The Journey of Bukit Kutu Trek

I happen to stumble upon photos of Bukit Kutu and got very motivated to hike there due to the summit – panoramic views of clouds, valley and mountains. Coming from Singapore where there is only Bukit Timah Hill as the highest natural peak with mediocre view, the Bukit Kutu trek looks and sounds like a wonderland.

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Bukit Kutu View

 

And i was almost fooled. Upon further research, i realised that this “Bukit” (hill) is actually 1,053 meters tall and therefore by my standards should have been classified as a “Gunung” (mountain). Furthermore, one is to expect a tough climb of about 7 to 8 hours. Approximately four hours going up and about three hours coming down the mountain.  I thank myself for doing the research and not under estimating the climb to be a walk in the park. 

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Bukit Kutu Climb Elevation

 

Bukit Kutu is located at Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB) which is a small town within Selangor. I would think that tourism in KKB town is practically zero as the town is not known to many people including some Malaysians whom i spoke to. With such poor popularity, the public transportation services in KKB is almost non-existent. It therefore makes sense to actually drive to KKB which is what we decided to do.

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Our Rental Car

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Signing my life away for the car

 

I love hiking and to hike for 6-7 hours is of no big issue to me. However, I don’t feel the same for driving. The journey from JB to Bukit Kutu is about 450km and estimated to take 5-6 hours in good traffic conditions. With only a couple hours of sleep, we started the drive at night in order to reach the trailhead in the morning which makes the travelling a tiring and agonising journey. 

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Morning View From The Car

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Breakfast before climb

 

We made a few wrong turns a couple of times before reaching Bukit Kutu which delayed our itinerary by about an hour. When we begin hiking at 10am, there were at least another 30 cars parked at or around the trailhead. It surprised me that the mountain is so popular on the weekends despite it’s difficulty. Perhaps, the only tourism for KKB are hikers going to Bukit Kutu. 

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Start Hiking…

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River Crossing

 

After a few river crossings, the actual climb begins, which is basically steep ascent for the next 1.5 hours. I was constantly out of breath, sweating and breathing heavily. When the going gets tough, my mind started wondering why i didn’t prioritise training before the trip. I remembered casually asking my friends the week before if it is a good idea to do some form of training. Of which, we said “YES!” but did not find time to do so. Oh well, guess we can only blame ourselves for being lazy.

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I Love Bukit Kutu

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Steep Ascend

 

The steep climb tapered off into a more gradual climb after we crossed the half way mark – checkpoint “C4” which is a very very tall stone wall. From here, we were able to climb a bit faster and managed to complete the Bukit Kutu trek in about 3 hours. Slightly faster than what we had initially expected. 

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Suitable camping area

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Nearing Summit

 

I always love hikes with great view. It is the best kind of reward to get after a hard climb. 

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Summit

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The first 2 flight of 4 ladders to the summit boulder

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Summit View 1

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Summit View 2

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Summit View 3

 

 

Watch our Bukit Kutu Hiking Movie below or on Youtube.

 

Posted in Hiking Location, Hiking Stories.

2 Comments

  1. Hi Buddy, nice review on Bukit Kutu. Would suggest you guys try Gunung Datuk in Rembau Negeri Sembilan (nearer to SG) for another awesome view (2070 ft)

    We did it yesterday and it was awesome !

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