The Great Outdoors

Lepoh Falls, 18th mile Hulu Langat.

Small waterfall for a large group.

Another week has passed since the hike in Lata Naning and it seems the knees and ankles are looking OK. I wanted to sign up for the Bunga Buah hike but I was expecting a parcel, another lens actually , heh, heh and it was expected to arrive on Saturday which was the day of the hike. I deferred my hike to Sunday and also to test the new lens. This is my third Minolta lens actually, I still liked them as I was a loyal customer of Minoltas before Sony took over the company. 

Lilian has to work on that day actually but I have signed up, so we just went. We have to shoot back as soon as possible and since this should be an easy hike, she should be able to work after the hike. Lilian drove this morning and we had breakfast at a 'warong' at the 14th mile Hulu Langat road. Later, an old friend Tang Weng Kong and Meng Oye and another joined us. Just before 8.30am (the appointed time), we drove to the mosque but it was full of cars. As usual, I took my name tag and after a while, we all convoyed to the trail head.

Group photo!

At the trail head, we took a group photo but we couldn't start as Brigitte was a bit lost and we waited for her to arrive. She finally arrived but not much later. I took the sweeping role today and after all went ahead, me and Lilian crossed the bridge. In front of us was Robinson and company, a hiker I didn't see for quite some time. I took a slow hike and Satvin was not far ahead from us together with Siva and Sumi. Monique and her mom who also hike in Lata Naning was among the few last hikers. There's no rush actually, the trail was well marked by Alex's trail and although quite wide, it was under quite a heavy foilage. The humidity after the rain made me and others really sweat. The trail was not steep so this made hiking today easier.

Oh! Langsat, glorious langsat.

The trail passed through an orchard and there was a few 'langsat' (my favourite) trees. There was so much fruit on the branches and so many just fell to the ground. What a waste! There was durian trees but not bearing fruits. Betty was suffering as this was her first hike, well she did do FRIM. But FRIM can't really compare to a real jungle trail, can it? As the trail meanders deeper into the jungle, the elevation increases and finally we came to a steep ascend. Betty was telling Robinson off! Robinson promised an easy hike, he,he. She did managed anyway. She was happily joining the crowd and having lunch once at the falls.

From L to R, Satvin, Alexandre, Sumi, Sive, Robinson and Betty.

After 1 hour 40 minutes, we came to a shack. There was a solar panel there but it was not maintained at all. Also another waste of funds! A bit after that, Alex was there waiting for the last few. There was a dangerous section there, rocks! It was slippery and narrow. One slip and down into the gulley , you go!

The rest was there when we arrived and the place can hardly accommodate all of us, ha,ha,ha. Wei Ching, the 'water duck' was already in the waters. This time Sumi and Siva did not do any swimming. Mary was in her swimming attire and was enjoying her lunch, probably after a swim. The place, so small and all of us was laughing and joking there. The biggest joke was Soli who went water sliding from above the falls and rammed into the crowd below. No one was hurt but the lady gave Soli a big whack on his shoulders, ha,ha. Wei Ching was splashed! And I got it on camera!

Craaaaaash! Poor girl!

I sat at the far end with Lilian and Tang and few others just chatting and the topic was leeches. I did not encountered any, maybe spraying 'MosiGuard' into the shoes and also on the socks before putting them on helped. After a while, at 12.15pm, Lilian went over to Alex to bade him goodbye as we are descending. Lilian has to catch up with her job. Tang wanted to follow me and there were already a few others doing the same.

Today with the knees doing OK, descending just took us 65 minutes. By 1.20pm, we were already changing our shoes and on our way back home. On the way home, there was a downpour, I wondered how the others fared. The trail can be very slippery when it rains.

A total of approx. 9 km. hike, to and fro.

Today's hike, although easy was refreshing. At least we are sweating it off and also enjoying some nature time. We can't be doing tough hikes all the time. In fact, I think it is wiser to hike more simple ones and do a tough one once in a while. As the pictures here proofed, the new lens ( not new but bought newly as Minolta lenses are usually more than 20 years old! ) Ha,ha, ha! Like the Bahasa words, " Bukan beli baru tapi baru beli ".

A sneek revelation by Satvin says, " next week we are planning Kutu again ". So let's see if I am going to do Kutu again next week.