On the day I was to leave for the Yong Belar hike I met with a friend for lunch. I shared about the upcoming hike and he said “I enjoy fishing, I can spend hours on a boat, in the rough seas, but at the end of the day I get to take home fish, and put food on the table, but what do you get from a hike” 

Ever since I became interested in hiking I have been reading about the G7  of Malaysia, G, meaning Gunung in Malaysian Language and 7 being the tallest 7 peaks in the peninsular. Few times during the past year one of my bootcamp instructors asked me about the G7 and he knows that I have an interest to do these 7 summits one day. And Yong Belar being one of the G7, he invited me to join the group.

Gunung Yong Belar is located at Blue Valley Dam, Cameron Highlands,on Titiwangsa Range between Perak – Kelantan border, and it is the 3rd highest mountain in the peninsular.

When I shared the details of the hike with some of my friends and kids, they all felt it was crazy to start the journey from KL at 11.00pm at night and continue hiking without sleep. I felt the same since I have never tried a hike without sleep, but I have done runs, so why not try this, there is always a first to everything.

We left KL at about 11.30 at night and during the 3 hours journey some enjoyed their little beauty sleep. I tried to sleep but I couldn’t. We reached the meeting point a little earlier than 3am, after logistical arrangement we went onto the four wheel to reach the starting point. I don’t know why I thought sitting behind would be more comfortable than standing up. Half way into the 40 min journey I had to stand up since I wanted to save my back and head from continuously banging as the vehicle passed through the muddy road. I stood there looking out in horror, squatting down whenever a branch seems to be too low. 

With headlamps on, we all walked towards the trail head. As we walked I looked up into the sky, it was mesmerising to see the stars, it’s not everyday you get to see such a view when you live in KL. After about 20 minutes of walking through neat rows of cabbage we arrived at the trailhead. 

From here the undulating trail winds its way up towards the first campsite, Kem Tudung Periuk. The pathway was painfully narrow, and as I walked past I was hoping to capture this trail when I returned back, hoping it wouldn’t be dark then.  

After passing a few scenic viewpoints and false peaks we arrived at Kem Tudung Periuk, the first camp site a bit later than 7.30am. We didn’t spend much time there, but enough to fuel our selves for the next leg of our journey. Which is towards Kem Kasut. 

Right after Kem Tudung the trails descended down a rocky trail, with guidance from Kumar, the most experienced hiker in the group, I too squatted down and walked down the rocky trail. As I was going down I saw the trail right in front of me, which was going straight up. I just couldn’t help myself,  but said it out loud, and I heard from behind “Hey, I don’t want to see it”

Even though the terrain was gentler in elevation, the real journey of walking in the mud started from here. Some of our fellow hikers were way ahead of us and few behind, me with two other hikers kept on going through the muddy trail. We were carefully picking our way across large unavoidable pools of peat on whatever roots and fallen branches in our sight, but our shoes get sunk in up to our  ankles anyway. One of our team hikers who was moving a bit ahead, once in a while would say “ I think it gets better from here” but it never got better, the mud never got any lesser. When she spotted young bamboo plants she said the same, and it brought our hopes up, but a few steps forward it’s mud again. She moved a bit faster so I called out to her and said “how is it up there”, didn’t hear her response, so I realised she must and moved  further up. When I said that, my bootcamp instructor, who was with me said “that reminds me of a Chinese story, If the king has to go out, someone will go before the king and check how the road is, and the person would come back and inform if the road is safe for the king to go ahead”, I was trying to see if the path ahead is clear of mud. So much for my wish.

The said to be 3 hours to Kemp Kasut seems like forever, whenever we would hear voices, my fellow hiker would say ‘ we are nearer” and then we reach to see it’s some other group. After it happened twice we decided to not to bring our hopes up but just keep going till we reach Kemp Kasut. 

If you are someone who cannot deal with mud and the muk Yong belar is not your place. There were  few times I had to struggle to get my shoes off from the mud, had to turn it left and right to break the suction.

Few of us got reunited at Kemp Kasut, and we decided not to spend too much time there, but start the journey towards the peak. 

I think the biggest lie you hear when hiking is the peak is just 20-15 minutes away from where you are. But that 20-15 min always seems like hours. 

As I was going towards the peak, the ultra runner, Jaye, who I met at Gunung Liang was coming down, as we passed we said our hi’s and she mentioned about reading the blog. What a small world.

Yong Belar peak was an open flat land, and the supposedly visible peaks remained hidden due to a sea of clouds. While at the peak we tried to enjoy our chicken rice provided by the organiser. There was a festive atmosphere at the peak, whenever someone climbed up the cheers to congratulate the person continued. Other than two from our team everyone else was at the peak, and we got conflicting information saying they had returned back. But they both surprised us by climbing to the peak. After group photo sessions, and celebrations and after acting for a tik tok video we started our journey down. 

Wanting to go out of the trail before dark was in my head, but looking at the time and the pace I was moving I knew it was not possible. If only there was no mud, I could walk much faster, I could even run here, I could do this, do that… the thoughts kept getting into me as I walked alone. I wanted to move as fast as I could, as far as I can, but the mud keeps on slowing me down. I met up with one of the guides and he accompanied me, when I asked him how far to kemp kasut, he said to me at this pace you are moving in another hour and half. We talked about how he started hiking and his experience. Right before we reached Kemp Kasut I came to know that even if I rush and move to trail head, I still need to wait for the rest of the team members who are inside the trail. Hence I decided to wait back and leave the trail with others.

After resting a bit at the campsite, and asking the exact direction to leave the campsite we started our journey towards the trail head. Some were talking about how tiring and exhausting it has been, to never going to do a long hike ever again, and consoling our dear friend who was extremely exhausted, we all walked our way past the narrow trails, with one of our instructors leading the pack. He kept encouraging us to keep on moving, and his just 2 hours seems to be another of those lies. Whenever the trail ascends, my friend would say “again going up” and I had to remind him “remember we came down when we started” 

Each hike is a story to tell. Each hike has it’s unique incidents. Yong Belar was done with an awesome group of friends from my GoMAD bootcamp.  From very experienced to newcomers, they all showed immense mental strength, along the challenging hike. How tired you may be, how exhausting you may become, even when you feel like you can never go on any more, you push yourself till cool down. Just like in the bootcamp session.

It was almost 4.30 am when I was able to go  to sleep, but I was awake way before 8.00, and I knew I had to attend to all the mud that I brought home last night. Blackened toenails and mud stained hands and feet need to be cleaned too. 

This morning my friend asked me “now happy” . Yes I am , and I hope this answers your question. What do I get from a hike? a story to tell, an experience to share, an opportunity to inspire someone else. And now I have you to read this.