Trekking Pine Trail and Bishop Trail- Frasers Hill

My family and I love Frasers Hill. We've been on the trails there several times already, and I'm always amazed at what I find there each time. My first post on Frasers can be found here -->Trekking Frasers Hill

The children especially love Hemnant trail, but this time round we decided to trek Pine Trail and Bishop Trail for the very first time. Initially we avoided it because we've heard horror stories about the leeches there. But after going through the horribly large, hungry and aggressive leeches at Ulu Geroh Forest Reserve while hunting for Rafflesia, we thought, this would be nothing.

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~~~~Trekking Pine Trail~~~~~

Well, first we contacted the local ranger to inform them that we'd be on Pine Trail. They informed us in return that the trail was closed due to the rainy season which has caused several fallen trees along the path. We decided to try a portion of the trail then. In the end we trekked about 2km in and turned back when the trail got darker, and plus the constant sound of trees creaking got a little scary after a while, not really the sound, but the thought of a tree falling on us got my imagination wild!  Here are some pictures below. Pine Trail is really lovely, full of discoveries, and well known for the Bolonaphora flower. It's a really love trail. Some photos below.

Crossing a fallen tree. It was wonderful to see my children helping each other cross these obstacles.

More fallen trees along the path. It's all part of the adventure. :)

Bolonaphora buds along Pine Trail

Bolonaphora-Female infloresence (found near the buds)

Bolonaphora- male infloresence . We discovered these deeper in the trail.

Lots of very beautiful and huge fungus and mushrooms on this trail. Love the colour of this particular species.

Spotted these on a fallen tree. Beautiful!



A wild flower, found along this trail. There are also many herbs found along this trail.

It's worth looking carefully into bushes and grass to discover tiny species like this. This was just about 1 cm in length.

Love the colour here. Again, some sort of fungus. Sorry for my lack of scientific names. ;P
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Eve of the same day we went bird watching around Telekom loop.

Then the sun set, and as it grew dark, the amazing insect orchestra of the forest came alive!! We stood in a huddle in that darkness listening, and while we were at that, the bats decided to fly around. It's amazing that some flapped quite close by us so we felt the power of their wings!



This was taken shortly before sunset. Always love the moon in Frasers Hill. It somehow looks closer and more beautiful there.

Night was spent watching the moon through our binoculars. I hope to invest in a good telescope soon.

An attempt at taking a shot of the moon.

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Trekking on Bishop Trail

Bishop trail is about 1.6Km. This is known as the Pacat trail (Leech trail), but we didn't see too many although Jo got bitten by one. Generally the trail is narrow, Lots of fallen trees,  a little muddy and quite dark. But because of the dark, the gibbons really have a party in there. All along the trail, you hear the gibbons quite loudly.

This is how most of Bishop is, a trail covered with roots. So be careful not to trip

 Some areas are very narrow and once as Jo was trekking, a large part of the ground below her left feet gave way and she tumbled a little. I grabbed her on time. She was slightly shaken but continued as usual

Jo had this leech bite. She yanked the leech out by herself.

 This is how large the fungus on the trail is. Some larger !

 Our Star find on this trail was the Impressed Tortoise, found only on Frasers and Maxwell. I must say, we were certainly blessed and fortunate to find such a star find!! woo hoo!!! This fella was aggressive and crawls pretty quickly!

Another reason why we love Frasers..beautiful caterpillars.

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So go trek Frasers. Remember, nature has full of surprises in store. We never see the same things twice, but we discover new things each time we trek. Some tips when trekking.

1.Wear long pants and long sleeved shirt. I say this, because twice I've been stung by some unidentifiable insect leaving a horrible itch for weeks!

2. Use mozzi guard, it will help to keep most leeches away.

3. Trek silently, keep alert. Beautiful things don't always appear right in front of you, they may be beneath logs, on trees, under bushes anywhere! I always tell my children to be on the look out, and many of the things you see here were spotted by my children.

4. Breath deep and relax. Don't be anxious or in a hurry. If you're constantly worried about falling down, and avoiding this and that, chances are you will not enjoy your trek, and neither will you see much.

5. Listen for sounds and the rustling of leaves. We spotted several interesting bird species, insects and chipmunks because of this.

6. Bring lots of water and energy boosting snacks for your children. Don't forget the binoculars and camera. Enjoy! :)

@All photos copyright of Martha@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com

This Post is linked at Happiness Is