Over 30 trekking kakis gathered @ 9.30 a.m. at the17km milestone to Kampung Raja along the Simpang Pulai Highway near the Pahang/Perak boundary for the Gunung Kuning hike. The trek involved an initial steep climb up the slope of the Simpang Pulai Hwy and many ascents and descents (no less than 12 times) within the altitudes of 1400m and 1600m asl.
With mossy forest and many nepenthes plants, the trail was reminiscent of Gunung Irau trail with less mud. Unlike the much trekked and clear Irau trail, the Gunung Kuning trail could be described as "wild" with overgrowth. Apart from ducking our heads to avoid low overhead branches as well as clambering over or crawling under fallen tree trunks, we had to trudge carefully to avoid being “held back” or cut by the sharp thorny vines. The weather was not kind that day too; rain came within the first hour of trek. Needless to say, we had to keep our eyes peeled on the trail to balance ourselves on the slippery terrain.
After trekking 4 hrs, my group reached a second open hill top at 1.30 p.m. Wet and cold and with no sign of Gunung Kuning peak (1663m asl) in sight, we decided we had enough for that day and prepared to back trek after taking our lunch notwithstanding the fact that we were only 25 minutes away from the summit, as advised by our recce hiker, and thus lost the chance to view the famed white moss found around the summit area.
It was about 2.30 p.m. when we made our U-turn and reached the base at 6 p.m. after 3.5 hrs of trekking.
Post analysis:
• Trek time to summit is about 4.5 hrs for an average trekker.
• Should start early @ 8 a.m. to have more buffer time.
• Parang will be useful to clear the overgrowth and make the trail more passable.
• Only 2 cases of reported leech bites despite the rain
For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/6689.
