15 – 16 APRIL 2006

Activity: Hiking and camping at Mt. Ophir (Ledang)
Persons in the trip: Tony Quay (Penguin 3), Kelvin Lee, Leslie, Siok Bee, Angie, Anthony (Tony’s friend) and family and 2 guides (compulsory) to accompany us from Ayer Panas check point to the summit.
Total number of hikers: 21

Started the journey from the KL at 6.15 a.m. This was my second trip to Mt. Ophir. I could still remember in 1990 I was at the water fall site (the foot hill) of Mt Ophir. Mt. Ophir is the highest mountain in Johor with the height of 1,276 metres.

Arrived at Seremban at 7.00 a.m. to have breakfast. Proceeded to Tangkak and arrived at Tangkak at 9.30 a.m. to have second round of breakfast cum lunch. Proceeded to the National Park of Johor, in Sagil at 10.25 a.m. The ascend to Mt. Ophir started at 11.15 a.m. I was assigned to carry additional food and Bunsen burner. My back pack could store these items without much problem. Trekking with heavy back pack was quite challenging for me as I could not move at a faster pace. It took us more than 3 hours to reach Check Point 4 (if I am not mistaken, Kolam Gajah). We decided to camp at Check Point 4.

After reaching Check Point 4, Tony, the team leader, had a discussion with those who wanted to ascend to the summit. We were told by the guides that the time is limited and we would take 4 hours to reach the summit (most probably reach the summit at 7 p.m.). Option 1: we could reach the summit late in the evening and back to Check Point 4 campsite at around 10 to 11 p.m. Option 2: we could start hiking at 3.00 a.m. and reached the summit to see the sun rise and back to Check Point 4 campsite before 10 a.m. Only eight climbers decided to ascend the summit. The majority of the 8 climbers decided to go for option 1.

I forgot to bring my small knapsack to store essential stuffs for the ascend. I had to put everything into my Deuter waist pouch with the exception of poncho (kept in Tony’s knapsack).

This time, Tony instructed the entire team to go at a faster pace to reach the summit. The cut-off time was set at 1815. If we could not reach the summit by 1815 we had to return to Check Point 4 campsite as it would be too dangerous to continue trekking at night. There were to guides following us to the summit. I decided to trek at a faster pace by following closely the pace set by the guide. Tony and the other guide acted as the anchormen. The route to the summit was not dry and not so challenging as compared to other mountains I have climbed. I was requested by the guide to stop for around 5 to 10 minutes for 3 times as my pace was too fast for others to follow. On the request of the guide, I obeyed his instruction to wait for other team mates. After the third time the guide requested me to stop for 5 to 10 minutes and the guide had a discussion with his colleague and Tony. It was decided that the 3 lady hikers to be lead the way so that the overall pace of the team could be controlled. I just followed the pace set by the ladies and just hoped that we could reach the summit before the cut-off time.

On the way to the summit, I bumped into Ervinna Hon (Woof, PM31) and her climbing friends. There were on their way descending the summit. Somewhere after Check Point 5, when ascending the summit, there was a group of climbers descending the summit with a guide leading the group. At certain point of meeting the descending group, I was told by the descending guide to watch out my foot step s there was a snake. When I looked at the tree roots, to my surprise I saw a baby snake (black, yellow and orange colour skin) and it looked poisonous by looking at its sting. I quickly alerted other team members to avoid crossing the right side of the tree roots.

Certain part of the summit requires climbers to use the ladders and ropes. Everyone in the team including the guides wore their hand gloves for ascending the paths with ropes. I forgot to bring my hand gloves. I had to climb with the rope with my bare hands.

After trekking for almost 3 hours, we managed to reach the summit at time 1800. We managed to beat the cut-off time of 1815. We spent half an hour on the summit before descending. When descending from the summit, I had height phobia when using the ropes and ladders. I had to descend slowly from the ropes and ladders. I had some minor cut on my left arm when descending suing the ropes as my foot suddenly slipped from the stable position due to slippery surface on certain part of the rocks. At that time, I managed to hold on to the ropes tightly and managed to stabilise myself. At 7.40 p.m., it was totally dark and we had to switch on our torch lights to continue our journey. I had to watch out my steps very carefully as I could not speed down as I did before the day was dark. I did not like trekking in the darkness as I have night vision was poor as compared to pre September 2002 (I had my LASIK surgery to correct my short-sighted eyes). When reaching Check Point 5 campsite, I saw a group of Muslim campers praying. With calm mind, the guide and I just walk past the praying group without disturbing them. At that point of time, other team mates have left me as I was quite slow in descending the ropes and ladders due to height phobia. I was accompanied by the 1 guide and the other guide accompanied the remaining 7 climbers.

At around 9.15 p.m., I managed to reach Check Point 4 campsite. The other team mates were having dinner and they had been waiting for me for around 15 minutes. Had my dinner and went to bed at around 11.30 p.m.

The next day, we descended from Check Point 4 at around 11 a.m. We reached the starting point at around 12.15 p.m. Then, we proceeded to Malacca to have our lunch. We reached KL at around 5.30 p.m.

Lessons learned

1. When trekking, do not ever set a pace that is too fast for your team mates to follow. I only realised this after returning home on 16 April 2006. That could be the reason for the guide to request me to stop for 5 to 10 minutes to wait for the other team mates and to have the 3 lady hikers to lead the way to the summit. Ideally, the overall pace for the team should not be too far apart from each others.

My opinion: The guide did a very good job in terms of leadership and co-ordinating the overall pace of the team.

2. In mountain climbing, it is not how fit or fast you take to reach the summit. What is important is the safety aspect and team cohesiveness. That was why I was lectured by Tony the next day on the importance of using hand gloves when holding the ropes for climbing. Using gloves could act as a safety feature especially when holding the ropes as it provides a stronger grip if there were any mishaps. This is safer as compared with holding the ropes with bare hands.

My opinion: The guide set good example by holding the ropes for climbing with hand gloves even though the distance of the ropes is very short. Based on other climbing trips that I had joined previously, this basic safety aspect was not considered by other climbers including myself.

3. In what ever climbing trips we plan to go, the basic safety aspects has to be considered rather than enjoying the fun and adventure of hiking. There are more things to be learned in climbing rather than climbing blindly without considering other factors.

Points of observation

1. The guides had first aid kit with them even though the team leader had one. It’s important to have one just in case there is a need to use it.

2. The guide used walking stick when trekking in the darkness. Even though I did not use waling stick for the entire hiking trip, it is quite helpful especially when descending hills that are quite slippery and moderately steep. I am still puzzled on why the guide uses his walking stick when trekking at night. In my opinion, the use of walking stick when trekking at night could act as an aid to a person in preventing any mishaps or for other reasons. Do you agree with me or if you have other view points just share it out.

Notes:

1. This was my first camping experience in the jungle since 1996. My last camping experience in the jungle was camping at Mt. Berembun, Cameron Highlands in May 1996.
2. Although this is quite a detailed account of my recent hiking experience, any feedback whether it is a positive feedback or constructive criticism is certainly welcomed. Do post a comment or email me if you wish to do so.