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Summit of Gunung Yongyap

The peak of Gunung Yongyap guarantees the impressive 360 degrees view of the Titiwangsa range. What a thing to do after waking up in the morning other than heading out for the panoramic views. As the sun is already up, there is no sunrise for yours truly. I follow the voices of the early risers to reach the viewpoint. What I see spreading out for miles beyond, answers the lingering question of why do I allow myself to suffer hardship to camp out at the peak of Gunung Yongyap or why bother to go out in the wild and be covered with muddy soil when I can be home in the comfort of the bed.

Before me, the clouds unveil some of the highest mountains of Peninsular Malaysia in the Titiwangsa range. While I have climbed some of the mountains many years, I still have plenty to hike for the remaining. At one side of the peak, we could see Bubu, Tok Nenek, Korbu and Gayong. At the other side, we could see our next destination, ie Aler and Berhid. We take turns to take Instagram-worthy pictures and take in as many memories as we can because it is in moments like this that we dream of our next adventures in different mountains with hope for similar or better views.

After having our breakfast, it is time for the group photo. Everyone is looking forward to arranging their backpacks for the photoshoot. Almost all outdoor brands are represented. So, we have decided to come out with a complete list of backpacks used by our group during the hike. While climbing up at night time has been proven tough, climbing down is a matter of caution. For less than 1 hour, I am already back at Simpang Bubu. Our guide, Mizi, prefers to re-group here and so we wait.

Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler vs Kem Sg Jeruk

All of us except for our guide have never been to Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler, which are located along the newly founded trail along the Titiwangsa range known as V3 trail. I was told the trail to Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler is not as difficult as the trail to Gunung Yongyap. While waiting at Simpang Bubu, some of the hikers have taken upon themselves to influence the others to abandon Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler and head straight to Kem Sg Jeruk to enjoy the river bathing. To be honest, I am almost swayed by Team Jeruk.

Having trekked the long trails for the past months, I figure I still have the energy to hike to Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler even though the hike will take us through the night. Plus, I do not know if I will ever come back and attempt a single hike for Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler as my mountain bucket list is as long as the length of Everest. I have spent nights out in the wood and I guess I am prepared for whatever that awaits.

Near the last waterpoint further down from Simpang Bubu, our guide briefs us on the trail to Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler, which sounds like a relatively easy but long trail. We take a vote and half of the hikers are now Team Jeruk, a name dedicated to those in favour of heading straight to Kem Sg Jeruk. Interesting note here, the above 50 years old hikers are game on for Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler and they have my respect. While Team Jeruk may have their own reasons to stay put at Kem Sg Jeruk, I believe the decision is founded based on their performance assessment from the previous days. Trust me, abandoning a hike is a tough call and not many hikers are prepared to make the call. After all, the ultimate importance is to get home safe.

Gunung Berhid

Everything happens so quick from hereon as Team Berhid Aler has to leave pronto as their estimated turn around time is 14 hours, ie we will get back to Kem Sg Jeruk by 2 am the earliest. We quickly gather the rations and pass them to Team Jeruk to take care of the logistic of the campsite. Then, we leave our backpacks off the trail and carry only our daypacks. I have my brand new Fjallraven High Coast which I load with water bottles, jacket and food to last the journey. Our immediate destination is Kem OGKL, which is the last waterpoint on the trail of Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler. We descend the extremely steep hill to reach Kem OGKL and fill up our water bottles – our lifeline for the long journey.

I remember the guide has been telling us, the trail is rather flat as compared to Yongyap trail. But I find myself descending the steep hill, walking the switchbacks and climbing another steep hill one after another. There is more inclination than flat land. Lesson learned, never trust anyone except the topo map.

After 2 1/2 hours, we reach the mountain ridge and the first viewpoint known as Puncak Bonsai, standing at 5,630ft. From the viewpoint, we have a superb view of Mount Yongyap, Mount Bubu and Mount Tok Nenek albeit some of the views are blocked by the clouds. At Puncak Bonsai, we also encounter three-coloured moss which is a rare encounter in Malaysian jungle these days.

