Field reports/ log
Entry point
This expedition consists of 10 climber, 9 men and 1 cute lady. Age ranges from 13 years old to over 40s. Organized by Kereh member; ajiz, mono, din & yusri, other climbers (khalid, abg lan, fauzan, jo, bro Munawar & Mun jr.) invited through mountaineering online community – gunung.cjb.net. We met for the first time at Putra Bus Station Kuala Lumpur on Friday night of 25th July 2008. Even though met for the first time, we have no worry of teamwork, dynamic and fitness of this group as all are experienced climber inclusive of 13th yr old Mun Junior who already complete Trans Titiwangsa ranges with bro Mun senior. To ease preparation as all expedition member come from various part of Malaysia, ration and accommodation was set up separately by fauzan with abg lan, Bro Mun sr. & jr, and the rest form one group (khalid from Kulim, Abg Lan – Kuantan, Bro Mun – Kedah, Ajiz – Sabah and the rest from Kuala Lumpur) . Kechik was there that night to give support and deliver new spider stove ordered by Khalid. We take bus Mutiara Express journey to Town Gua Musang and we will stop halfway at Merapoh Baru Village 30 minutes before Gua Musang Town. Our bus departs at 12.15am and arrives around 4am at a Restaurant which also a Rest point for Bus Mahligai Express. The restaurant has closed by that time but we ask permission to rest at its surau before our contact person meet us tomorrow morning.
Entry point
This expedition consists of 10 climber, 9 men and 1 cute lady. Age ranges from 13 years old to over 40s. Organized by Kereh member; ajiz, mono, din & yusri, other climbers (khalid, abg lan, fauzan, jo, bro Munawar & Mun jr.) invited through mountaineering online community – gunung.cjb.net. We met for the first time at Putra Bus Station Kuala Lumpur on Friday night of 25th July 2008. Even though met for the first time, we have no worry of teamwork, dynamic and fitness of this group as all are experienced climber inclusive of 13th yr old Mun Junior who already complete Trans Titiwangsa ranges with bro Mun senior. To ease preparation as all expedition member come from various part of Malaysia, ration and accommodation was set up separately by fauzan with abg lan, Bro Mun sr. & jr, and the rest form one group (khalid from Kulim, Abg Lan – Kuantan, Bro Mun – Kedah, Ajiz – Sabah and the rest from Kuala Lumpur) . Kechik was there that night to give support and deliver new spider stove ordered by Khalid. We take bus Mutiara Express journey to Town Gua Musang and we will stop halfway at Merapoh Baru Village 30 minutes before Gua Musang Town. Our bus departs at 12.15am and arrives around 4am at a Restaurant which also a Rest point for Bus Mahligai Express. The restaurant has closed by that time but we ask permission to rest at its surau before our contact person meet us tomorrow morning.
At Perhilitan Station Sungai Relau
Day 1
Our Contact arrives before 7am with 2 pick up trucks. First thing first – breakfast at nearby village Felda Merapoh Baru. Most of Mount Tahan Guides for route from Merapoh come from this village. There is no rush this morning as expected trekking time for today would take just around than 6 hours. Back on pick up truck we head to our entry point Perhilitan Station; around 3km from main road. Things to do at Perhilitan office - register; – body, clothes, plastics, bottle, basically everything what you take in there have to be take out, divide ration and change for trekking attire. At 10am after all settled we back on 150 horsepower Toyota hilux for another 14 km journey to Kuala Juram-our starting point. The journey for the next six days starts from here. My feeling mix up; excited on scaling peninsular Malaysia highest mountain with all the tales about it and at the same time anxious of challenge ahead. To prepare our body for the next few hours of physical ordeal we ensure that we do enough warm up; and with heartfelt prayer we off hitting the trek with hail of chuckle and giggle. Trekking is about getting together and sharing laugh anyway.
