Gunung Stong - East State Daypack Hike

Gunung Stong with the height of 1422 meters located in the state of Kelantan -  5 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur. There are 2 routes to choose from i.e route 1 – from car park straight to Gunung Stong peak (shorter route) while route 2 – car park to Gunung Ayam – Gunung Baha – Gunung Stong (longer a bit).

The entrance of Gunung Stong

from left to right...2 routes separated

Our plan is to hike route 2, however, due to miscommunication with the guide, we only realize that we were following route 1 all along….sigh…

The guide fee, registration etc is around RM350 per guide and the guide can bring a maximum of 12 person.

We started at around 8.30am or so and successfully made it to Stong Peak around 12.53pm in almost 5 hours. Descending was an easy part which only took us about 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours.

The details on the distance and time are as follows :

Car Park to Kem Baha Junction

Distance from start : 1.1km

Duration : appx 45 – 50 minutes

Time of the day : 9.15am

Trail difficulty : moderate inclination

Kem Baha junction - going straight will lead you to Kem Baha and the nice sunset/sunrise.

Going on your right - will make you climb towards the Gunung Stong peak

Standing at the junction - take left to Kem Baha, right to the peak

Kem Baha Junction to Kem Baha

Distance : 320 meters

Distance from Start : 1.48km

Duration from Kem Baha Junction: 5 minutes

Duration from Start : 58 minutes

Time of the day : 9.22am

Trail difficulty : moderate inclination

Take left to the starting point, take right to Kem Baha 

Kem Baha to Sungai Rantai

Distance : 610 meters

Duration from Kem Baha junction to Sungai Rantai : 24 minutes

Distance from Start : 2.44km

Duration from Start : 24 minutes

Time of the day : 10.06am

Trail difficulty : easy

On our way up : distance, time and duration

On our way down : distance, time and duration

From Sungai Rantai to Permatang Bonsai

Distance : 3 km

Duration from Sg Rantai to Permatang Bonsai : 24 minutes

Duration from Start to Permatang Bonsai : 2 hours 6 minutes

Distance from start : 5.5km

Duration from Start : 3 hours 49 minutes

Time of the day : 12.12pm

Trail difficulty : moderate inclination

From Permatang Bonsai to Gunung Stong Peak

Distance : 680 meters

Duration from Permatang Bonsai to Gunung Stong Peak : 36 minutes

Distance from start : 6.18km

Duration from Start : 4 hours 29 minutes

Time of the day : 12.53pm

Trail Difficulty : hard

The speedster youngsters

I would advise for those who are planning to do Gunung Stong route number two daypack, it is possible actually - please park your car outside the gate - just in case you unable to make it before the gate close at around 5pm - 7pm.

Back at Kem Baha Junction 

 Clear sky from Kem Baha at 3pm something

Finally, we reached the hut just in time 

Done ! 12.12km in 7hours 36 minutes, time 4.40pm

This is gua 'keris' - dont leave dabong without visiting this keris like structure.

Our Gunung Stong Guide charge us RM50 per head for this. Its worth it!

He will explain the stalactite, stalagmite - rock formation, the cave was once inundated by sea water - sea weed formation on the rocks, unique spider species, sparkling white rocks, and many more.  

 In the background is the Dabong small town pasar malam (night market) on Saturday evening.

Please go while it is still bright around 6pm - it closes soon....

Gunung Liang East & West - The Unforgettable Duo

Gunung Liang 

Gunung Liang, located in the state of Perak. It has two peaks – Liang East and Liang West measuring at 1933 meters. Hiking Gunung Liang requires strength and endurance especially for daypack journey.

Gps Coordinate of the from main road junction : 3.785670, 101.498880
GPS coordinate of the water treatment plant : 3.798457, 101.521377
GPS coordinate of the starting point : 3.797219, 101.525409

The red circle is the turning junction towards the starting point 

From the main road leading to the starting point is 2 -3km on tarmac road, you can drive your car up to water treatment plant and further up another 700 meters is the entrance. Finding a parking spot is a breeze as you can park anywhere along the road.

