Alhamdulillah .. last Sunday 21/4/13 i finally conquered Bukit Kutu with 7 other fellow trekkers .. Bukit Kutu (some say that its original name was Bukit Sekutu, aka Treacher's Hill) is located and accessible through Kampung Pertak, just after the Selangor Dam along the Kuala Kubu Baru-Fraser Hill trunk road .. it is a Temuan Orang Asli village with 'modern' chalet-like abodes .. ;)
Four trekker friends from KPTM KL and i met up at KPTM KL parking lot at 0630 hrs immediately after subuh prayers .. Had a simple breakfast of roti canai n telur masak separuh at a roadside stall near Taman Melawati, as suggested by Amy, our trip organizer.
After that we head off straight to Kuala Kubu Baru (KKB) through the Batu Caves - Selayang - KKB road to meet up with another friend Nizam who is waiting by the Selangor Dam rest area .. with two of his anak buah tagging along. That makes all of us 8 people altogether, convoying in two cars ..
We reached Kg Pertak around 0900hrs. Parked our car along the roadside just before the 1st hanging bridge .. After a short briefing and reciting the prayers for safety we began our hike circa 0915hrs.
From base camp (parking lot) .. you gotta cross this first bridge (check point one) .. after this you will cross another 3 small river streams like in the pics below .. We saw a couple of campers fishing along the river.
The water is very cooling to the feet .. Considering this terrain, it's best for hikers / trekkers to wear the Adidas Kampung rubber shoes .. First timers gotta be careful as you may encounter a couple of tricky Y-junctions before the real climb starts .. ;)
Sir 'Mr Gadget Man' Mart .. giving a 'peace' sign after crossing the last river stream before 'the real' climbing takes place ..
With Nizam the Sweeper .. the Last Man to ensure everybody in the group is safe and sound .. If you are lucky you can see several wild durian trees at the beginning of the trails ..
The hike was led by Amy as The Recce Lady - a G7 graduate ! Caya lah Amy ;)
As usual, the beginning trek was a bit flat / landai .. at this point everyone looks happy, excited and smiling .. Wait till the next phase .. ;)
Then the climb starts .. overall trek is quite a continuous climb but i have to say that it was shady and cooling all the way as the trails were covered by canopy of trees esp bamboo trees (as in picture below) .. Sometimes you need to climb over or go under fallen tree trunks to get across .. Do watch out for thorns .. ;)
Yes ! Taking a short break at 'The Rocks' at CP5 (check pt 5) .. just about a little more than 1/2 way up to the summit. After this point, it is up, up and up again to the peak !
Akmal 'Mr Rambo Guy' - toying with his 7" blade .. ;)
This way up, please .. ;) Actually the trail up was quite clear and not confusing, only at the beginning part you have to be extra careful with the Y-junctions ..
VAT59 in his element ..
As the climb was quite tiresome to some of us (including the writer himself .. huhu), we took quite a number of short breaks every now and then .. After all, this is supposed to be an enjoyable and 'fun' weekend outing .. so we don't want to exert unnecessary pressures on anybody .. Climb at your own pace and speed so to speak .. ;)
Watch out for your footsteps ! .. Besides bamboo trees, some treks are covered with large tree roots .. gotta be extra careful not to slip and entangle your feet in between the roots .. if injured, nobody gonna carry you down except by your own self .. huhu ;)
Fauna of the forest .. the black ants !
Taking another 'short break' and respite while admiring the cool jungle fresh air and wonderful smell of nature provided by Allah swt .. free of charge ..
As you approach the summit (at CP9 - the last check pt) you will see this abandoned chimney standing tall by the remnants of the old colonial British bungalow ..
One for the album .. Taking picture at the abandoned bungalow or 'fort' ..
Faiz 'The Savior' enjoying his lunch at the summit .. Thanks to Nizam n wifey for the Nasi Lemak special KKB !
Group photo at summit before the descend .. semua otai2 belaka in their own special ways .. especially the one with red t-shirt sporting a shade in the middle .. mmg ganah arr .. huhu ;)
The ladder leaning on the giant boulder leading to the highest point of Bukit Kutu at 1053m ASL .. ;)
Alhamdulillah .. with Allah's grace and blessings, VAT59 does it again ! One more proof that age is not a hindrance to an active life style .. ;) Total trekking time clocked was 5.5 hrs (3.5 hrs uphill n 2 hrs downhill) .. over a total distance of about 11 km (up n down) .. on a 'relax' mode .. Not bad huh ?
The graphs above were plotted and generated by Motion-X GPS apps .. You can see how 'steep' Bukit Kutu is .. :-)
Overall i would rate Bkt Kutu in the category of a moderate difficulty level .. One thing i learnt from this trip is to NEVER under estimate a bukit .. This one maybe 'just' a bukit (hill), but its difficulty level can challenge or tougher than some mountains (gunung) that i have climbed before.
Personally, i feel that with a height of 3,456 ft ASL, Bkt Kutu can be re-classified as a Mount or Gunung Kutu .. ;)
As with all climbs, once u reached the summit, all those tiredness and aches were 'cancelled and overwritten' by excitement and joy of success and achievements to summit that no money can buy .. making it all worth it ! .. Bukit Kutu is a must-try for all trekkers, at least once in their lifetime .. hehe ;)
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