Royal Rangers Selangor 7

Gunung (Mount) Tahan Adventure

December 10th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in Reports

By Cmdr Terence Ooi

Climbers:

Cmdr Terence Ooi (AR Boys Outpost Commander)
Lee Yu Tjin (Expedition Ranger – 15 years old)
Samuel Lim (Patrol Guide – 14 years old)
Zechary Chin (Patrol Guide – 14 years old)
Naeden Reuel Ng (Adventure Ranger – 14 years old)
Kedric Kwan (Asst Patrol Guide – 13 years old)
Shaun Darwin (Asst Patrol Guide – 13 years old)

Mission:
To conquer the 4 days trek up Gunung Tahan (Merapoh – Gunung Tahan – Merapoh).
To proclaim God’s presence along the climb and declaring His Majesty across the land of Malaysia.

Itenery
1st November 2006 (Wed)

7.00 pm – Arrival at church and a final check of logistics. Parents were filled with a little bit of anxiety, nervousness and excitement whilst asking Cmdr Terence a lot of last minute questions.
7.20 pm – Final climber came (SAM!!!)
7.30 pm – Submitted the whole trip to the Lord and had our last goodbyes to our parents before leaving.
7.35 pm – Left for Merapoh
9.45 pm – Stopped along Bentong-Gua Musang trunk road for a meal
1.00 am (next morning) – Arrived at Merapoh bus station. Seven of us squeezed and made ourselves comfortable for much needed night of sleep before tomorrow’s climb.

2nd November 2006 (Thurs)

6.30 am – The dawn of a new morning, Kedric shared devotion and we committed the morning to God. Everything of us is His and we dare not take any bit of glory.
7.30 am – After brushing our teeth, we had our breakfast outside Taman Negara (Merapoh’s) entrance.
8.15 am – Registered ourselves at the Taman Negara headquarters. Unpacked, noted and declared all our belongings to the forest personnel (as this was compulsory for all hikers). Counted the number of plastics materials, clothing and food packages we brought. Last minute fitting in and stuffing all the items as this was our last chance to make sure we brought everything! There was no turning back from this point forward!
We were also introduced to our guide – Abang Man. His bag weighed at least 10 kg while ours was an average of 5 kg or more! We’ll discover later what he had in his bag!
10.00 am – Hopped into a 4WD at Sungai Relau (base camp) to Kuala Juram. Journey took us about 20 minutes as we psyched ourselves for the climb. The road went uphill and down and we screamed and shouted as the jeep steered it’s way there at a Ferrari-like speed (to say the least)
10.23 am – Took some pictures at Kuala Juram and off we went. Kuala Juram was located at 309 metre (above sea level). Our destination for the day was Kem Kor (750 m) where we would be staying for the night.
10.45 am – Crossed our first river. In total, we will be crossing four rivers upon arrival at Kem Kor. It rained the night before so the trek was quite muddy and slippery. A few slips here and there but nothing that caused concern. A few hills were steep (approximately about 45-50 degrees) but we were assisted by ropes that were tied along the trees.

12.10 pm – We had our first rest stop at Kuala Luis (306 m) after 5 km of hike. Zechary was screaming because of leeches and he was the only person to lose his soul (I mean, sole!). “Timberland punya kasut pun boleh rosak kah! Saya punya baru harga RM5!” exclaimed the guide. Translation: Timberland shoes can also spoil? Mine is only RM5!
13.20 pm – We then took a 6km hike to Lata Luis (558 m). Munched our first apple and energy bar. We were now only 2.5 km away from Kem Kor! Along this trek we witnessed a huge cascading waterfall. Too bad we were not able to bath there as it was dangerous.
4.00 pm – Kem Kor here we are! Located at 750 metres above sea level and 13.5 km journey from Kuala Juram, this campsite is along the clear Relau river. We pitched out tents and immediately jumped into the water to remove those icky yucky stains from our bodies. The water was cold as it trickled along our backs. Once we were done bathing, we cooked our dinner – Maggi Mee and Brahim’s kurma were our staples during the four days. It never tasted so good before!
7.30 pm – Nightfall visited us and we had a small fire going. Some of us took the advantage to dry our underwears, socks and baju!
8.30 pm – Early to bed as we had an early morning tomorrow (not to mention, a long day today). Rain came and went for about an hour during the night. It was an eventful night as we heard (sleeping) Kedric shouting at the top of this voice in the middle of the night. Apparently, he did not realize he was doing that… Creepy…

3rd November 2006 (Fri)

6.00 am – Got up, packed our bags and dismantled out tents. Had something to munch before we departed. Did some warm ups, prayed and off we went. Our destination for the day is – GUNUNG TAHAN’S PEAK!
7.15 am – From Kem Kor, our next point would be Permatang. Crossed one final river and the terrain was quite wet.

9.15 am – After a 2.5km climb, we arrived at Permatang which is located at a valley of two hills (874 m). The climb became tougher here and even more after this.
11.30 am – We arrived at Kubang (1406 m) after a 3.5km hike. By far, this would be the toughest terrain ever during the trip. From Permatang to Kubang, the height we had to conquer was more than 500 m in only 3.5 km. The hills were very steep up to 70 degrees which we were assisted with ropes. We made several stops individually to catch our breath and to psyche ourselves for the next hill. Yu Tjin had a couple of leg cramps along the way.

