Backpacking trip in Kalon Song Mao Nature Reserve

Last weekend, Lyriel and I and a couple friends (David and Roxanne) explored an area about 6 hours outside of Ho Chi Minh. There is some information floating around the internet about this area, but none in English that I know of. So I thought I'd share a trip report and the basic info others would need to go check it out. Enjoy! - Marshall

Overview

In between Da Lat and Mui Ne, there is a big chunk of mountainous land with very little development. On Google Maps it is called "Kalon Song Mao Nature Reserve." There are no roads connecting the southern part of the reserve (in Binh Thuan Province) to the northern part (in Lam Dong Province). But there are several trails which were probably built for logging originally. The trails stick to ridge lines, which have been cleared of trees and allowed to grow in with grass, leaving incredible views along most of the way. Fortunately, the loggers did not venture from from the ridge lines (probably due to extremely steep slopes), so most of the jungle is intact.

The most popular hiking option is one-way, which requires arranging transportation to the northern or southern trailhead and a pick up at the other end. Both ends are pretty remote and it is a 3+ hour drive between them. Our original plan was to leave our car in the south and arrange transport to the north, but I'm glad we ditched this in favor of a simple out-and-back starting from the south. We hiked 23.5km one way, so 47km total.

Getting there

We left Ho Chi Minh after work on Friday, and after a dinner stop, pulled over near Mui Ne about 10pm to camp on the beach. Lyriel's backpack was stolen from right next to her while we slept. The next day day we bought a new backpack and drove ~2 hours to our starting point at the base of a dam. The road getting there was mostly paved and any car will do. The first few kilometers of the hike is on a dirt road which I would not recommend driving unless you have a tank, but would be fine for scooters if you want to save time.

The road north of Mui Ne is in great shape and goes through huge dunes

Heading north towards the dam & starting point

Road quality is not great but you'll survive

You'll pass this reservoir on your way to a second reservoir where the trail starts

The trail, part I: flats

The first 9km are flat and easy*. You start on a very exposed dirt road, then turn left onto a motorbike path which takes you through forest with light underbrush. There are black boulders scattered around the forest floor, some of which might be geodes (I found a small broken one with partially formed crystals inside). They contrast with the neon green, Dr-Seuss-inspired vegetation. Look out for millions of caterpillars which hover above the trail and drop directly into your ears when you walk by. There are also cicadas here - the two-inch long flying bugs which make outrageously loud noises constantly for no reason. I've noticed there don't seem to be many mammals left in Vietnam, but they sure have a lot of bugs. Yum!

We crossed many dry stream beds and one flowing stream. I found out later that one of the "dry" ones was the same as the "wet" one, and the wet part was upstream... nature is wack. Anyway, this was one of only two places we found water on the whole trip. The next chance to fill up is 14.5 km and 1,000 meters of sun-baked, 90-degree (F) climbing later. Chug a lug! Bring lots of water containers.

This lower portion was the most difficult for navigation. The trails are very well defined, there are just too many of them weaving around the forest floor and splitting off. It's tough to spot surrounding peaks through the canopy, so you will probably rely on GPS here (see my KMZ download at end of this post). Several trails converge at the water source, and from that point on you will stay on the obvious and deeply rutted main trail up to the peaks.

*There is one .5km section with sustained 20% slope, but you'll forget about that later in the trip.

Me, Lyriel, Roxanne and David at the start of the hike

Big old trees along the starting dirt road

Most of the flat section looks like this

If we had not found this stream, it would have been a short trip

The trail, part II: climbing

The pleasant hike came to an abrupt halt as we started climbing the first big hill. It was getting dark and starting to thunderstorm, so we charged up the 800m, sustained 14% grade hill just in time to get poured on as we set up tents at the top. Then we realized our lighter was in Lyriel's stolen bag, ate cold couscous, and got attacked by bees for 14 consecutive hours. But the view the next morning was fantastic!

View from Peak #1. The previous night, we were pleasantly surprised as we were not hit by lightning and our tent floor turned into a luxurious water bed. If the floor's a-sloshin', don't come a-knockin'.

