2nd Hiking Attempt To Empangan Klang Gates (Klang Gates Dam)

Muddy trail.

An unfinished "business" it was (covered in a previous post here). I was still warm from the last attempt several days ago and eager to find the trail to the forbidden lake (the lake is situated in a restricted area since it is one of the main sources of water for the entire Klang valley, including the capital city of Kuala Lumpur). At 4:40pm, I started off again on the same trail with my eldest 7 year old son. Despite him wearing flipflops (selipar Jepun) again (don't ask why), our pace was much faster than before, and we managed to reach where we last stopped just 30 minutes into the journey, compared to the 1.5 hours in the last attempt. The trail after that point however, was not so favourable. In fact, it was awful.

The junction where we heard the growl.

Shaded from the sun, the trail was left damp and slippery. Muddy puddles were everywhere. Furthermore, the path lead downhill, a descent steep enough that it worried me whether we would have the energy to climb the trail on the return trip. We stumbled along the path for about half an hour until we came to a T junction. There were some signs of motorcycle tyre tracks which lead to the left, but then there were human footprints heading to the right. I was still considering my options, until I heard a deep growl which sent shivers down my spine. The low growl of a tiger.

The steep slippery climb back.
This is only about a quarter
of the way up.

My son was terrified, and so was I. There were no houses or settlements for miles around except in the south westerly direction where we came from. Only the deep jungle awaited us. So the probability of encountering such a wild beast was, well, I did not dare to even contemplate. We turned around and slowly retraced our steps back up the hill, and out of the jungle.

To calm our wits and disappointment of not being able to see the forbidden lake, we climbed another hill which was cleared of trees and undergrowth, overseeing our housing area. Then we made our way home via a different route which we saw from above. On the way down, we found another trail with signboards indicating the area was a protected reserved area. Maybe the path (and maybe a shorter one) to the lake? I will try that path one day. However, upon reaching home, my son told me what he saw in the jungle which was truly eerie and frightening.

The other hill which we climbed to calm our nerves.

The view of our housing area, from
the other hill that we climbed.

He told me that when we ascended the hill during our return trip in the jungle, he saw a shadowy form of an adult tiger with red eyes following us on our right hand side, in parallel, several meters away from our trail. After a while, the ghostly embodiment moved away from us, went further into the jungle and disappeared altogether from his sight.

My Adidas Kampung shoes after the hike.

I did not see the tiger since most of my attention was on my son climbing the slippery hill wearing his flipflops. However, from cross questioning him, it was obvious that it was no tiger that he saw, but perhaps one of the jin, spiritual ghostlike beings which usually dwell deep in the jungle and far from humans. Me being superstitious? Perhaps. Still, it is something to consider in my future hikings :P

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