1.00 pm – Kubang to Belumut was only 1.5 km away. Belumut (1493 m), as it name sounds is covered with mud and the terrain swampy.
5.10 pm – From Belumut, our next stop was Bonsai (1705 m). This journey was even muddier than the one from Kubang, up to knee-depth. Our feet and shoes were covered with mud up until our knees. The journey to Bonsai was as though there was no end. We cleared 5.5 km in about 4 hours plus. Rain was also a deterrent but it surely did not dampen any of our spirits. Our faces lit when we saw the sign that marks “Bonsai”!!!

7.15 pm – We arrived at Bukit Botak, located at 1943 m. We were now journeying above the clouds and trees. It was filled with rocks, a lot of Bonsai plants and an occasional wisp of wind. The journey was enjoyable and quite relaxing after the 10 hour plus treacherous journey in the jungle. Abang Man (our guide) advised us that we should not make our final destination the peak as it was threatening to rain and darkness was befalling.
He was right as the moment we pitched our tents, rain came. Quickly we cooked Maggi Mee, kurma and soup on our gas stoves and we gobbled them down. Tucked ourselves into our sleeping bags and blanketed our bodies with gloves and beanies. This really kept us warm.
We took a peek outside our tents and saw the moon and the sky that was sprinkled with stars. The view was amazing! Thousands of stars and the moon looked like a huge ball of fire!
Again Kedric shared some of his “secrets” in his dream. He was talking non-sensical stuff like 100plus, Gatorade and “going to the same school”. Poor Kedric! But we all did have a good burst of laughter!
Some of us woke up at 1am feeling cold. Water seeped into our tents and the back of our sleeping bag was wet. We got up shivering and made some hot chocolate and milo. Again, 4am we did the same thing to keep ourselves warm. The night was quite rough for some of us.

4th November 2006 (Sat)

5.30 am – After arming ourselves with torch lights, gloves and beanies, we started our “march” towards the peak. Rocks, streams and more rocks accompanied our journey. A couple of “breather-stops” along the way
6.35 am – The PEAK! The PEAK! We’re on top of the WORLD (hehehe…only Peninsular Malaysia), but it sure feels like the top of the world. Gunung Tahan stands majestic at 2187 metres and here we are, 7 young men, proud to be called Royal Rangers, Malaysians and sons of the Most High God! Upon arrival we screamed the name of Jesus at the peak, prayed for the land and started rejoicing in God!
We hugged one another in joy and exuberance. Words cannot express our effort in reaching the peak. Glory to God!
We lingered at the peak for about 40 minutes snapping pictures, screaming, taking out our t-shirts in the cold “winter” weather and enjoying the amazing view at the top.

7.30 am – Started our descend from the peak to Bukit Botak. Packed our stuff and tents and off we went down… reluctantly.
12.00 pm – By now, we had arrived at Kubang, shivering! Rain came down and our walk became slower. Going downhill was less taxing on our legs, but not on our necks! Shaun injured his right calf, Kedric had some “internal” problems (inside joke!), Sam’s ankle was giving way and Cmdr Terence’s pulled his left knee’s muscle.

We pulled out our gas stoves, whipped up mushroom soup, Milo and hot chocolate for warmth and energy.

7.00 pm – Naeden, Yu Tjin and Sam arrived at Kem Kor.
7.15 pm – Darkness crept in and for a brief moment Cmdr Terence, Zech and Kedric lost their way. Zech got all panicky and started screaming… Ohhh… Zech!
7.45 pm – It’s all dark now. Cmdr Terence, Zechary, Kedric and Shaun finally arrived at Kem Kor.

9.30 pm – A really good night rest (words cannot express!)

5th November 2006 (Sun)

7.30 am – Woke up to the sound of little insects and the brightness of the sun. Brushed our teeth and washed our face thoroughly as we hadn’t done so in 3 days! Never felt so good. Sam brushed his teeth for at least 10 minutes while Cmdr Terence brushed his at least 4 times!
8.30 am – Prayed and committed our final journey to the Lord. This is it. Our last 4-5 hours.
12.30 pm – Arrived at Kuala Luis. Five more kilometers to go.
1.20 pm – We now arrived at the final two rivers. All of a sudden our legs became “faster”. Some of us (on our own) were reciting scriptures, praying, speaking in tongues and singing songs – as to get our minds away from the walk and climb.
1.45 pm – Yu Tjin’s and Naeden’s arrival at Kuala Juram. Yeeeehaaa!!!
2.30 pm – Cmdr Terence’s, Sam, Zech and Kedric’s arrival at Kuala Juram…. YEAHHHH!! Cmdr Terence had 5 leeches on his feet! All fat and filled with blood! Sam, Zech and Kedric started shouting BAK KUT TEH!!!!!
2.45 pm – Shaun’s arrival at Kuala Juram! Our final photograph after the whole trip! Hopped onto the 4WD back to Sungai Relau.
4.40 pm – After showering and a few more glitches…we headed to Raub for our long awaited Bak Kut Teh!
9.30 pm – Arrival at Grace PJ with our extremely proud parents waiting for us!

We want to thank our Lord Jesus Christ for His diving strength, energy and protection during the whole journey. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
Thanks to our parents, commanders and everyone else who supported us all the way. Special thanks to Cmdr Asha and Aunty Adeline for picking us up from Merapoh to PJ.
Glory to the Lord Most High!
Next stop: Kinabalu???