Previously, Jimbo reached the summit of Gunung Ledang at 1220. He lingered there for an hour before making the descend back to base. The route which he took was a little different from that of the way he took to ascend the mountain. This new route, according to one of the guides, was just opened 3 months ago. The good thing about this route was that it bypasses CP 4-7, which means Jimbo did not have to climb down that awful KFC rock and go through the caves!
The new route was hardly use judging by the still soft earth and the many chopped up tree branches along the way. The gradient was mostly gentle downward slope but at some parts, it was quite steep and was quite a torture on Jimbo’s toes and knees! He didn’t bring along his hiking pole (as advised by the team leader) because of the fear of attracting lightning bolts and so going down unaided was tough.
The plus point about this route was the many nice flora still visible. Jimbo reckons that as time goes by and more and more people use this route, these vegetation would eventually disappear.
Here are some photos Jimbo took when he descended Ledang.
A bunch of lovely white flowers at the start of the descend.
One last look at the boulder which was part of the peak and off Jimbo and company went, starting what would be a 3 hour hike back to base.
Close-up of a plant.
Spooky and creepy vines.
Lovely pine trees.
The route was ill-defined and one has to be very careful to look out for markers, otherwise, it is easy to get lost!
A flower that looks like lizard eggs.
The ground was mostly covered by these plants.
Pitcher plants were every where! It took Jimbo a lot of self-restrain to not ‘adopt’ some of these and bring back to Jimbo’s garden!
Lovely tiny orchids!
Another pitcher plant. The gloved hand belongs to LCK, just for comparison.
Jimbo did not take any more photos thereafter as he concentrated on descending the mountain. His aim was to make it below 3 hours but eventually reached back to base at 1520; exactly 3 hours. The reason for the ‘delay’ was because Jimbo ran out of water at around CP2 (Bukit Semput) and it was a good one hour away from base. The other reason was because Jimbo’s toes were killing him as the terrain was steep and the ground soft and slippery. His left knee began to hurt too but surprisingly his right knee which was injured in Nuang was fine!
In Jimbo’s opinion, Gunung Ledang was the most enjoyable to climb by far, even better than Gunung Kinabalu! The terrain, though long, offers a lot of challenges, unlike Gunung Nuang which was long and boring (with a lousy peak; btw Nuang is only 200 meters higher than Gunung Ledang). Ledang has elements of Gunung Angsi (soft soil and ropes) and Gunung Datuk (ladders and a breath-taking view at the top!).
Jimbo wouldn’t mind another attempt, perhaps using another route, in the future.
Meanwhile, Jimbo is planning another climb during the Deepavali holiday, anyone interested?
Tues, 141008 @ 0700
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