The Great Outdoors

Chilling Waterfalls.........A place I never get bored with!

The majestic falls of Chilling.

Ever since the first time I went to Chilling, I have loved the place. Maybe because the river crossings, the easy hiking or maybe because of the fishes. It  has been a long time since I been there and last Sunday, 5th August 2012, KL Hiking group organized an outing there. 

Since I have been there before and knows the place, I have opted to go there first and not rendezvous at Bukit Beruntung toll plaza. Me and Lilian took a very leisurely drive as the meet was quite late, at 9.00am. The place opens at 8.00 am anyway. It is actually a fish sanctuary managed by our Fisheries Department for the preservation of our local species of fish, namely the Kelah. This is a very highly prized fish which is fished almost to extinction due to the quality as a table fish. Looking at the fishes swimming in abundance here actually makes me happy and it can be called towards your wiggling fingers.

Hikers congregating at the entrance.

I was at the entrance at 8.00 am after a breakfast in KKB. Me and Lilian was the first one there and I had the opportunity to chat with a KKB local who cycled there. Cycling seems interesting too! The convoy arrived shortly and after Alex passed me my name tag, we were on our way into the sanctuary. Wei Ching collected RM2 for the entrance fee and there was a total of 66 participants. After gate collection was given and also a short briefing by Alex, we crossed the '4X4 bridge', a term coined by the rangers there, meaning to cross the bridge 4 person at one time!

The trek was an easy one so I don't have to be on sweeper duty this time. I was free to take photos. It was not as wet as the last time too and this makes the trek faster. Not long after we started, we came to the first river crossing, it's called the second one as the first one is the bridge, where you can choose to walk cross the bridge or cross the river. Like before, there were many hikers that are there to assist in the river crossing and even me had a helping hand, much to the dismay to Siva! Someone held a helping hand, off course being polite I held on to it, ha,ha,ha, eventhough I was firmly standing on my own.

One of the many river crossings.

We came to the third, fourth, fifth and then the final one before reaching the lower falls. All regrouped here before deciding who wants to stay or carry on to the upper falls. I brought some biscuits to feed the fishes here but sadly, it was hardly enough. I must bring more next time. The fishes were swarming all over!

Abundance of 'Kelah' swimming in safety.

It seems that only one person stayed back due to a weak knee and all the rest were going to the upper falls. The elevation here was 290 meters asl. I wanted to stay too as the tendonitis on my achilles heel is still there and I am on some weird drugs sold by some chinese medicine shop which seems to cure until it wears off! Lilian urged  me to climb and I was contemplating on staying. Finally I relented and followed them. The  trek started with a steep slope but it was not hard on me, quite suprising! I managed to follow them but the trek was slow due to the many obstacles ahead. We came to a fork where one leads higher to the third level and the other the second but Alex suggested that we do the higher one first. All made it without much difficulty and by the time I got there, many were already in the cool water. My watch recorded 420 meters for the elevation here. It's just a mere 130 meter climb but took us 40 minutes. Much to my suprise the climb was not hard, maybe because of the training I had in Lone Pine last week!

The merry group enjoying themselves.

Lilian choose a nice spot and we sat there, having a nice picnic. We finished our lunch hastily and drank a lot too. We chatted with other hikers and I was taking snaps of everyone enjoying the water. Monika cut her knee on some fallen bamboo and Alex decided to take her down first after some first aid. Satvinder has to follow as she gave her a lift. The moved out first, leaving Sivamohan and Wei Ching to take charge.

At 1.00pm, Siva gestured everyone to move to the lower falls. I was the nearest to the exit and me, Lilian and EC.Chan was first down. We caught up with Alex, Satvinder and Monika but after a while we took the lead down.Siva caught up later but we stopped at the fork to the second falls. Siva guided them towards the seconds falls but since I was not going, I was given the task to herd the rest towards the path. Except for Alex and Monika, the last swept by Wei Ching arrived. I told Wei Ching I am going to wait for the them at the Ranger Station.

The local resident of Chilling.

Me and Lilian headed down first. The descend was as usual fast paced and we met Uma waiting there at the lower falls. He has crossed the river and was waiting for all the others. We told him that the others are coming soon and he waited for the rest while me and Lilian kept our pace back to the crossings. We managed to reach the bridge to the station by 3.00pm. We clean up at the facilities there and waited at the gazebo there. It was relaxing and we finished up all the food we had left. I was watching some families enjoying the cool river there when it started to rain.

One by one, the others came out of the jungle and rejoined the group at the station. some overshot the junction and have to cross the river instead of crossing the bridge. The rain was getting heavier at this juncture and finally Alex appeared with Siva, Sumithra and Satvinder with Monika in tow. After much bantering around the gazebo, the rain finally slowed down to a drizzle. A list check was made and we all made our way to our cars which was parked outside, a half a kilometer walk away. We finally parted, leaving me still grinning from the jokes and bantering the whole trip. It was fun and sometimes I think, we should do some simple hikes time to time, instead of torturing ourself on tough hikes all the time.

The injured is taken care, not by one but FOUR!

If there's another Chilling, I bet you, I will sign up.