Our Contact arrives before 7am with 2 pick up trucks. First thing first – breakfast at nearby village Felda Merapoh Baru. Most of Mount Tahan Guides for route from Merapoh come from this village. There is no rush this morning as expected trekking time for today would take just around than 6 hours. Back on pick up truck we head to our entry point Perhilitan Station; around 3km from main road. Things to do at Perhilitan office - register; – body, clothes, plastics, bottle, basically everything what you take in there have to be take out, divide ration and change for trekking attire. At 10am after all settled we back on 150 horsepower Toyota hilux for another 14 km journey to Kuala Juram-our starting point. The journey for the next six days starts from here. My feeling mix up; excited on scaling peninsular Malaysia highest mountain with all the tales about it and at the same time anxious of challenge ahead. To prepare our body for the next few hours of physical ordeal we ensure that we do enough warm up; and with heartfelt prayer we off hitting the trek with hail of chuckle and giggle. Trekking is about getting together and sharing laugh anyway.
At Kuala Juram
The journey goes through lowland dense jungle and several river crossing. As trek covered with high tree canopy there will be less windy and whether could be hot and humid. The trek could be muddy in rainy season and expect more leeches waiting around, so choose your atti
re and shoes accordingly; rubber shoes or wrap up sandal is wise choice especially to go through those rivers crossing. After 5km we arrived at Kuala Luis at 1.30pm, from here Lata Luis is for another 6km. We arrived at Camp Kor our campsite for the night at 4.30pm. Not to our advantage our arrival was welcome with light rain and situation become almost dark even we still got few hours before dark. The condition at the campsite is little bit muddy make it a little bit uncomfortable. Light rain keep pouring consistently throughout the night, at least we get a tight sleep that night.
Day 2
Enough sleep last night make me feel fresh this morning, a good start for a long and tough journey that we going to face today. Distance from Camp Kor (750m) to Bukit Botak (1943m) is 13km with elevation of 1193m gain in single day is the steepest part of days ahead. We all wake up early for breakfast. Wet condition slows us down to pack up or just good reason to lazy up a bit, but what got to do is got to do otherwise we will way out of schedule. Today trekking would take around 10 hours for average climber. We start trekking around 10am; we hope to arrive at Bukit Botak before dusk. Whether that achievable would depend on our pace and management, but considering average climber factor with a simple math calculation means we will arrive late after dark definitely.
re and shoes accordingly; rubber shoes or wrap up sandal is wise choice especially to go through those rivers crossing. After 5km we arrived at Kuala Luis at 1.30pm, from here Lata Luis is for another 6km. We arrived at Camp Kor our campsite for the night at 4.30pm. Not to our advantage our arrival was welcome with light rain and situation become almost dark even we still got few hours before dark. The condition at the campsite is little bit muddy make it a little bit uncomfortable. Light rain keep pouring consistently throughout the night, at least we get a tight sleep that night.Day 2
Enough sleep last night make me feel fresh this morning, a good start for a long and tough journey that we going to face today. Distance from Camp Kor (750m) to Bukit Botak (1943m) is 13km with elevation of 1193m gain in single day is the steepest part of days ahead. We all wake up early for breakfast. Wet condition slows us down to pack up or just good reason to lazy up a bit, but what got to do is got to do otherwise we will way out of schedule. Today trekking would take around 10 hours for average climber. We start trekking around 10am; we hope to arrive at Bukit Botak before dusk. Whether that achievable would depend on our pace and management, but considering average climber factor with a simple math calculation means we will arrive late after dark definitely.
The journey begin
with a river crossing and the trek ascending consistenly. We arrive at Permatang Camp at 10.44am, last person arrive at Kubang Camp at 1.30pm. We have lunch of Pita Bread sandwich and nice hot lemon tea here. Water point is quite far for around 100m and descends a bit to another campsite. After prayer, enough rest and chatting of nearly one hour the last person leave Kubang Camp at 2.47pm.
