Gunung Batu Putih (Tapah, Perak) - "The Knee Buster" Trail

 

Yes, this is the only photo that I had at The Peak.

This is the 2nd attempt to scale Gunung Batu Putih in Tapah, Perak.

I've been keeping the intention until a request from a fellow hiker Mr Sega together with his counterpart, En Pejan, who is a regular hardcore hiking trip organizer. En Pejan is a great leader who will make sure the wellbeing of his line up.

Summary of hike
12km Ascending in 8 hours 47 minutes
12km Descending in 5 hours
24km total

At the peak

Most of them are super fast hikers!

Starting point to bamboo bridge - Around 2km in almost 1 hour (or 1 hour plus...)
Trail difficulty - easy
Trail conditions - wet

Bamboo bridge to kem balak - 4km in 2 hours plus
3 hours 26 minutes from start to kem balak
Trail difficulty - mostly hard
Trail condition - muddy and slippery at certain sections

At kem balak

Kem balak to mini batu Putih - 2km almost 2 hours
5 hours from start
Trail difficulty - mostly hard
Trail condition - mostly wet, many sections with muddy & slippery

Mini batu Putih to peak - 4km in 3 hours 30 min
8 hours 47 min from start
Trail difficulty - mostly hard
Trail condition - mostly wet, many sections with muddy & slippery

Bamboo bridge crossing
Around 2km from start. Its rickety and old bamboos. Becareful when crossing. Please and please, one person at a time.

Note : crossing the bamboo bridge meaning that you No need to cross any river.
Some hikers may be crossing the river (somewhere nearby the bamboo bridge, like me, previously), but when it's dark, you may have some limitations

Dogs Barking at Orang Asli settlement
It's common for the dog to bark at strangers. Just ignore them. Orang asli also aware that hikers will pass through their village early in the morning

Earlier Route Navigation
Few hundreds metres from start, at orang asli hut, turn right, crossing a small stream, just hop on the rocks to get accross. Then move forward for 100- 200 metres, then turn left onto a grass slope. Don't go straight, it will take u to the river. If you reach the river, please reverse back and turn to your right. Just follow the gpx. Most gpxs downloaded from wikiloc are using the same route.

The yellow arrow where we overshoot from the correct trail (to the river, nowhere to go).

The green arrow is the turning point to the left

This gpx trail is from suunto :

Gpx : 

https://maps.suunto.com/move/sanorhizamsadili/635d3e78c889e5656a3408bc

Or this

Gpx suunto :

Water Station
Last water point is 100 - 300 metres after kem balak. A small stream. None after that. Make sure top up your drinks here.

Camping site
There are few popular camping spot - at kem balak which is covered by the forest's canopy. Then at mini batu putih, an open space exposed to direct cold and extreme weather

Mini Batu Putih
There are few flight of ladders need to be climbed. When u reach this ladder area, believe me, you are very close to mini batu putih. Then, its 4km hard inclination to the peak.

Keep on climbing 

Leech!
Lots of them! Get your leech socks on.

Overall hike was hard. Hikers really need endurance and strong stamina to hike this mountain...and fast too...

Stay tune for more hiking series.