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The day before the trekking trip (Friday, 13 March), the entire sky was covered with rain clouds in the morning and it was raining non-stop. Through experience, if the day before was raining heavily, the next day would be a fine weather as it takes much longer time to gather the clouds again.
At 6am on Saturday, the weather gave us the scare. When the group met at the Petronas/7-11 station along Jalan Cheras, there was sign of slight drizzle. After exchanging pleasantries and chat, many trekkers that came in a few cars were ready to go. On the way to Gunung Nuang en route through Pangsun direction, it pours heavily. Oh gosh, it would really be a wet trekking trip. The road was filled with lots of water indicating that it has been raining heavily for at least half an hour ago. At that moment, I received two sms from two cars (about 8 trekkers) that they would abandon the plan.
I have to proceed (so are other cars in the group) as we are supposed to meet TonyQ and his team at the car park of Gunung Nuang. Since we came thus far, it would be disappointed to cancel the trip. While continuing the journey, the rain progressively STOPS!! Wow! What a relief. It was indeed dry at the Gunung Nuang area.
The Journey
There were about 25 trekkers. After the briefing by Tony Q, the group started the journey at 7:15 a.m. when the sky was just bright.
Okay, step on to this rock... Tony in guiding Vicki
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Trekking up Gunung Nuang can be divided into three main terrains: the logging track which a road wide for vehicle to travel. This part is fairly flat and most trekkers do not find it challenging. The second part is the start of the ascent to Camp Pacat via Camp Lolo. This is the part where trekkers have to cross the stream four times. With the heavy rainfall, the stream was bloated with rushing water. So crossing the stream is a delicate attempt with precision landing trying to keep the trekking shoes dry. A few of the trekkers unfortunately, would not be able to step on the rocks but landed into the water instead.
Third part of the terrain is from Camp Pacat to the false peak and with a right turn to the peak. The ascent is tougher as the slope is steeper here. It was like a never ending red-earth super highway. It is indeed the river bed for raining water to flow down the mountain. From the false peak to the peak was another half hour of stepping into the mud as this part is muddy.
Relaxing at the stream after hours of trekking
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On the way down, we took the opportunity to dip into the cold mountain steam. It was indeed a pleasant feeling able to refresh in the cold water.
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Waiting at the pondok for the rest to return to base
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While most of the team members are back at the base at around 5pm, there was still one guy trekker, Mr. Ang, was still not emerged from the jungle yet. Immediately, one trekker, Ayat, that was missing in the jungle for four weeks re-surfaced in my mind. Since the trail of this trek is clearly visible aided by plastic ribbon to lead one in the right direction, not likely that he would be lost. Finally, at around 5:45 p.m., after a bit of anxious waiting, Ang emerged much to the applause and relief of others.
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Ang, the last person to emerge from the jungle
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Ayat – His full name is Mohamad Hassan Ayat, a colleague of mine who is working in RHB Bank; he is from HR department. He went trekking with a focus group of trekkers exactly four weeks ago to Gunung Yong Yap (dense jungle accessible via Cameron Highland). While the other trekkers emerged from the jungle after the trekking trip, he never did. I heard that the Search and Rescue team called off the operation last week.
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Restaurant with a view overlooking a big pond for rearing fishes
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Trekking would not be complete without the sumptuous dinner. As recommended by Tony, so the team went to a Chinese restaurant on the way back. It was a restaurant with a view of the openness. We ordered fish, chicken, sotong, vegetable with a total of six dishes. Since we were hungry (skipping our lunch), the meal tasted fantastic.
The next trekking trip: Gunung Angsi, Saturday 11 April 2009.
Click here for previous postings on Gunung Nuang.
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(Right): Rose, Jayne Aw, Alexis (who are in the Everest Base Camp grop @ October 2009)
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Han - no problem in crossing the stream
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Vicki with her uniquely shaped trekking stick
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(L-R): Tony, Rose, Vicki, Jennifer, Gween, Michael, KC.
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Kevin and Alexis returning from the peak of Gunung Nuang for almost 10 hours of trekking.
From Star newspaper: The Hulu Langat district was hit by its worst floods since 1993, following hours of continuous rain yesterday. The water level rose 1.5m to 2m in several flood-prone areas, with the worst-hit areas being villages in Sungai Serai, Kampung Jawa and Dusun Tua. A flood alert for the district was raised by the authorities when the water level rose abruptly and brought traffic to a standstill.
Rescue needed: Hulu Langat flood victims waiting to be evacuated yesterday
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As you can see, the group is lucky that despite all the rain and flooding, we managed to trek up the mountain and returned without having been hampered by the rain.
The participants will run up the 2,058 steps to the peak of the KL Tower
