May 2014
A little before my trip to Rinjani, Indonesia; I managed to squeeze another mountain training session. By this time, I have been hiking almost every weekend since beginning of 2014. It was already a toll on me; I miss lazing at home, reading books and hanging out with family and my non hiker friends. Truth be told, I am a mountaineer. I will get bored - and, I love to hike!!
I decided to have a go on another trans mountain hike. I am somehow addicted to start a hike on a different mountain and end on another mountain.
A year ago I hiked the infamous mossy forest, Irau and it was magical. Fist time being in a mossy forest was absolutely fairy-tale like! The moss, the silence (animals are rarely seen in mossy forests due to its slippery and cold condition.. I think!)
This time, it is different. The hike to Irau will have to take less than half a day because we have to reach the Yellow peak before the sun sets. Adventure mindset begins.
Irau (2,110m)
Ever since I started hiking, I am fascinated by mountain athletes. I am not a fast runner, but I enjoy my evening runs with my running buddy. Staying motivated, we like to challenge on best time per km. It gives us both the sense of achievement the mind and body can deliver, purely from your own effort. The feeling is priceless.
I made it to Irau's peak in less than 2 hours. With a load from my bagpack that weighs about 8kgs, I was happy with my result, although I did wonder how long would it take for me to reach the peak if I don't have the bagpack on me.
Weird weather
Throughout the hike to Irau's peak, I realise that the mossy forest is somewhat less magical than my last visit. Which was roughly a year ago! The forest loss-that-mossy environment, it was dry and actually muddy. The peat soil was the only thing that remains. Global warming? Too many visitors over the year? I can never tell. It saddens me though to see the uncollected rubbish overflowing the bin at the park.
Yellow (1,667m)
Just after lunch, we started our hike down to Yellow's peak. It was a pleasant hike down. Overall the only time you hike up is to the Irau Peak. Then from there on to Puncak Yellow, it gets easier with more mossy flora and fauna. I figured that this was a far lesser route travelled by most people and hence the beauty of the forest remains.
Our guide tricked us into counting the border stones and it was a bad idea because the whole idea was to mentally challenge yourself into thinking that the campsite was a lot further than expected. If he tested me this a year ago, I would go totally nuts and probably will not enjoy the whole trip.
As we got closer to the campsite, it was not a good sight to see, simply because there was a big farm smack on the middle of the jungle! How bizarre!! (Later after the hike, we were told by our transporter that the farm was only temporary, to house an exclusive hotel in the next 5 years) SAD!!
That aside, the campsite looks a lot like Twin Peaks in Fraser's Hill. The weather was cool and we got to spend the night just in time for the meteor shower phenomenon (Cameopardalid Meteor Shower). The view at 5am was superb as it rained heavily the night we set up camp.
Pass (1,578m)
We started the hike later the next day - much later because we were fast and efficient (according to our guide) The hike out will take about 4 hours and it proofed to be a really relaxing hike out as the trail were nicer and wider. It got little creepy at one point as I found myself hiking with another hiker, just the two of us. But the silence throughout the hike was already enough to accompany us all the way to Pass peak.
There is nothing much to comment on Pass peak. I don't know how it got it's name and I surely would like to find out from reliable sources. Its a peak with absolutely no view! To me it was more like a giant bird's nest!
All in all, I made it. Another success story on trans mountain adventure.
A little before my trip to Rinjani, Indonesia; I managed to squeeze another mountain training session. By this time, I have been hiking almost every weekend since beginning of 2014. It was already a toll on me; I miss lazing at home, reading books and hanging out with family and my non hiker friends. Truth be told, I am a mountaineer. I will get bored - and, I love to hike!!
I decided to have a go on another trans mountain hike. I am somehow addicted to start a hike on a different mountain and end on another mountain.
A year ago I hiked the infamous mossy forest, Irau and it was magical. Fist time being in a mossy forest was absolutely fairy-tale like! The moss, the silence (animals are rarely seen in mossy forests due to its slippery and cold condition.. I think!)
This time, it is different. The hike to Irau will have to take less than half a day because we have to reach the Yellow peak before the sun sets. Adventure mindset begins.
Irau (2,110m)
Ever since I started hiking, I am fascinated by mountain athletes. I am not a fast runner, but I enjoy my evening runs with my running buddy. Staying motivated, we like to challenge on best time per km. It gives us both the sense of achievement the mind and body can deliver, purely from your own effort. The feeling is priceless.
I made it to Irau's peak in less than 2 hours. With a load from my bagpack that weighs about 8kgs, I was happy with my result, although I did wonder how long would it take for me to reach the peak if I don't have the bagpack on me.
Weird weather
Throughout the hike to Irau's peak, I realise that the mossy forest is somewhat less magical than my last visit. Which was roughly a year ago! The forest loss-that-mossy environment, it was dry and actually muddy. The peat soil was the only thing that remains. Global warming? Too many visitors over the year? I can never tell. It saddens me though to see the uncollected rubbish overflowing the bin at the park.
Yellow (1,667m)
Just after lunch, we started our hike down to Yellow's peak. It was a pleasant hike down. Overall the only time you hike up is to the Irau Peak. Then from there on to Puncak Yellow, it gets easier with more mossy flora and fauna. I figured that this was a far lesser route travelled by most people and hence the beauty of the forest remains.
Our guide tricked us into counting the border stones and it was a bad idea because the whole idea was to mentally challenge yourself into thinking that the campsite was a lot further than expected. If he tested me this a year ago, I would go totally nuts and probably will not enjoy the whole trip.
As we got closer to the campsite, it was not a good sight to see, simply because there was a big farm smack on the middle of the jungle! How bizarre!! (Later after the hike, we were told by our transporter that the farm was only temporary, to house an exclusive hotel in the next 5 years) SAD!!
That aside, the campsite looks a lot like Twin Peaks in Fraser's Hill. The weather was cool and we got to spend the night just in time for the meteor shower phenomenon (Cameopardalid Meteor Shower). The view at 5am was superb as it rained heavily the night we set up camp.
Pass (1,578m)
We started the hike later the next day - much later because we were fast and efficient (according to our guide) The hike out will take about 4 hours and it proofed to be a really relaxing hike out as the trail were nicer and wider. It got little creepy at one point as I found myself hiking with another hiker, just the two of us. But the silence throughout the hike was already enough to accompany us all the way to Pass peak.
There is nothing much to comment on Pass peak. I don't know how it got it's name and I surely would like to find out from reliable sources. Its a peak with absolutely no view! To me it was more like a giant bird's nest!
All in all, I made it. Another success story on trans mountain adventure.
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