Summit Loop Walk

Still not a story about my virtual walk (I'm still in Missouri), but one will come soon. So stay tuned. For now, here is a true story of my Sunday Summit Loop Walk.

It was cloudy after church and perfect weather for a walk. I decided to head out to the jungle and walk up to the summit, what I call the Summit Loop walk.

I filled a couple of water bottles and clipped them to my waist pouch, threw my phone, a plastic bag, and some money into the pouch, clipped on my ipod for the road walking segment (I never listen to music in the jungle), pressed the start button on my polar heart rate monitor watch and headed out the front door.

I looped around the neighborhood to warm up, hit the main road, and started pounding the pavement to the beat of Journey and America. The sidewalk ended about a minute later and I had to shuffle to the side of the road and walk in the dust, sand, and broken concrete. The road is damaged because of the many construction projects in the area. Traffic was minimum because it was Sunday. On a regular workday, all of the roads I walk are usually busy with cars. Though traffic was light, most of those on the road thought they were in the F1 roaring past me, loud because of modified mufflers. The concrete mixers and big trucks are the worst, belching black exhaust and stirring up the dust.


It wasn’t long before I passed the mosque, took a left turn, and walked along the uphill road that encircled the mosque. Closely planted palm trees shielded me from the UV rays. I took another left and headed towards Mont Kiara. The Kuala Lumpur High Court was now on my right, the mosque still on my left.


The cloudy sky finally bore fruit and a light rain started drifting down. I wrapped my phone and ipod in my plastic bag and kept walking. The road I was on flowed over a series of small hills. I always imagined that I was walking on top of a rollercoaster. By the time I ‘finished my ride’ and made it to the end of the road, the light rain stopped.

I crossed over the newly opened bridge over the highway and entered the Mont Kiara area. This road was even dustier than the previous. Condominiums, under construction, popped up along this whole downhill stretch. The light rain dampened the dust so the air was relatively clean, though muggy. I walked out of the new part of Mont Kiara and into the older established area. My office complex was on the right and the Sunday ABC market was busy with activity (every Sunday there’s a flea market set up around the office). I hung a right past the office and continued my walk under the Penchala Link Highway.


Now I was entering the Desa Hartamas neighborhood. I walked through a police roadblock without incident; I wasn’t speeding. I made a brief stop at the party shop to ask about their closing time (my daughter’s birthday party is next weekend)… six o’clock (note to self, after walk come back and look for party pack fillers).

I crossed the small parking lot and headed into the Desa Hartamas residential neighborhood. The sun was trying to peak out but the clouds or haze kept it at bay. At the end of the street, I hopped on the sidewalk that parallels the Damansara Highway. After about 10 minutes along the highway I came to the trailhead, unplugged my ipod, and entered the jungle. This was 5 miles from my front door (5 miles the long way, but could be reached in about 2 miles using an alternative route).


The trailhead was the beginning of a short trail that led to the Mont Kiara reservoir water tank service road. It was a nice walk that snaked through the jungle, climbed uphill and terminated at the water tank. Just before the end of the road, I exited alongside a new housing development (last year this was a jungle) and headed up a steep incline toward the Boulder path.


I could now hear thunder and it appeared to be creeping closer. The sky was also getting darker. I continued on and would decide on a course of action when I arrived at the Arboretum (an area of jungle cleared a couple of years ago and planted with indigenous trees). At the Arboretum, which was also a crossroads of sorts with pathways leading in 3 directions, I decided that though the thunder still sounded like an approaching war, the sky was not threatening enough for me to abort my walk. I continued and took the short, steep route to the top of the summit.

This proved physically taxing. I had not been walking as regular as I used to and the steep climb to the top kept my heart rate in the red zone. I pressed on knowing that once I made it to the top I would be rewarded with a view of Kuala Lumpur and the knowledge that the walk back down the Twin Peaks trail would be a long, gentle and rejuvenating downhill walk. But the view from the top was not what I wanted to see. The sky over KL was black and the thunder was now getting louder.

I started down the Twin Peaks trail at a clip and continued past the bamboo grove, glanced at the small temple on my right, and shuffled around the hairpin turn. Gusts of cool wind kicked up and the trees started swaying, leaves blew across the path and the thunder continued. I made it to the Snakes and Ladders trail and continued at a fast walk (except when I took out my phone to make a small video of the trail). The Snakes and Ladder trail led back to the Arboretum and I continued on to the Boulders trail and headed back home.

Once I was out of the jungle and back along the Damansara Highway I decided that the sky didn’t really look too bad so was going to walk home the long way, the way I had come. Just then a loud crack of thunder shattered the noise of traffic and I looked back to see the sky slowly dimming to black. I made a quick turn-around, hopped across the pedestrian bridge that crossed the highway and headed home on the short route.

About a mile from home the thunder ceased and the sky fell. This was a tropical rainstorm, not a drizzle, but the kind of rain that forces motorists to pull over with their flashers flashing. White sheets battered down and I couldn’t’ have been any happier. What a way to end a beautiful walk! I walked on the edge of the road in water 2-3 inches deep streaming down the inclined road. My shoes were filled with water and did not empty. But with only a mile to go I didn’t need to worry about blisters. One car passed me slowly and stopped ahead. It was my neighbors (also walkers) asking me if I needed a ride. I smiled and told them that this was the best part of my walk and I’m almost home now. Plus I was already drenched.

As I entered my neighborhood the rainstorm turned into a thunderstorm. Lightening cracked the sky and I scurried on back to my house. Under my carport I removed my shoes and socks and shirt, sat on my bench and enjoyed the symphony of rain and thunder. That was a great walk with a perfect ending!

Here's a short video of my walk back along the Snakes and Ladders trail. My phone camera is not the best... obviously. It starts with me walking down a steep switch-back that leads to a small timber bridge (a ladder crossing).