with a river crossing and the trek ascending consistenly. We arrive at Permatang Camp at 10.44am, last person arrive at Kubang Camp at 1.30pm. We have lunch of Pita Bread sandwich and nice hot lemon tea here. Water point is quite far for around 100m and descends a bit to another campsite. After prayer, enough rest and chatting of nearly one hour the last person leave Kubang Camp at 2.47pm. Kubang Camp
We reach Belumut camp at 3.30pm. There are sign of different group camping here last night. Camp Belumut located at stretch of muddy valley and at the camp itself is quite wet all year round likely. What special here is it seems that the place is habitat of certain species of bird. The sound of bird chirping is constant and loud and a couple of chirpy is quite tame to move around our team members. The bird would pick up bread thrown to them and have it in the bush. It is more like food feeding session. Next time you here remember to set aside a cup of rice for them :) . Puncak Pemandangan at 5.50pm, Bonsai Camp at 7.00pm. From here we could see the front group of Khalid, Bro. Mun & jr, and Fauzan on the way up trek to Bukit Botak. They are more than 30minutes ahead of us. From Belumut Camp and certain part of Camp Bonsai to Bukit Botak the trek is quite muddy. Finally the last group reaches Bukit Botak Camp at 9.00pm Yeeehaaaa.
Puncak Pemandangan
We set up our tent (a modest build of fly, ground and sheet to cover opening) parallel to a small bush so that the opening is covered and to avoid heavy wind blowing directly inside. The water point is running water flowing from nearby hill with 2 small pools. The upper pool is strictly for drinking water whiles the lower one for bathing. After dinner we just keep inside as cold wind is blowing hard outside and the temperature here could be quite low and based on experience of previous climber ice formation could formed on metal utensil leave on the open.
Bukit Botak is perfect site for camp site; with even surface, nearby big enough water point, nice view and good toilet with view :). But it is quite open area with small tree and so that it is quite windy. If we arrive little bit early before dusk this camp site going to be perfect place to view sunset.
Bukit Botak Camp Site
Day 3
We wake up on one fine good morning, scenic view stretch more than 200 degree, layer of greenish to azure mountains tiles with pale fog and blue sky in the background. Breezy wind that morning is plus point to already perfect setting. On the other degree of East side sit imposing barren hill on the way up to the peak so there is no sunrise view from here.
We wake up on one fine good morning, scenic view stretch more than 200 degree, layer of greenish to azure mountains tiles with pale fog and blue sky in the background. Breezy wind that morning is plus point to already perfect setting. On the other degree of East side sit imposing barren hill on the way up to the peak so there is no sunrise view from here.
Our destination today is Gedong Camp or Mount Gedong that would take around 6 hours. The plan is from Peak we would have lunch at Bukit Berapit and proceed to Mt. Gedong Camp. As expected trekking time today is not so long and excitement to trek along the most beautiful and unique part of the trail make us little complacent about management that would make us suffer later. We leave Bukit Botak at 10.30am with camera ready to snap photo as much as possible. Sun start scorching hotter as it move to the west. Journey today would go through mostly small bonsai tree and small part of muddy valley with higher cover tree before Bukit Berapit. After Bukit Berapit the vegetation back to all small bonsai tree and porous granite soil as we ascend back to Mount Gedong. The sun shines hot but cool wind makes us just feel right. With not much cover from tree shade we all exposed directly to the elements. It is wise to wear enough protection, long sleeve shirt cap and sunshade, sun block cream is advisable as long as you not fancy of burn skin and retina. My good morning towel is indispensable and serves well as cover beside sweat soaking tools.
all the way from Peak to Mount Gedung
We reach Mount Tahan Peak one hour later and spend 45 minute at the peak to snap photo and commemorate our feat. After all it is the peak that is the main target, wish to spend more time there but the peak is just a stop in the middle of this trail. Mono is the last person to leave the peak as we descend toward Mount Gedong. Wind sometime brought fog moving along our side and covering the gully. Small nepenthes and orchids are common here and vegetation no higher than one foot for the first 1km down. If lucky you would find raw diamond among porous soil and granite along this trail. 
