Trekking n Camping at KUBANG GAJAH WATERFALL : 22-23 June 2013

Last Saturday, 5 trekker buddies (Sir Mart, Sir Azrul, Hj Yahya, Sir Akmal, Alias Zafnat) and i went to Kubang Gajah w/fall .. aka Kemensah w/fall .. aka Sofea Jane w/fall (if you are wondering why they gave it such a name, just Google it)  .. My previous 2 trips here were day hikes, but this time we decided to do hiking cum camping .. ;)

As promised we met up at 0830 hrs at ABC Maidin, Shamelin Perkasa, Cheras .. i had roti canai and warm lime water (air limau suam) for breakfast ..

After breakfast and a quick discussion to finalize on the agenda of the trip, we did some re-packing of our food rations n pack our backpacks into 2 cars (Hj Yahya's and Akmal's) .. We headed towards Zoo Negara .. took the first left immediately after Zoo Negara and drove along Jalan Taman Zoo View towards Kampung Kemensah (straight on without any turns) till you reach the dead end at Institut Budaya Baru (pic below) ..

Parked our cars at the road side (pic below) .. Better if you can slow talk with the Bangla guy at the Guard Post to look over your car while you go hiking .. Give him RM10 .. ;)

Final re-packing of our rations before the hike .. Trail head / entrance is on the left side of this picture above (just in front of Waja) ..

Group photo at the trail head ..

Thanks to dry season .. the normally wet, muddy and slippery ATV tracks are now dry and easily walk on ..

The puddle .. Now i know why the locals called this place KUBANG Gajah .. 

Taking a breather ..

At this point, take a sharp 90 degrees turn to the left .. just a short uphill climb .. and continue trekking .. ;)

.. until you see this signboard on your right that says "Jeram Kubang Gajah" .. just follow through this downhill trek .. the waterfall is 'just' around the corner .. ;)

First thing first .. we set up camp .. boil water for tea and fry cokodok .. 

Finally .. the ultimate goal : Cool refreshing water ..

Water massage ..

Perghh .. what a life ! Relaxing the mind, body and soul .. ;)

The Gwiyomi guys !

The Dam ! it has an interesting history .. check it out at Google .. ;)

The small pool at The Dam .. the water level is just thigh deep .. may be due to the dry season ..

Starting camp fire before the night begins .. the traditional way of chasing 'the mosquitoes' .. ;)

Makan time .. early dinner with simple dishes of cokodok, white rice, omelette and sardines .. with hot tea ! Hmmm .. masyaAllah tabarakallah .. it's the best ever .. can't beat the food at 5-star hotels !

Tit-bits .. aka JAJAN ..

River trekking .. to recce for a suitable place for 'answering the calls of nature' .. back to nature !

Our camp site .. can accommodate 3 igloo-type tents for capacity of 2 persons each .. plus 2 fly n ground sheets .. The kitchen 'cabinet' was already there when we arrived .. could have been left by the previous campers before us ..

Another view of our camp site .. from the river side (The Dam)


The flora and fauna of KEMENSAH :

This is my third visit to this place since 2011 .. Overall, there is not much changes to the place except now we see more housing developments taking place near trail head, the treks are more widen and clearer, and fallen trees are a common sight here .. :(

Looks like Rambai fruit .. but is it ?

Evidence that some people has been using this steep waterfall for rappelling activities ..

Rattan collected and tied together .. ready for 'distribution' ..

The moth .. resting on our tent ..

Anybody knows what fruit is this ?

The next day we broke camp after breakfast and having the last dip in the cool waters of the river and start hiking out around 1100hrs ..

Met a group of about 12-15 ATVs who just arrived at Kubang Gajah waterfall ..

Saw this by the river .. weird but true .. an overgrown tree trunk 'covering' a cylindrical shaped iron tunnel-like hole which can fit in a small person ..

On the way out of the jungle, we met another group of MT Bikers who were having their short break .. had a friendly chit chat with them, and guess what ? one of them coincidentally is Ali (in white), one of my relative from Kota Bharu .. siapa sangka ? met in the jungle of Kemensah !

At around noon we reached the car park, where we met another group of scramblers just about to enter the trail head .. 

One for the album .. after completing the hike out from the jungle .. ;)

Overall distance is about 2.5km (one way) .. difficulty level : easy to moderate .. took us about 45-50 minutes from parking area to the camp site .. with leisure mode while borak-borak and taking pictures along the trail .. plus the occasional 'stopping' by the trail side to give way for the ATVs, MTBs and Scramblers to pass through ..

In short, the trip was a successful one .. a weekend with the closest of friends .. full of FUN, FITNESS AND FRIENDSHIP .. I would say, Sofea Jane w/fall is one good option or alternative for a weekend jungle outing within the KL/Selangor area .. will definitely come back for a repeat in the near future .. ;)

NOTE: the last two pics of the trail maps were courtesy of my trekking buddy, Sir Mart .. who's our sifu and IT geek in the group .. ;)