Introduction

Gunung Ledang, or Mount Ophir, is a 1,276m tall mountain at northwest Johor in Malaysia. It’s one of the most popular mountains in the region and was said to be the most climbed mountain in the country.  Read Wikipedia on the Legend of Gunung Ledang.

I last hiked the Gunung Ledang around the same time last year.  But as the real summit was closed off due to military reasons, we only get to hike up to a lower false summit where there wasn’t anything much except a huge boulder.  So when I heard the hiking group was organising a trip to Gunung Ledang and that the real summit is now open, I jumped at the chance.  Mountain hiking can become an addiction.

As I brought along my GPS along, I managed to track the route from Singapore to the summit of Gunung Ledang.  If you need the route and waypoints in Garmin GDB format, just post a comment and I will send the download link to your email.

Gunung Ledang

A chartered coach picked us up at 600am in Singapore.

We reached Gunung Ledang office at around 930am where we met our guide which we arranged in advance.

As we were rather late, the guide explained that we would take the shorter route up.  Referring to the map below, one can take the shorter route (dotted line) by turning left after CP3.  Usually, the shorter route is used for the hike down from the summit.

Before the hike, we had to declare the things we are bringing up the mountain.  Anyway, there are lockers at the park HQ where you can deposit your belongings.

The start of the hike was a long flight of stairs.  It’s pretty tiring.

The vegetation started to change after we reached a certain height.

Our guide had to report our progress to HQ regularly.

A minor stream crossing.

Some steep climbs at the final section of the hike.  Again, gloves would come in useful.

Final stretch to the summit!

I wonder how they managed to build radio towers at such a height where there are no access roads.

It took us almost 4 hours to reach the summit.  The views were great!

Our assorted snacks for the summit picnic.

Two spanish guys who tagged along our group offered us some sort of marinated meat.  It’s good!

Not soon after we started our descent, I got into shoes trouble.  My second visit to Gunung Ledang and my second time having problems with my shoes.  During my hike last year, the new shoes I brought along gave me such bad abrasions that I kept the shoes in my backpack and walked in my socks for majority of the hike.  Well, this time it wasn’t as bad.  Just a little discomfort.

The leisurely pace allowed me to snap some shots of the many fungi we spotted on Gunung Ledang.

The mini waterfall near the start of the hike.

Back to park HQ.  It took us another 4 hours for the descent.

Yes, we received our certificates of accomplishment!

Dinner was at Restoran Liang Chen near Skudai recommended by our driver.

The food was scrumptious and the price was decent.  A great end to a fruitful day trip!

Thanks to Bob for organising the trip!