The trail, part III: ridge lines

After the first hill, the trail simply connects the dots between bald peaks to the northwest, each spaced a few km apart and increasing gradually in height until a final crest after which thru-hikers would descend to the northern access point. Unfortunately, there is a big drop between each peak, so the climbing adds up quickly. So does the descending, which ended up taking out David and Lyriel's knees on the second day. David and Roxanne stayed at Peak 4 while Lyriel and I continued toward our goal for the day, a gorge I'd spotted on Google Earth which looked like it had waterfall and swimming potential. We took the empty water containers with us, and planned to fill them and return to camp at Peak 4 that night.

Approaching Peak 2 from the south

Looking north from Peak 2. The trail winds along to Peak 4 (mid range). The furthest ridge line on the horizon is just after Peak 6.

Steep portions of trail are deeply rutted due to motorbikes and rain

Lyriel at the top of Peak 6, 1,100m

Panorama from near Peak 6

The trail, part IV: river

Peak #6, 19km from the trailhead, was our high point at 1,100 meters. Here we turned east to follow another ridge dropping 500m to the river. This included the steepest sections, including a final kilometer with average 35% grade, and was too much for Lyriel's knee which has had problems since our hike in Taiwan. She turned around early while I continued to refill water.

I realized as soon as we started this descent that my mysterious gorge was actually a major tourist attraction, since every Vietnamese tourist and their mother, and their mother's donkey and custom hillclimb scooter, had turned off the main trail onto the same offshoot. So, the scene at the river was not pristine (there were 40 people there when I arrived and close to 100 when I left), but I was able to find a great place to swim and get upriver of the crowd to refill water. The trail intersected the river a bit upstream of where I think the biggest pools and waterfalls are, and I didn't take the time to explore further. At this time of year, the river was easy to wade through and there is probably a lot more to see around here.

Landslide on the descent to the river

Custom motorbikes crawling up the 35% grade near the river

The river

The river scene. I traded some chocolate for Tet cake with the guys in the foreground.

Filtering water upstream of the donkeys

Wood blocks over the rear wheel help it bite into the mud. The block extending over the front wheel keeps it from flipping backward. The fork is custom made entirely from rebar. The gas tank is plastic bottle with a hose glued to the bottom. The tire chains are made from short sections of motorbike chain. The engine sprocket is ridiculously small, and the rear sprocket is huge. I saw these bikes climbing up ruts that were deep enough to fit 2 motorbikes vertically, and carry piles of tourists' bags tall enough to stick out of those ruts. I am both impressed and totally perplexed.

The trail, part V: return

I got back to Peak 4 with plenty of daylight left, and we moved to Peak 2 to camp. Peak 2 is not as spacious as 4, but has a great view and seems less popular with the large tour groups. There were a couple big pits carved into the hillside, so we made a fire in one and enjoyed our second night on the trail. Sadly, the fire went out before we could cook the ziplock bag of dried (but somehow still very wet?) fish that a very nice Vietnamese girl had given us at Peak 4.

The next day we hiked out the way we came in. The only thing of note was that we all got terribly sunburnt on the final fireroad stretch, and the descent took at least as long as the climb due to worn out joints and muscles, and whispers of mutiny. We jumped in the ocean on our way back to Ho Chi Minh and all was well.

Campsite on Peak 2

Sunrise on the last day

Dragonfruit farms on the way out

Maps & other info

• Maps
• This website has American color topo maps from the war, and is the best resource I've found for topos so far in Vietnam. But they can be difficult to print on a black and white printer. Remember they are from 1965 and some things have changed... such as, building a dam/reservoir. The two you need for this trip are Hai Ninh and Ma Noi.
• I just discovered this site and a quick test shows they can give you free black and white contour maps of anywhere in Vietnam. Not sure if the resolution is as good as above site, but worth checking out.
• Download KMZ (Google Earth) file with GPS tracks
• Permits - none needed as far as I could tell. But the guy at the entrance gate was asleep.
• Crowds - We did this hike on possibly the busiest weekend of the year (Independence Day weekend). There were more people than we expected but totally manageable - do not be deterred.
• Mountain biking - There is excellent MTB and bike packing potential in this area. The ridge line trails would be horrendous to climb, but the area around the reservoir is full of fun looking single track. The trail from Peak 1 down to the valley would be incredible on a full suspension bike.