"It is not the mountain that we conquer but ourselves!" said by Sir Edmund Hilary, the first mountain climber to successfully climb Mount Everest.Today, being a public holiday, Ray and myself went to test-drive our endurance up Gunung Nuang in Ulu Langat. It is Selangor's highest peak at 4,989 ft. and is supposed to be a good place for novice climbers. Despite our intention to start off early, we only arrive at the foothill at almost 10.00 am. The park ranger had advised all climbers to descend from the summit by 1.00 pm which leaves us not much time to reach the summit.
Before, we can actually climb the mountain, we have to first complete an uphill trail which had been nicknamed as the "Never Ending Road". The trail took us about 80 minutes to walk, but it felt like hours. It is considerably steep most of the way and really seemed endless. For the unfit, it can really break a person's will. Not much choice, we endured on, meeting fellow climbers along the way. We just kept walking and walking, crossing the occasional streams and dealing with the moderate to high steepness of the mountain. Sadly, as we made our way up, we could spot rubbish strewn about by inconsiderate campers around the designated campsites and along the trail.
We did not achieve our initial intention to reach the summit as we only managed to reach upto 'Kem Pacat' which is only about the half-way mark. It was already 12.30 noon and we decided to turn back. We reach back to begin the gruelling "Never Ending Road" again and finally made it back to the foothill at about 3.15 pm.
Well, whether we are ready or not for Mount Kinabalu by this month-end, today's climb up Gunung Nuang is certainly gratifying for me. I must say I am truly proud of myself because I have 'conquered' myself!
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