In touch with the Nature (i) - Sleeping Beauty Mountain

13 Apr 2008

my very first hiking...

real hiking of walking and tracking in the woods!

it's like those you watch in 武侠片！！！

was pretty hard and tiring, especially i'm doing this for the 1st time...

(not those hiking in Bt Timah Hill or MacRitchie)

no route pathed out...follow only the trail markers!

where you have to keep searching as you walk along....

exciting and interesting huh!!

scary if you cant one...it means that you are lost in the woods!!

all thanks to the Hungarian friends...

they are sooo used to hike in the woods...they have done it Nth times already!

it's a piece of cake for them~~

really cant be happier to go for such awesome activity...

******

it's a totally new experience and exchange with the Mother Nature,

so much wonderful beauties out there which we missed out

and it's going to be taken away from us...

if we don't take good care of the Earth!

Nature is always full of surprises...

only awaiting for you to discover it's MAGIC!!

******

A mini waterfall along the way...

oops... looks like we are getting lost...
navigation in process~~ and will be right on track!

we got to the parking area...

map...water...food...all packed!
yes...we are ready to hit the trail~~

Our destination for this hike:

Sleeping Beauty Mountain (2.9 miles)

Distance: 7 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 1300 ft
Hike Time: 3.5 hours

(depending on your pace, we took about 6 hours in total)
Difficulty: Moderate
Trail Condition: Well maintained trail

(not really that well, maybe cos of the snow we encountered)
Hike Type:Loop

hydrating is important!

it was snowing when we started on the hike!!

1.8 miles more to go...

the snow stopped!

but the trail was still wet and muddy...and covered with snow too...

i fell into the snow pit which came up to my thighs!!

simply gonna crawl out of the snow at times...

checking if we are on the right route...

TAKE FIVE!!

after some uphill action...it felt so gd to take a break!

resting on the log...

An ice fort??

(i don't know the correct name for it?!?)

like some frozen waterfall or snow accumulated during winter on the cliffs...

so we climbed up to take a closer look...

it's BIG!!

some glacier's cousin???

quite impressive ice formation....

hehe...i got up close to it!!

1.2 miles more to go...

Time for lunch at the Bumps Pond...

it's not a mini pond...but a big big big POND!!

it's still covered with snow on the surface...

"Leader" having his lunch by the pond side

ohh..."working" at the same time!

0.8 miles more to the summit!!

getting CLOSER...0.1 mile to go!!

Here is it...Sleeping Beauty Summit!!!

it was chilly up the summit...strong and cold wind blowing on us!

**shivers**

******

it feels so great and sense of achievement to get up here!!

the process might be tough...

never give up...not even halfway!

you will be rewarded when you reached!!

it's so inspiring up at the TOP...

Yeah~~ i conquered it!!!

Presenting the team for this hike...

Balaz, Ferenc aka Hoci, PX, Weiyee and Yves

(left to right)

******


Enjoy the view from the Summit~