Friday 1 September 2006

Gunung Irau 1 Sep 2006

Giant Pitcher Plant

On 1 September 2006, we scaled Gunung Irau. Started at 9.15 a.m. and reached the summit at 2.00 p.m. after 4 1/2 hours trekking the undulating trail measuring 2.35 km, including a 15 minutes rest at the false peak. We took another 4 hours to return to the head trail. We covered a vertical elevation of about 600 feet. The weather was wonderful... no rain.

The trail is very muddy. At times, we have to exhibit my Tarzan ability to cling and swing from tree trunk to trunk that lined the trail in order not to tread the ankle deep mud. We also demonstrated our Spiderman skills to scale up and down several steep slopes. Fortunately, there were plenty of tree roots and branches to help us along. The forest is very mossy and beautiful, especially with the mist drifting through towards the late afternoon. It reminded me of several scenes from the movie "Lord of the Rings".


At the start of the Trail

Entrance to the Mossy Forest

In the middle of Mossy Forest

At the Summit
Link: http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/15751