The Pinnacles - Susan sweat out twice her body weight

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Okay, so this trip is all about educational, life-changing experiences.  The Pinnacles hike was a big one of those.  Michelle found out that Susan can sweat more than an entire women's rugby team.  Also, more than any boy she's ever met.  Susan learned that once Michelle is frightened, she can flee a mountain faster than a "running horse" (Willie's words).

Michelle got up for breakfast pretty excited about the hike.  We'd been told by some that it was tough, and others (mostly male) implied that it was a piece of cake.  Either way, breathtaking views and a nice bit of exercise were enough to peel Michelle out of bed before six.  She decided to lead the intrepid crew as Willie pushed them out of Camp 5, promising that he could catch up (military time again).  The approach included a disturbing sign, and about 100 steps into the hike a quick scramble  with ropes through a tight crevasse was already on the menu.  Michelle basically continued undaunted for another 400 or so steps and promptly lost the trail.  True to his word, Willie caught up shortly after and herded us all back onto the right trail, rolling his eyes.  We had been flipped to the back of the group, and slowed down the pace cosiderably.  Peter and Edward (the English guys) sped ahead with Catherine (she's from Melbourne) and Darren (from New Zealand).  Their style reminded me a lot of Mhike's pace-setting style.  We comforted our overly competitive selves with the fact that all four had been living in the tropics longer than we had.  Susan's pants were wet with sweat approximately down to the knees at this point, evidence that we could definitely move faster with more acclimation time.

Willie quietly pressed us on from behind, somewhat exasperated with our tendency to plop down midstep and take water breaks.  He indicated a few times that we were on a time limit (we had to make the signboard by 11am), but we weren't too worried...and we were SOOOO thirsty!  He again just rolled his eyes at our hiking "style" and slowed down such that he could keep a continuous pace while we rushed ahead and stopped again.  After 3 hours of HARD scrambling, about 25% hands and feet climbing, 75% hard stepping up, we reached the signboard, and finally understood Willie's need to press us ahead.  If the signboard isn't reached by 11, it is impossible to get down before dark.  Willie later told Susan that people had died coming down in the dark, and he didn't really want that to happen to us.  You know, with our charming personalities and whatnot.  We love Willie.

After the sign, the climb got more fun.  All ropes, planks and ladders, it was pretty neat, a real climb.  The limestone handholds were well worn, if you grabbed the right ones, and the ladders and ropes were sturdily bolted in.  The only downside for Michelle at this point was that every time Susan took a step (in front of her) her pants DRIPPED sweat.  DRIPPED RIVERS PEOPLE.  Needless to say, a gap formed between us on the ladders.  Willie was a lot more impressed by our climbing style than our hiking, and we made it up to the peak around 11:30, fully 1 hour after the other crew.  

We passed them at the top, and took a 1/2 hour admiring the spectacular Pinnacles, the tree shrews, and the stream that Susan had created by sitting on a rock.  We heard Willie go off and start talking really loudly, and we were answering him...but something wasn't quite right...we turned a corner to find him booking his next tour on his mobile phone.  Unbelievable.  Best reception in Malaysia apparently.  He got us moving down after a quick lunch and photo session (Michelle fed the tree shrews a mango...they were totally tame anyway, so she didn't feel bad)

Michelle led the trio down, and at the first ladder perchanced to look down.  She panicked, realizing that a misstep could cause serious damage, and proceeded to move down the rest of the climb as "a running horse".  Only thinking one foothold ahead, what had taken an hour to come up took 22 minutes to come down.  Susan and Willie were nowhere to be seen, so she moved on ahead, trying to catch the first group.  Michelle's hike down proceeded at quite a pace, and is much less interesting than Susan and Willie's.

Susan's response to the frightening view from the top of the first ladder was to slow waaay down and plan each step as if her life depended on it..it kind of did.  Ever so slowly she climbed down the assortment of ropes and ladders, ensuring each foothold was secure before moving on.  The descent down the rest of the mountain was at a steady, but also slow pace.  Willie began telling Susan about all of the people who had been killed or maimed by hurrying down the mountain.  He even has had to carry a few people down the hill in the past.  This spurred Susan on to an even more careful walk.  Willie, recognizing her poor balance on the slippery rocks and roots, disappeared into the forest and reappeared moments later with a walking cane to help steady her.  Willie abruptly stopped, listened, and pointed up at a tall tree, where a group of maroon lagurs (red monkeys) were playing and jumping from tree to tree.  A few hundred meters later Susan reached for a handhold, and realized that a small snake had chosen the same spot for a rest.  Susan froze and called ahead to Willie.  "Is this poisonous?" she asked with fear in her voice.  Nah, Willie replied, he just eats insects!  Close one.

Michelle, who'd run out of water about 3/4 of the way down, was still scurrying quickly down.  Reaching the end, she spied water dripping out of the limestone...and licked some.  So, so sad.  She walked quickly back the remaining 500m and was so happy to see Camp 5, with its clean water, that she took a picture.  Then jumped straight into the river.  Aaaah.

Susan and Willie followed a bit later, and Willie went off to assemble another amazing dinner.  We imagine he had lots of energy after following us up and down...he once made the climb up in 1:55...the same climb that had taken us almost 4 hours!  We spent the evening comparing trek stories and feeling more like a real group after sharing the awesome experience.  The trek out and flight home the next day was relaxing and fun...a nice quiet way to spend an afternoon after trekking hard for two days with new friends.