Lata Hammer, the trail and waterfall

 

The trail is clear with waterpipe along the way

Once we crossed the bridge, the trail to Lata Hammer is quite straight forward. Going in, keep the river on your right and you will eventually come to the turn off (right). We ventured a bit more further up but after a while, the trail gets a bit too dense and we weren't really there to bushwhack. Its just a 2 days 1 night trip, so taking it easy is what we really wanted. 

Turn off to Lata Hammer

The marker to Lata. Some serious step descend here on

Getting down to the waterfall is in a lot of way tougher than the walk in. Turning right at the marker marks the steep descend to the river. It is very steep. We took our time, carefully placing each step and hand hold firmly before making the next move. With packs on our backs, taking a tumble here is catastrophic. There are few paths to take going down. There are also ropes strung from trees but best to not rely on the fully. God know who maintains the ropes and in our Malaysian weather, things rot really fast. Slow and steady as they say. 

Camping at Lata Hammer

Camping at Lata Hammer is a good idea...on weekdays

I would say that camping at Lata Hammer should only be attempted on weekdays. Unless of course you prefer to the crowd. Like a big crowd. Descending to the waterfall, I can see from a distance items that are not meant to be there. At first I thought someone is still camping by the beach but later we found what turned out to be all sort of items left behind by campers or picnickers. Such a shame that Malaysia has so many nice and beautiful nature sites like this but only to be marred by people with shallow moral and common sense. 

Right beside the sign!

There were piles and piles of rubbish everywhere. Gas canister bottles tops the list, followed by canned food and all sort of burnt plastic. A classic Malaysian campsite for you!

The campsite at Lata Hammer

One thing that was obvious at the campsite of Lata Hammer were the metal signages. Local government authorities put up signs on danger of drownings as well as the status of the jungle (protected). So, there is no land clearing or shopping down trees allowed. Really glad to see all the signs but that leaves us with very few good spots to set up our hammocks. Yes, all of us use hammocks. After scouting around, we were all spread around the area. No trees were harmed!

The only suitable spot I manage to find

Campsite at Lata Hammer is probably more suitable for tents or ground sleeping. But of course, with the caveat 'NOT on weekends'. If you had to come here for the weekend, best to make it a day trip. From the amount of charred ground and rubbish, there were many many people who camped here. I can only imagine this please like a pasar malam on weekend. 

How was Lata Hammer waterfall?

Lata Hammer waterfall...as beautiful as ever

Lata Hammer waterfall is as beautiful as the first time I saw it. Put aside all the trash people brought in and left behind, I would still rate this waterfall highly. But beauty has a price. Almost every year there will be a drowning casualty here. This is one of the few waterfalls that is known to claim lives. 

What to do when there is drowning

Like most Malaysians, I am hopeless at swimming. So, I kept my distance from getting too close to the waterfall. So much that I was at most ankle deep! This waterfall is known to take lives, I am here to chill with my friends and not planning to proof anything to anyone. JC and Paul too kept their distances from the deeper (dark color water) end of the waterfall. 

In Summary

Lata Hammer is a great place to hike in and out as a day trip on weekend. Camping may technically be 'illegal' in the sense you actually need to get permission from the Forestry Department. But naturally many still go ahead and camp. Overnight here is great but you would need to know what you are doing considering you are on the opposite side of the trail. If it rained and water swells, there is a high possibility you can't cross back to the other side. Which means you are stranded. This is probably the most challenging scenario for this campsite when it comes to aspects you can't control (nature). The rest is common sense, life jackets and ...not on weekends. Stick to these and you will be fine.