ran into few guys, who took advantage of the slope to rest. The long run would have continued down to the foot of the hill then would take them up again to reach the ridge of the next hill.
For d’Wanderers & I, we followed the shorter trail & continued going up to the hill that linked to the exit. The terrain was deceptive as it looked that when I reckoned a shorter way out; it was just the start of along winding trail around the hill. True enough it was still a long walk or run even in late evening and with humidity that deprived us of needed oxygen, I myself was already soaked with my own sweat. By the time I reached the topmost part of the hill, I already finished my drinks but at least it gave me ample time to rest until d’Wanderers emerged fully exhausted from the jungle. Can you imagine a scenario that even when you’re on top of the hill, the leaves of the trees were not moving at all—no breeze; everything just stand still.
As we descend following the open dirt road, we finally saw the cross which had been our landmark along this area. I was more interested in having a swirl around it for another pole-dancing on the hill & I was sure Mr. Wanderer would have taken the pole as well. Yeah, we still had not recovered from the pole dancing we had with the K2H2 Bunnies last Saturday night. MFH3 GM Uncle Lee overtook us around that area and just ran down with ease as more and more homing FRB’s passed us. It took us over an hour to finish the run, which to my calculation was a decent time had it not for the dry weather. On-On
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