From water treatment plant to the starting point is 770 meter.

 This is the 2nd water treatment plant aka small dam..

(Photo taken after the hike)

The entrance is on the left up, the trail marker is visible when you go up a little bit

We decided to park at the water treatment plant and walked 700 meters. We reached another different type of water treatment plant at the end of tarmac road which is the starting point on the left.

Suunto ambit 2 pre-loaded with customized Liang – Tumang batak map will be our reliable navigation of the day.

Our earlier plan was to hike to Tumang Batak – which is further up after Liang West, however, we estimated that the journey from Liang West to Tumang Batak is around 3 km and with 6 hours return, we ditched the plan….

Here’s a step by step distance, estimated time taken, check points and tips along the way :

From Car Park (water treatment) to starting point

Time start : around 7.00am

Distance : 700 meters

Time taken 20 minutes

From Starting Point to Lubuk Hantu

Distance : 3.4km

Distance from start : 4.27km

Time Taken from starting point(2^nd water treatment)  : 1 hour 24 minutes

Time of the day : 8.44am

Trail Condition : a little bit of incline, small river crossing, dry, shoes wont get wet

Trail difficulty : easy moderate

Please cross the river to the other side and climb up. River crossing with rope. Follow the trail marker

This photo taken from lubuk hantu, can you see the rope across the river?

Cross the river then continue going up

This photo was taken after we crossed the river... 

From Lubuk Hantu to camp 7 – 11

Distance : 3.3km

Distance from Start : 7.56km

Time taken from Lubuk Hantu to Camp 7 – 11 :

Time of the day : 11.28am

Time Taken : 2 hours 34 minutes

Time taken from Start : around 4 hours

Trail Condition : dry

Trail Difficulty : Hard at certain section, easy at certain section

 Yess!! after a grueling 3km...

personal glory

From Camp 7 -11 to Liang East

Distance : 1.8km

Distance from Start : 9.35km

Time Taken : around 2 hours

Total hours from Start : 6 hours 17 minutes

Time of the day : 1.26pm

Trail condition : muddy certain part, mostly dry

Trail difficulty : long hard incline, tree root, 70 – 80 degree climb, technical – using 4 core muscle

We did it!!  

 Well look at the time...1.26pm

From Liang East to Liang West

Distance : 120 meters only

Distance from Start : 9.47km

Time Taken : 9 minutes

Time of the day : 1.35pm

Total hours from Start : 6 hours 25 minutes

Trail condition : mostly muddy, tree root climbing

Trail difficulty : easy to moderate

 only 10 minutes walk from Liang East. A little bit muddy here...

Very cold up here....!

Though Gunung Tumang Batak is within reach – 6 hours return, we were unable to execute the plan due to insufficient of time.

Cold Temperature at the top of mount liang - it make us shiver. We decided to have our Nasi Lemak to replenish the energy. After this, speed descending.

Descending time

We descended at 2pm.

As most of the journey is a total descending, the return journey will be fully descending, thus, we could speed a little bit.

Spectacular view of the mossy forest! I love you!

This was the spot where I fell down during our 1st visit few months back - bruises on my thigh and palm (damn you!)

Liang East to Camp 7-E

Time Taken : 1 hour

Time of the day : 3.01pm

Camp 7-E to Lubuk Hantu

Time taken : 1 hour 16 miutes

Time of the day : 4.17pm

Lubuk Hantu to Starting Point (2^nd Water treatment)

Time taken : 1 hour 14 minutes

Time of the day : 5.31pm

 Almost 18km...another 770 meters to go...

We did it!!

Summary of Hike :

Ascending – 9.47km, 6 hours 25 minutes

Descending  - 9.47km, 3 hours 30 minutes

Total hike – 18.94km in 9 hours 55 minutes

There was a huge gap between ascending and descending duration. As such, it will give clear indication to plan your hike.

Drinks ration - 2.5 liter in 5 small bottles plain water. 500 ml coke, 2 cans on red bull
Food ration - fried noodle & bread at lubuk hantu, Nasi Lemak at the peak.

I’m going to miss this place!!