Estimate time taken and distance cover for Merapoh-Gunung Tahan Trail
(Altitude) Distance (km) Time (hour)
Kuala Juram (309m) to Kuala Luis(306m) 5 1 ½
Kuala Luis (306m) to Lata Luis (558m) 6 1 ½
Lata Luis (558m) to Kem Kor (750m) 2.5 1
Kem Kor (750m) to Permatang (874m) 2.5 1
Permatang (874m) to Kubang (1406m) 3.5 3 ½
Kubang (1406m) to Belumut (1493m) 1.5 1
Belumut (1493m) to Bonsai (1705m) 5.5 3
Bonsai (1705m) to Bukit Botak (1943m) 3 2
Bukit Botak (1943m) to Gunung Tahan (2187m) 2.4 1
From Peak to Bukit Berapit would take 3 hours and 2 hours more from there to Mount Gedong. Here I realize the problem, we will trekking past lunch time for 2 hours more. It means suffering if you still trekking without lunch at 3 o clock. The worst is no water point along the way until a spot near Bukit Berapit. At that time even rainwater in small puddle looks tempting enough, but the scene of frog tadpoles doing freestyle refrain me from it. It is fraught to replenish depleting energy level but my entire tidbit already finish on the way up to Bukit Botak yesterday. I trekking along with ajiz while Mono, Khalid and Yusry strolling further back. Whatever food we have all finish hours before Bukit Berapit including ajiz last chocolate bar. Thanks.. Jiz!
Bukit Berapit
The last group reach Bukit Berapit at 3.30pm, it is actually intersection between trail to Padang camp and Mount Gedong camp. Bro Mun the earliest to arrive already set up
his fly for shade while waiting for the rest of the group. After simple bread and jam we leave for Mount Gedong at 4.00pm. 1 hour and 30 minute later we reach a spot of World Ward II plane crash. Based on the wreckage it is possibility that is a small fighter plane. The plane hit mountain wall from east side just below the spot the main wreckage tossed. The debris littered up to nearby hill that still laying up to these days. Finally all member reach Mount Gedong camp at 6.00pm.
his fly for shade while waiting for the rest of the group. After simple bread and jam we leave for Mount Gedong at 4.00pm. 1 hour and 30 minute later we reach a spot of World Ward II plane crash. Based on the wreckage it is possibility that is a small fighter plane. The plane hit mountain wall from east side just below the spot the main wreckage tossed. The debris littered up to nearby hill that still laying up to these days. Finally all member reach Mount Gedong camp at 6.00pm.
At Plane Crash site
Serial Number
Mata Air
At Bukit Botak and Mount Gedong Camp, walking pole found it new use as tent’s fly pole other than walking assistance, while anyone not suppose to cut any tree here, but one big reason is actually there are no high enough tree here qualified to be a tent pole. Water point here is just marvelous there is a small flowing water beside big boulder 30m front camp site, it just enough for basic need a big No for bathing. West side down the big beautiful valley on right side of trail to Padang Camp there are big flowing beautiful waterfall. This just amazes me from where such big water is flowing while we are already on top of mountain plain. It would be ex
citing if we could trace up source of the stream but that would be another new adventure, but it’s not so difficult to comprehend that the stream is flowing from unique eco system of the mountain. Area of mountain’s top from Bukit Berapit to Mount Gedong is formed of thick small plant and the soil is covered with damp plant and weed. During cold night the weed and damp soil would soak moisture, fog and water droplet. This will form a steady water catchments area and release steady flow of water and grow bigger as it move downstream.
citing if we could trace up source of the stream but that would be another new adventure, but it’s not so difficult to comprehend that the stream is flowing from unique eco system of the mountain. Area of mountain’s top from Bukit Berapit to Mount Gedong is formed of thick small plant and the soil is covered with damp plant and weed. During cold night the weed and damp soil would soak moisture, fog and water droplet. This will form a steady water catchments area and release steady flow of water and grow bigger as it move downstream.
The Spirit! Strange rock formation of face
Mount Gedong Campsite - Mark by small clearing on top
After taking bath, cleaning ourselves, changing to warm clothing, next main thing is having coffee while enjoying the sunset. The beautiful view, serene and peaceful scene that makes the experience so sweet… or it’s the coffee?
From dusk till dawn
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