Mount Ophir, Johore
By G. H. Lowe.
Mount Ophir is the highest mountain in Southern Malaya ; it is situated about twenty miles south-west of Malacca in the Muar District of the State of Johore.
Why it is called Ophir no one seems to know. Possibly the Portuguese who arrived off this coast in the 15th century thought that they had at last found King Solomon’s mines, as gold used to be worked on the Malacca side of the mountain. Also there is a plain at the foot of the mountain called Paya Mas by the Malays, which means the Swamp of Gold.
Mount Ophir is an isolated group of hills composed of three granite ridges running in a north-west to south-east direction. The most easterly of these is called Gunong Besar, or big mountain, and ends at its southern extremity in a sudden rise of rock called Blading, after the sharp curved Arab knife, bladek. The central ridge has two main peaks and several smaller ones. The main peaks are called Muring and Gunong Ledang ; the latter is the highest point and is 4,180 feet above sea level. The western range is lower than the others and has no distinctive features.
Nearly the whole of the group is clothed from base to summit by dense jungle, and only on the upper slopes of the main ridge does the dark red granite show through in huge slabs, in places two to three hundred feet high. This main ridge is steep on both sides and seen end on from Muar has the appearance of a fine conical summit.
The mountain has been climbed on many occasions from the Malacca side, but it was not until Mr. A. C. Baker of the Scottish Mountaineering Club came to Muar as Assistant Adviser that any serious attempt was made from the Johore side.
The difficulties were not of the order of those experienced in more temperate climates. Before the mountain could be approached, a path had to be hacked through the tropical jungle of the foothills. When this was done and the lower part of the ridge was reached, a game trail was found running along the top, and this was followed along the gradual rise to a height of about three thousand feet.
There now seemed to be every prospect of a successful expedition. There was a cut path through the first thousand feet of dense jungle and a clear game trail through the more open hill forest for the next two thousand feet. After that the ground rose steeply, and through the trees the top of the ridge could be seen. But the big trees were replaced by a thick scrub with bushes and tall grass and there was no path.
During the dry season of 1928 Mr. Baker sent out a party of Malays to cut a path from this point onwards, and followed the next day with another party consisting of himself, Mr. G. Laub, Dr. R. Crawford, and Mr. Lilley, and without much difficulty reached the top of Muring. They thought they had reached the end of their labours but found that a gap in the ridge, full of dense scrub, separated them from the true summit. After some difficulty an easy path was discovered and shortly afterwards they were on the top, where they spent the night and descended next day by the Malacca side.
In February 1930 I had the pleasure of accompanying Mr. Baker on another ascent when a night was spent on Gunong Ledang, and I have been up twice since, at Easter 1931 and in November 1931. On both these latter occasions the party went up the Muar side and down the Malacca side in one day.
The ascent starts from Sagil village, whence an estate road is followed for some two miles. Here the cars have to be left with instructions to go round the foot of the mountain and wait at Relau Customs Station.
After a short distance through the rubber trees, the path enters the jungle and follows the very steep boulder-strewn valley of the Sungei Blemang. All around are the huge jungle trees and after the glare of the rubber estate the shade is very welcome. On the other hand no wind can reach one as the vegetation all round is so thick. The air is filled with a dull roar from the high waterfall of the Blemang where it plunges down from the upper slopes. Nowadays there is a much easier path a short distance to the left leading up to the upper valley, where it is proposed to make a reservoir to supply the Muar district with water.
This upper valley is flat and swampy and legions of leeches rise and make for the legs of the traveller. Their bite is not painful, thus if they are not noticed in time the bleeding may go on all day. However after about a quarter of a mile the path strikes off to the right and for the next hour and a half rises in easy stages along the ridge. Though there is still nothing to see but vegetation the trees gradually become smaller, and the undergrowth thins out as the height above the sea increases. At last a point is reached where the path rises very steeply and the vegetation changes suddenly to thick scrub, tangled grass, and small trees very similar to fir trees in their general appearance. The view is more open, and high above is the green cone of Muring, against a deep blue sky. Higher still, large moss-covered boulders make their appearance, and at one or two points it is possible to look back over the coastal plain of Johore to the sea.
From the top of Muring the final peak of Gunong Ledang can be seen about a quarter ot a mile away. Everything here is covered with yellow and green moss, and at one or two points the little fir trees are so covered with it that one walks along the narrow path in a sort of green twilight.
The intervening distance is soon crossed and the bare rock of the summit is reached. Thence is a most wonderful view on all sides on a clear day ; even the coast of Sumatra can be seen across the Straits of Malacca.
The way down the Malacca side is more interesting. It starts straight down the side ot the ridge and for about three hundred feet it is called the “ Ladder.” If it were not for the vegetation, this place would be very like the Iqdwal slabs in North Wales, but here every crack and crevice supports some sort of tree and the footholds are all tree roots. After the Ladder is passed there comes a small hill called Gunong Kedundong whence, looking back, is the only comprehensive view of the main ridge. The path now goes down to the Padang Batu, or the Field of Stone, once much bigger, but vegetation is rapidly covering it. This is an expanse of bare rock about a hundred feet across and sloping at about forty degrees with the horizontal. A broad crack gives an easy way for descent and from now onwards the way is a steady grind along jungle paths, often, alas, going up hill again,and always too steep for comfortable walking. On the way we pass over the lower shoulder of Gunong Besar and shortly afterwards arrive at the Relau Waterfall.
This is a good place to sit and eat the last biscuit and have the last drink and, if there is time, there is a small, deep pool in the rocks above the fall, big enough for a bathe. Between the solid walls of trees fringing both sides of the fall one looks out over Malacca territory to the hills beyond Tampin, and here and there the smoke from some hidden village or estate coolie-lines rises above the trees. That nearest smudge is from Relau, where the cars should be waiting, and if we do not wish to spend the night out in the jungle it is time to follow the path down through the darkening forest to the road and home.