[REPORT] Coasteering/Circumnavigating Cape Rachado 2025

Finishing point Blue Lagoon

Quick Summary

Overall completion rate (measured at Monkey Bay): 66.7% 

More measurements and accompanying notes at our main branch site.

Circumnavigation Sections

There are 3 sections (or legs) when we do end-to-end circumnavigation: 

1. From the entrance down the hill to the shore (no coasteering yet) and till the altar/well (Perigi Hang Tuah) at the end of Pantai Keramat (once known as Teluk Rubiah in historical documents). This is rated 1:2 (out for five) for level of difficulty:risk.
2. Trek up into the forest ridge where the promontory-lighthouse trail is and hike down the slope to the shore, and trek a short distance over only boulders and rocks and joins the beach leading to Pulau Intan - this latter trek is the test of coasteering 'capability' including leg stability and stamina; this leg is often the part we will know if any trekkers are capable of continuing to the third leg. Trekkers may quit here and walk up the stairs and back to the lighthouse and descend back to car park safely. Difficulty:risk is 4:4.
3. From here till Blue Lagoon is the longest stretch that covers a few bays often with rocks and boulders, and cliffs. This leg also passes attractions like freshwater pool from underground, getting across cave tunnel (only "opens" during low tide), climbing high cliff and boulders, passing the narrow gap, lighthouse sighting, Monkey Bay beach and lastly, Blue Lagoon and its mangrove trees. Difficulty:risk is 5:5.

The route generally covers a distance of 5 km and we need to complete the trip in 5 hours - and normal walking or trekking pace can complete it with short photography sessions included. Long than that will mean the tide will start to come onto the shores. The risks involve injuries from getting cuts from sharp rocks, falling and slipping (wet rocks and those with algae on the surface), fatigue, and heatstroke - very often the event takes place during afternoon and mid-afternoon. Pathfinders usually conducts this trip in conjunction with the annual Raptor Watch (RW) albeit many times they were not held on the same weekend as RW due to unfavourable tide timings. However, migrating raptors can be seen most of the times.

Pic Blog

[EVENT] [LITE SERIES] PF52u Selangor Branch Trip to Dato Henry Barlow’s Genting Tea Estate Coordinated by Pathfinders

 

Event by MNS Selangor Branch [MNSSB] and coordinated by MNS Selangor Branch Pathfinders SIG [PF].
 
We are excited to announce a long-awaited member-exclusive trip to reconnect with nature and history! It’s been a while since our last visit to Dato' Henry Barlow's beautiful Genting Tea Estate in 2019. After a long pause due to the pandemic, we are thrilled to invite you back for an enchanting experience.
 
Join us as Dato' Barlow shares his cherished memories of the tea estate, leads us on an interpretive walk amidst a stunning variety of flora, and showcases his fascinating collection of moths and butterflies. This event promises to be both educational and delightful!
 
Mark your calendars for July 6, 2025! PF is honoured to be appointed by MNSSB host this event, and we can’t wait to see you there. Don’t miss out—register early to secure your spot (and for family members too) before it runs out!

When: 6 July 2025 (Sunday) at 9.30 am.

Where: Genting Tea Estate (GTE), Genting Sempah, Pahang.

Joining fee: RM10 per person (for MNS members only).

Who Can Join?

·       Open to: MNS members with valid membership.

·       MNS Family Membership: All family members are allowed, but to be fair to other families, limit per family = 5 pax.

·       Minimum age to join: 6 years old.

Meet-Up Location and departure to GTE

·       As there is not enough parking in GTE, members must agree to car-pool from Meet-Up Location to GTE, and return.

·       Meet-Up Location is at McDonald’s Genting Sempah.

·       If your application is successful, you will be added to a Telegram event chatgroup (compulsory to install Telegram app for communication with organizers). Further information regarding the trip will be available there.

Itinerary

1.    9.30am Reached Meet-Up Location for registration and car-pooling.

2.    10.00am Gates to GTE open.

