WARNING: THIS VIDEO HAS LOTS OF PANTING, GRUNTING AND SWEARING.
Do not view if you are sensitive to f-bombs!
I have a love hate relationship with Gunung Liang. I hate how tough the mountain is, but that is also the reason why I love it. Which is why when I first heard about the Trans Slim hike, I was very eager to do it.
The problem was, the opportunities presented to me at the time was compressed dayhikes which spanned about 36 hours of continuous hiking with minimal rest. That's straight up abuse of my own body, which I absolutely refuse to do!
So when Trailblazer floated the idea of doing Trans Slim in a 3 day 2 night hike, I jumped on the bandwagon. I like transverse (thru) hikes. And I don't mind carrying a heavy backpack for days on end.
Me and Kenji contacted everyone we could think of who would be interested so we could have the max 7 hikers per group.
The trip proceeded without a hitch!
All timings are inclusive of breaks.
DAY 1 (14+ hours):
Loji Air Sungai Dara (5.45 am) - Kem Lubuk Hantu - Kem 7E - Gunung Liang - Kem Duit - Kem Pisang (8.30 pm)
DAY 2 (5 hours):
Kem Pisang (9.30 am)- Gunung Tumang Batak - Kem Dengkur (2.45 pm)
DAY 3 (14 hours):
Kem Dengkur (5 am)- Gunung Chondong Geliting - Kem Sg. Durian - Kem Sg. Merah - Loji Air Sg. Geliting (7 pm)
Distance: 65 km (I doubt it's accurate)
EG: 2800 km
Difficulty: Very Hard
This is my 4th time summitting Gunung Liang. I never thought I would set foot on Gunung Tumang Batak and beyond but I did. I am still recovering from this hike, though. My stats are in the red zone at the moment and I need days of recovery ahead. Carrying a 12 to 13 kg load for 35 hours up and down three mountain peaks was certainly exhausting.
And no, I'm not doing this again. But then, I said the same thing the first time I climbed Gunung Liang 🤪