Trekking at Fraser's Hill

A group photo before the ascent. Click on the photo for enlarged view (291 KB); press F11 key

At the Peak. Click on the photo for enlarged view (255 KB); press F11 key

Tony, the Mountain Sifu, called me after I had returned from trekking in Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal. He was organizing another trekking trip at Pine Tree Trail and put up a night in Fraser’s Hill. My last overnight stay in Fraser’s Hill was really long time ago. So I accepted the invitation with excitement.

We started our journey at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday 31 May 2008; there were two trekkers in my car. We met the rest at the Clock Tower, the famous landmark of Fraser’s Hill at about 9:45 a.m. including a half-hour breakfast at KKB (Kuala Kubu Baru) town.
.Tony is giving a pre-trekking briefing

As usual, Tony would give a briefing of the trail and the Dos and Don’ts. It was misty and the trail was wet after the previous night’s rain. Not only that the ground was wet, so were the plants and leaves that came in contact with us.

With the wet ground, I realized that there were many leeches moving around on the ground looking for targets. That was the first time that I was attacked by so many leeches – at least five of them. The trekkers have to constantly check the lower legs to ward off any leech-attack. At one time, Dr. Hamdan exclaimed, “AGAIN?” seeing that the interval of checking my lower leg was only a few minutes apart.
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Cloudy sky

Dr. Hamdan and LimKH are having a light-hearted moment at the peak

There was one leech that stuck on Yee Choi’s forehead. Most amazingly, another trekker’s finger was bitten by a leech too.

One trekker was stung by a low-flying bee as he was wearing mid-length pants. The bee was flying just 1.5 feet above aground. The wet and cool atmosphere must be very conducive for inserts to move around.

Tony was equipped with the rope indented to climb another peak – The Twin Peak. However, when we arrived at the usual peak at 1pm, the sky was cloudy and there was slight drizzle. So, only Yee Choi, Agnes and Ann went up the second peak. According to Agnes, who was leading the unit, she arrived at a peak but not the Twin Peak as planned. According to her, there was no trail at certain points. Thanks to Yee Choi’s experience who brought along pre-cut paper to mark the trail for the way out.

To be continued… the fun of putting up a night in Fraser’s Hill.

Written by KC

Chey is calling (from the peak) the care-taker of the bungalow to turn on the heater at 4 p.m., in time for a nice hot water bath later.

Tony's medical box and the other equipment

One of the bungalows near the start of the trail

Yours truly (kc) at the starting point of the trail after returning from trekking + clean up

A uniquely shapped plant
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