3.    11.00 am Talk by Dato’ Barlow on the history of the estate and house and brief tour of the house.

4.    11.30 am Walk round the garden and up to the arboretum, with Manager Mr Simon Hok. Long sleeved shirts and pants, sensible walking shoes.

5.    +/-1.00pm on return from walk, lime juice provided at the house, courtesy of Dato’ Barlow. Bring your own picnic lunch to eat in the house or on the lawn.

6.    2.00pm Introductory talk by Encik Sofwan Badr on the butterfly and moth collection.

7.    2.45pm Depart.

 Track Details

Duration: 5 hours.

Difficulty: 1/5

Risk: 1/5

Distance: not relevant

River crossing: no

Some ‘rules’ to follow and matters to note

·       Exercise courtesy and reasonably good behavior as a guest in other people’s house; e.g. take all your rubbish away, keep the place clean, do not trample on flowers, etc.

·       As this is not a public park, children should not be running around, noisy, etc. Parents must be responsible for child’s appropriate behavior.

·       Pets are not allowed.

·       Respect our kind host, Dato’ Barlow and speakers, e.g. do not make noise or making noisy phone calls during their presentation.

·       Agree to car-pooling arrangement from Meet-Up Location to GTE: such as sit in other people’s car or agree to have other people as passengers.

·       Be punctual. Organizers will leave Meet-Up Location to GTE on time.

·       Caution: May have leech and mosquito.

·       No food nor drinks will be provided, other than that mentioned in the Itinerary.

·       Malaysian weather in the mountain is unpredictable. Please have your own umbrella, raincoat, jacket, etc.

To proceed
We adopt Leave-No-Trace (LNT) principles in all our outdoor activities.
 
Limited places. If you are successful, you will be added into a Telegram chatgroup for the event. More information will be provided in the chatgroup.
 
Closing date for registration: 30 April 2025.
 
All participants must agree to the waiver/release of liability clauses found here https://pathfinders.mnsselangorbranch.org/p/waiverrelease-of-liability-and.html
 
Interested? If you agree to the waiver/release of liability above, please register following the instructions in the next section.
 
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To register
 
Head over » here «  (https://forms.gle/nBtJ7p6ZsYswtjLp8) for immediate registration—have your membership card ready. Let’s make this a memorable gathering!
 

[EVENT] [TOUGH SERIES] PF50u Mossy Paradise (Irau) via Corybas Trail

 Event by MNS Pathfinders Selangor branch

(https://www.facebook.com/groups/mnspathfinders.selangorbranch)

(https://www.instagram.com/mnssb.pathfinders?igsh=dnU5Y3dyc3NwN3Vi&utm_source=qr)

(https://pathfinders.mnsselangorbranch.org/)

When: 14 September 2025 (Sunday) at 5:30 am.

Where: Mossy Paradise, at the northern slope of Gunung Irau, is located in Cameron Highlands.

Joining fee: RM110 (for MNS members only); RM130 (for non-member). Fee includes guide fee & forestry permit. Note: preference is given to MNS members on first-come-first-served basis; Non-members will be placed in waiting list - we will fill any balance of slots not taken up by members.

Track Details
Duration: up to 10-11 hours
Difficulty: 4/5 (ascend 500m in possibly rainy/wet condition)
Risk: 4/5 (rainy & cold mountainous climate)
Distance: 11 km (5.5km x 2)
River crossing: yes

This is a repeat of our overwhelmingly demanded event last year which was limited by small group size. We have decided to run this again, but probably it will be our last one for the foreseeable future (we intend to explore other places instead of keep going to the same). However, for this year, we will not be hiking up to the peak of Gunung Irau. Joiners will be hiking up to Mossy Paradise only.

(Having wrote that, depending on time availability and other factors, a smaller team can breakout from Mossy Paradise to attempt summitting the peak of Gunung Irau. However, this is not compulsory nor a promise we will allow so. The other members will not attempt it and turn back to trailhead from Mossy Paradise).

