Climbing the Pinnacles

Thursday 14 August 2008

Camp 5 to Pinnacles to Camp 5

A really tough,hard climb but some flowers made the effort somewhat worthwhile.

Up today early, at 06h00 and breakfast at 06h30. Again the food was nothing to write home about: either scrambled or fried eggs, baked beans and toast. After that exciting repast, we set off for the limestone Pinnacles. Today’s hike was the first part of the tour that came into the ‘challenging’ category and the climb up the Gunung Api turned out to be indeed extremely challenging… not for the faint-hearted or the unfit I can assure you.

As you leave Camp 5, the track is level for only about 400m. Then comes the fun part -the track goes straight up! I kid you not. The people of Borneo have not yet learnt that it is much easier to zigzag up a slope rather than look up to the top and head straight up. We climbed 1,200m in height straight up. The actual track covered just on 2km. It was 32 degrees Celsius with a RH of 95%+. The sweat just poured out of me… and out of everyone else. The climb takes 3-4 hours and there are no views to enjoy along the way as there is 100% canopy cover. And because of this dense cover there is not the zephyr of a breeze to make the climb a little more bearable. I can categorically say, it is the hardest physical thing I have ever done in my entire life. I have walked hundreds of kilometres in the Himalaya, but none of that has anything on the Pinnacles. I’m sure this is mainly because the steepness of the climb and the temperature and humidity. In the Himalaya, the locals zigzag on slopes making the effective climb not so steep and the growth is not so dense so there are spectacular views to take your mind off the agony …and there’s always a breeze to cool the over-heated body.

Yes this climb was really tough and, had it not been for my thrice-weekly visits to the gym for circuit classes, I would never have made it to the top. I might say, it appeared to be just as hard for the 20-something year old backpackers as well, so I feel I did quite well to accomplish what I did. Walking in rough limestone is rather hazardous as there are many sharp spikes to dig into hands and ankles and sharp edges to cut the skin. Believe it or not, it came as a relief when I got to the last 400m of climb to find fixed ladders and ropes to help the weary climber. These aids afforded some relief for the legs as you could use your arms as well as legs to haul the exhausted body upwards. Even so, it took me 45 minutes to climb those last 400m.

Once on top at the Viewpoint, there is not much room to get a foothold amongst the jagged bits of limestone and barely room to set up my tripod. Yes, I had carried my video camera AND tripod all the way up! And having done that, I was rather disappointed with the view of the Pinnacles. They were spectacular but maybe in my old age, I expected more for the effort – more bang for the buck! Sure, these deeply eroded and fragmented limestone karsts soared upwards for many tens of metres but many of them were covered with jungle growth and partly hidden. I would find it hard to enthusiastically encourage others to go to all that effort for the reward gained. And I still had to go down!

We’d been given a packed lunch to cart to the top and by this time I felt hungry. But that hunger disappeared rapidly when I opened the box. Lunch consisted of a dried piece of bread that had been made into a dry sandwich with the merest hint of cheese and some sort of sliced meat, a small packet that contained four dry biscuits, an apple, and two individual serve packets of a peanut bar coated in chocolate. The sandwiches were beyond eating; the dry biscuits, too dry; the fruit was OK and, of course, the chocolate made the peanut bar even more attractive. Anyway, I think I was too exhausted to take much interest in food. I left the top at about 11h45 and headed down.

Climbing up was hard but the possibility of falling far was not a real worry as all you could do was fall forward. But going down was a totally different story. Falling forward on the way down could result in quite serious injury and potentially the rearrangment of one’s face. And, being tired, exhausted and with every muscle aching, the possibility of putting a foot wrong was increased. You had to know not only where the next foot was going to be placed but the couple after that one as well, just in case you did loose your balance or go over on an ankle. The effort going down was as great, if not greater, than going up. I got puffed going down! The perspiration could be wrung out of my tee shirt in streams. At the 900m level from the bottom, thankfully, there were some bottles of water left by our guide Ricky. I’d taken 1.5 litres with me and was pacing my intake accordingly but to have an extra 600ml was wonderful. Down in one draught it went. When I finally arrived back at Camp 5 at 14h15, I was totally, absolutely, buggered. I lay flat on my back for 30 minutes catching my breath and wondering just why I had put my precious body to such a test – I must be stupid! Yes, I hear you say!

I had drunk 2.6 litres of water on the climb and had 3 large pannikins of water and one of coffee on my return and still I didn’t need to go to the loo for some hours. Somehow I found the strength to drag myself to the river, all of about 15m, for a soak in its soothing waters. While there, I washed out my soaking wet tee shirt and socks, knowing full well that they would not dry overnight… but what the heck, they’d be wet with sweat within minutes of putting them on again tomorrow morning anyway.

Now, after all those grumbles, you could be forgiven for thinking that there were no rewards for the day. But, no, there were some rewards for all the effort. There were some flowering plants to enjoy – begonias and impatiens on the way up; and right on the top a Rhododendron in bud; and a couple of pitcher plants that would have been at their best a week before I saw them. And on the way down, I spotted a Columnea in flower I had missed on the way up. There was no wildlife anywhere that I saw. The jungle was generally very quiet. Of particular note was the lack of litter anywhere on the track and this has been the case throughout Sarawak.

And for once, I didn’t have much video to review at the end of the day. Even coming down I hardly took any film, although I had my camera and tripod with me. The effort required to swing my backpack off my shoulders and set up the whole thing was more than my exhausted body, and mind, could come to terms with. Not like me I know!

Dinner was served a bit before 18h00 as a large group was expected back from the Iban longhouse (where we go tomorrow). I thought that after such strenuous exercise, I would have been ravenous, but fatigue obviously took precedence. I couldn’t eat much of the proffered rice with mixed vegetables, egg plant and a rendang beef curry, I was just too exhausted. The whole of our group, except the afore mentioned Frau G, felt the same way. Frau G ate heartily as she had only made it to the 900m level before she returned to the camp, taking our guide with her. I was tired enough and it was dark enough to have gone to bed at 18h45, but you can’t go to bed that early, can you? If I did, what time would I wake? I decided to write to you instead about what has been a very challenging day. Please, please, please remind me to never, ever book on another tour that mentions the word ’challenging’ in its brochure. One really should have some respect for one’s body when you reach my age.