From here, we proceed to a nearby viewpoint along the ridge, which is known as Puncak View. It gives a panoramic 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains. The views immediately affirm the worthiness of my decision to continue hiking Gunung Berhid and Gunung Aler.

After a quick photo-op, we walk along the ridge covered in moss. Huge mossy trees, ones that are rarely seen elsewhere. Atiq calls them, “mossy gemuk” and we silently agree in exhaustion.

As I am too exhausted, I stop for a short break gulping down the isotonic drinks I have with me. I even vow to just end my journey at Gunung Berhid. Another push ascending the hill, Jay and I reach the summit at around 6.30pm. While waiting for those behind me, we enjoy limited hot coffee for we are running out of drinking water.

Gunung Aler

Despite deciding to abandon Gunung Aler and wait out at the peak of Gunung Berhid, the other hikers manage to convince me to continue on to Gunung Aler. Although Berhid and Aler sound like twins, they are quite far apart with steep hill separating between the two. At dusk, we see the striking twilight colours in between the trees. The colours speak of a good sunset we are unable to view from where we are. We take another trail break during Maghrib prayer. The pain from my right ankle throbs as I have removed my rock tape and don’t carry an extra. Bett offers his ankle guard for me to wear to alleviate the pain. Tired and thirsty, we continue walking to reach our destination.

After an hour or so, we reach the peak of Gunung Aler. I let out a huge sigh of relief. At the peak, we sit in a circle and eat our food until we are full. We laugh, talk and simply enjoy being at the peak of Gunung Aler at such an odd hour. There is even a moment when we turn off our headlamps and keep silent to listen to nature and watch the “imaginary green fireflies”. It is so beautiful except that they are not real fireflies. They are the trail of dancing lights from the high power green laser pointer.

We make unanimous decision to let go of Puncak 1688 and head back to Kem Sg Jeruk. One check point at a time. We take a break at the peak of Gunung Berhid where some of us literally lay down and sleep on the ground until the cold of the night is felt down the spine. Although I do not fall asleep and merely closing my eyes, I feel at peace with myself, with nature. A feeling that is very difficult to explain that I wish we could just spend the night there.

At around 11 pm, we leave the peak of Gunung Berhid for Kem OGKL. By this time, most of us have run out of drinking water and the next check point is 4 hours away from the peak of Gunung Berhid. We are held back by the slow pacing of one of our team members who appear to be in low energy. We spend the time on the trail sharing stories and singing songs. Apek comes up with an idea of rationing drinking water using his bottle cap. Anything goes to quench the thirst. My water drains out slightly before reaching Puncak view.

By the time Jay and I reach Kem OGKL, it is heavily raining. Mizi Belantik calls us out and says, we can drink the river water, and it’s on him! I do not remember being deprived of drinking water that much in my life. Only God knows how grateful I am to be able to drink the waters from the river finally. Mizi Belantik decides that we should make survival shelters while waiting for the rain to stop.

The men collect the elephant grass and large leaves for the thatched roof and tree branches and stick to make the wall. We also make do of Atiq’s lightweight matador canvas as shelter. But the survival shelters are not enough to accommodate all of us. We spend more than an hour before proceeding to the junction where we have left our backpack.

The trail to Kem Sg Jeruk seems to take forever for there are times when we run out of topics to talk. Every time I hear the gushing water from afar, it gives me hope until I give up gauging the distance using the sound of the waterfall because you keep hearing the water for gazillion times before reaching Kem Sg Jeruk.

Finally, we reach Kem Sg Jeruk at around 5 am with some of the Team Jeruk wide awake out of concern and worry. We are supposed to reach the campsite at about 2 am. Team Jeruk has prepared dinner meals and hot drinks. From marching the camp site to waking up every hour, aren’t friends you meet on the trail always the sweetest? After river bathing at dawn, a quick nap and a hearty breakfast, we head back to Pos Renggil at around noon. It was indeed a good adventure! See you again on next hike!