bukit panjang to upper peirce reservoir

today, i finally accomplished what i had wanted to do for sometime - go on a hike from chestnut avenue to upper peirce reservoir. actually, i started the hike from my home at bukit panjang. the building in the above picture can be seen from the dam at upper peirce reservoir. a former student of mine, who had gone with us on the trek to the shinto shrine deep in the macritchie reservoir, offered to show us the route but some how we never got around to doing it. there was another occasion when keith initiated an attempt to use the same route to get to lower peirce reservoir but at the last minute because of inclement weather, it had to be called off.

at the chestnut avenue waterworks, i asked the person manning the gate if there was a track leading to the upper peirce reservoir. apparently, he has not gone on any hike around that area, and his answer: ''it is very wide". i also approached a mountain biker waiting for his buddies but he could not help me either because he was unfamiliar with that area. he told me that he would be using track 15; must have been referring to some mountain biking route. since i was already there, i had no choice but to 'plunge in'.

at the initial stage, there were many fallen trees across the track. they must have fallen like dominos. sawn off tree branches were used to cover the soggy track. the paths were quite well marked except for a few spots where you had to detour because of the fallen trees. as usual, i did not meet any walker during the entire hike but i did meet the cyclist whom i had approached earlier for help.

certain sections of the track hug the edge of the water. the water level was quite high; if it should rain a bit more, i think the track will be obliterated by the rising water. that is one of the reasons why some trekkers can get lost in our water catchment areas; the rising water covers the track and forces them to move away from the marked (well-used) track.

i did not see any 'sign of civilisation' until i came to the dam. all the way, it was the forest and no sign of human or human activities except for some plastic water bottles, wrappers and some markers left behind by earlier hikers. it was at the dam that i came to realise that the upper peirce reservoir is the nearest reservoir to bukit panjang because i could see the blocks of flats that i had walked past earlier.