Mossy Paradise is different from Mossy Forest (which is usually reached from the Gunung Brinchang direction). In our opinion, Mossy Paradise is many times more beautiful and better preserved than Mossy Forest, probably due to less hikers taking up the Corybas Trail route. If you are lucky, you will be welcomed by the rare blooming Corybas micro-orchid plant.

Permit and Guide is compulsory. Please note that the trip fee excludes accommodation and transportation; and you will need to arrange these on your own.

The event is conditioned on getting permit from the Forestry Department (which may only be issued 1-2 weeks before the actual event date). Full refund is given if permits are not granted.

The event may be cancelled due to landslide or very bad weather, etc.; in this case, refund amount will have to be negotiated with the guide.

In all other cases (eg. you can’t make it), fees paid are non-refundable.

Please note that permit is not transferable to another person.

We adopt Leave-No-Trace (LNT) principles in all our outdoor activities.
Limited places. If you are successful, you will be added into a Telegram chatgroup for the event. More information will be provided in the chatgroup.

Closing date for registration: 16 March 2025.
(Hiking quota exist. We have to apply very early in order to secure a place for 14 Sep 2025).

All participants must agree to the waiver/release of liability clauses found here https://pathfinders.mnsselangorbranch.org/p/waiverrelease-of-liability-and.html

Interested? If you agree to the waiver/release of liability above, please register following the instructions in the next section.

***
To register

Every participant has to furnish an individual application to provide the information below.

Please copy & paste form items [01] to [11] below (and fill up data) to either:
1. a Telegram message to @pathfindersmns, or
2. an email to pathfinders@mnsselangorbranch.org

[Event] PF50u Mossy Paradise (Irau) via Corybas Trail
[01] Name (first name, last name):
[02] Mobile phone number:
[03] IC/Passport number:
[04] Age:
[05] Membership number:
[06] Membership expiry date (members only):
[07] Telegram ID (if available):
[08] Next-of-Kin (Emergency Contact) name & relationship:
[09] Next-of-Kin (Emergency Contact) mobile phone no.:
[10] Remarks (if any):
[11] Do you agree (see waiver text in the link) to the WAIVER/RELEASE OF LIABILITY AND ASSUMPTION OF RISK? (YES/NO):

[REPORT] PF48u Bukit Jugra Forest Trail to Lighthouse

 

On 16 February 2025, Pathfinders led a short-trip to the beautiful Bukit Jugra, which still has primary forest standing despite all the agricultural development surrounding it. The 13 members started the hike at 8am under the grey sky – that was the perfect cool weather for us toiling the uphill climb of 200 meter.

We reached the peak and were delighted that we were greeted by a pretty, friendly and intelligent ‘resident’ dog at the peak. After a short rest, we proceeded along the ridge to the Bukit Jugra lighthouse lookout area for a beautiful scenery of the plain and Langat River flowing into the Straits of Melaka. It’s a wow scenery every single time we were there.

 

The sun burst opened the cloud as we reached the lookout point. With sunlight ‘lit’ from the back of the camera-person, all photos taken towards the West (the above scenic background) were marvelous. Members took a lot of photos - landscape, macro, portrait, panoramas. However, it was not a clear day as we had some haze brought from the sea by, nevertheless,  refreshing and cooling breeze that we needed to cool ourselves under the now sunny sky.

 

We headed back the way we came from. By the time we reached the carpark, it was scorching sun. Nevertheless, it was one of the best outings we ever had – a relaxed activity nestled in a beautiful preserved nature. MNS is not just about loving nature and interacting with nature. The fellowship and friendship amongst members are the secret to keeping us together: because we tend to stick with the people we like.

 

Talking about scorching sun, we need more of it … because we need to train up for our next adventure, Coasteering Cape Rachardo; then, we will have to embrace a scorchier and mightier sun than today.

 

Photo credits: Jimmy, Ashley, Hao Yang.

