Gunung Nuang

Waterfall (from above)

Serenity

I'm still experiencing the high which I got from the Kk trip. Therefore I decided to join Jenny for a stroll in Gunung Nuang on Monday. Also, I wanted to put my Hitec shoes into good use. Trust me, it was well used. (Overused perhaps!) Got up at 5.30am to prepare some sandwiches for the trip. I can't believe it, I've been exercising everyday and not sleeping in, what more on the long weekend. Jenny and Adnan came to pick me up at 6.15am, then we headed off to Old Klang Road to pick Uncle Hooi up. There were 6 of us in the trip, and we met Mr and Mrs Goon later at the mamak. Uncle Hooi was the oldest amongst us, and I brought the average age down to 51.66. (Uncle Hooi is nearly 70). Jenny promised a workout equivalent to 2 days worth of calories! The entire trek would take about 4 hours up to the summit, and 4 down, total of 8 hours.

We were set to meet the Goons at the mamak somewhere in Ulu Langat. Just as Jenny parked her car and got down, she noticed there was a puncture in the back tyre on the right. That was about 7.30am. We were supposed to hit the trail at 8am. By the time we changed the tyre and had breakfast, it was already 8.20am. By the time we hit the base of the trail, it was about 8.40am. We had to drive through this really narrow path which wasn't even a proper road to get to the entry point of the trail. Believe it or not, even before we started the trail, I already had a couple of leech bites. EEEW!!

Jenny and Adnan took us on an overgrown trail, and I was trying hard to keep my mind away from thinking of how many leeches would have crept under my pants. We had to backtrack several times before realising that it was futile to go further, as this path was abandoned and it was difficult to find any clear trail. Just as we made our way back to the car, Jenny discovered that her shoes have started falling apart! The entire sole came off, and there was nothing left but a HUGE hole. Good thing she left a pair of Saucony in the boot. We drove back down, where we found another trail. This is actually the longer path, which takes about 40 minutes longer than the original path (ie the overgrown trail).

The fate of Jenny's shoes

What's left of the shoes

By then we knew that we were immensely delayed and not able to make it to the summit, as we did not want to come down when it was dark (being rainy season lately as well). Oh well, burning 1 day's worth of calories is better than not at all. It was quite a nice climb up, as the path was wide. Only thing I didn't like was the mud which coated my Hitec beyond recognition. It was mostly uphill all the way, and reminiscent of my KK climb, except that it was a HOT day. We had 3 streams to cross before reaching the Lolo campsite. It was quite a sorry state, the campsite, as it looked like a dumping ground with all the garbage left by the campers. Honestly, the campers should be more civic minded and clear after themselves as NOBODY, NOBODY is going to clear the place. I would not want to put up the night there.

On the brighter and more beautiful side, Camp Lolo was filled with butterflies of different colours and sizes. You'd see a group of them (how do you refer to a group of butterflies? not school, not herd....what is it?) flying around and it makes you feel like you're in Dreamland or some unreal world (don't look or think of the garbage). There was even a jungle dog there. He must be surviving on the scraps which campers feed him with. He doesn't look undernourished though.

We had our lunch by the waterfall - I had the sandwich while some of them had roti canai or nasi lemak. We left Lolo at about 1.30pm and headed down. Uncle Hooi was always ahead of the pack..he never showed any signs of fatigue or tiredness. He is the epitome of fitness for senior citizens, and I'd be lucky if I can be as active as him in say, another 20 years' time.

It was a good trip, even though we did not hit the summit. Well this is only the warmup...