ODAC expedition #2

On the way up to our base camp, called the Elephant pool, we stopped by this nice waterfall. It was really fun to splash around under cold mountain water.

This is the lot of the students gathering for a photo under the waterfall. Note me on the right and Angel on the left.

I don't have any pictures of our campsite, but it was a nice campsite near a rock outcrop called the Elephant pool. You had to cross a ledge or rocks over a waterfall to get across. We cooked dinner on the rocks (maggi mee and canned food with mess tin and gas stoves) as evening set in. The students also put on skits in their groups just for entertainment. We also sang camping songs. The ODAC song, written by Isaac, is quite good btw.

As we turned in for the night, I spent some time on the hammock I set up in front of the tent. The air became really chilly, tingling my nose and ears even though I was in windbreaker and trackpants. Had to hide in the tent in the end.

At 4.45 am, we got up to set off for the summit. With flashlights and headlamps, we began our trek up the mountain through the darkness. We just climbed for hours; the elephant pool was about 1/3 of the way up Mt Ophir. We started at 5am and I think we got to the summit at around 10am.

Climbing was quite tough. I suppose walking up and down my stairs each day helped me cope a little. Being totally clueless about the mountain was also helpful. I didn't know how long more there was to go, or what was up ahead. I just followed the group as we climbed, appreciating the rocks and trees and colours and smells. We had to cross all sorts of interesting terrain as we climbed - mangles of tree roots, loose boulders, mountain streams (triangle pool), through caves (goat's cave), and even rope climb near-vertical rock faces. Here, I and Yi Min are on the cliff face (you can't see how steep it is, but it's about 60 degrees at least and 50 metres in length).

It was scary to look behind, but the view from the ropes was quite something...

Here you see us making our way up towards the summit via ropes and ladders. The ladders are an addition in recent years to improve safety. Imagine how much more thrilling and dangerous the climb must have been. Further up, the air is mountain crisp and the foliage sparser and more 'temperate'.

When we reached the top, the view was for miles around, but the satisfaction of reaching the summit after the climb was reward enough. We 'yamseng'ed to jelly cups (another ODAC tradition) and spent over an hour on the top eating lunch on sardine bread.

I never realised that climbing down a mountain could be slower and tougher than climbing up a mountain. When climbing down, your feet and and your mind had to be in total focus to avoid tripping and falling into a messy situation. In fact, on the way down one of the J2s sprained her ankle and had to hobble painfully back to basecamp (she had to be carried in the end).

(picture of us going back down through Goat's cave)

We took a slightly different route and followed the stream down to elephant pool. We passed by many scenic waterfalls, gurgling brooks, and hidden pools framed with water plants. The sense of zen-like peace and passing at some of these pools makes me definitely want to visit them again one day. I resisted taking photos just to preserve and respect that memory.

We made it back to the base of the mountain before evening, and the students spent some time at a waterfall before they hiked down in the darkness and made dinner. We all slept with our bags in carpark in front of the prata stall. That was the end of our day 2.