[EVENT][TOUGH SERIES] Coasteering Cape Rachado 2025

 

 OPEN EVENT CODE PF49u

Signboard along a walking trail

Event by MNS Pathfinders Selangor branch

(https://www.facebook.com/groups/mnspathfinders.selangorbranch)

For best experience on filling out the form, please use a desktop or laptop.

When: 2nd March 2025 (Sunday)

Where: Details will be separately provided (in Telegram chat*) to registered and paid joiners

Joining fee: RM25 (MNS member), RM40 (non-MNS member)

Fill this "fitness assessment" form (a small team will assess – and shortlist the successful joiner) then proceed to fill the event registration form at the bottom of this page.

* If you do not have Telegram, please consider having one - Telegram is our main communications channel. 

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Cape Rachado (also Tanjung Tuan) is a promontory located at Port Dickson. Up on this promontory hill sits an active lighthouse overseeing the Straits of Malacca and the vessels that ply there. During this time, the weather is the hottest and raptor migration from Sumatra takes place, where they leverage on thermals to assist with flying long-distance across the straits without any resting spots in between, and from there northwards on their migratory paths.

Briefly, the circumnavigation trek is an end-to-end trip around the promontory, starting from the South side at Pantai Cermin till Blue Lagoon beach at Ilham Resort, using the coastal route - and a sense of achievement in the end. The route entails sandy shoreline, mangrove swamps, rocks and boulders with hill ascends and descends. The trek will take roughly 5 hours over a distance of 5 km. Short distance? Read on...

Circumnavigating Cape Rachado is NOT “a walk in the park”. Due to soaring heat including radiated heat from the ground and rough terrain, it is a demanding trek suitable only for season trekkers with some rock/wall climbing experience. Three risks exist for this event: (1) Risk of injury from falling/slipping off rocks, (2) risk of getting trapped by the tides before you complete the rounding trip, and (3) risk of heat stroke.

As this trip is physically challenging, seasoned trekkers are preferred; it is not suitable for beginner trekkers. This means only approved joiners (after assessment of fitness levels here) will be provided with meetup details, trip itinerary and other information. Approved joiners will be specially grouped for easier collaboration and discussion inside a closed Telegram forum.

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BRIEF TERRAIN DESCRIPTION & PREREQUISITES

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Walking on sandy, wet, muddy and swampy shoreline (with tides out during the small window), hill climb on usual soil terrain of mud and roots, leg-breaking wet rocks with green algae, scree, boulders with sharp edges and slippery surface.

Terrain: 4.5/5

Risk: 5/5!

Three key prerequisites are must-haves for this trip: (1) Have rock/wall climbing experience, (2) physically fit and must have recently trained under the direct sun (for body conditioning), and (3) no fear of heights (some parts with climbing on treacherous rocks to a height of about 20 feet and looking down to sea waves pounding the cliffs. Perhaps the fourth could be the instincts to spot wildlife along the trail e.g. snakes or monitor lizards hiding under the rocks.

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BIG RULES

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The big rules to joining this trip are:

1. You are to dedicate full day for this event as we expect to do entire course end-to-end. We do not cater to requests for odd joining time and partial trips.

2. Due to short window on trek time, we do not wait for late comers.

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IMPORTANT NOTES

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For this event, we limit participation to 25 pax (PRIORITY to MNS members and persons who had registered for early notification in our Telegram channel). Registration will close when it reaches the limit subject to payment received, or on or before 19th Feb, whichever is the earlier.

We adopt Leave No Trace's 7 Principles in all of our events. Join the Malaysia LNT chapter!  

Have an enquiry? Message us at Telegram https://t.me/pathfindersmns (preferred for faster response from us), post it at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mnspathfinders.selangorbranch/events/ or email pathfinders@mnsselangorbranch.org (note: 2 's').

Btw, in case you recently joined Telegram and do not know where we are in Telegram, head over here and join us for Pathfinders event announcements and broadcast.

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Event Registration Form

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If you find it difficult using your mobile to register, please head over here and register using a desktop or laptop!