The Pinnacles

I’ve been fretting about whether I’ll be able to do the Pinnacles trek ever since we signed up for it a couple of weeks ago.  But, initially at least, it turns out to be easier than I was anticipating.  It is billed as a 3 day-2 night trek, but it really isn’t.  On days 1 and 3 you just need to get yourself to / from Mulu Park HQ and Camp 5, the base camp for the ascent of the Pinnacles.  This is just an hour in a boat and then a flat 9k walk, which takes about 2 1/2 hours.  Not even half a day’s trek.  So far, so good – but that’s only because all the hard work is squeezed into day 2.

On day 1 we meet up with Yong and Yao, two Malaysian guys who make up the rest of our group.  After the boat and hike, we arrive at Camp 5 at about 5pm.  We have to carry in all our food for three days, so we’re rather weighed down, but otherwise it’s been an easy walk.  We cook our dinner in the camp kitchen.  It’s meant to be self-catering but we obviously look so helpless that the camp staff get involved and basically cook our dinner for us.  After dinner we meet our guide John and he gives us a briefing.  He absolutely terrifies us: “Don’t push yourself.  If you push yourself on the Pinnacles, you die on the Pinnacles.” 

Mr Beet basically wants to quit now without even starting the climb.  I persuade him to give it a try and to turn back if he feels he has to.  He agrees, but is not feeling at all happy about it.

After a surprising restful night’s sleep on a foam mattress, we getup at 5am to eat as substantial a breakfast as we think we can keep down.  We leave as soon as it is light enough to manage without torches; 6.30am.  Time is a factor as if you aren’t quick enough your guide will make you turn back, or else you will run out of daylight.  John tells us that the first milestone is the 900m mark, which he wants us to reach within 45 minutes to an hour.

Off we go, mine and Mr Beet’s hearts are already pounding and our legs are already like jelly before we’ve even begun.  After 200m straight-forward walking, the gradient steepens sharply.  There’s a rope section to haul yourself up initially and then it’s hand-and-feet scrambling all the way.

We reach the 900m mark ahead of schedule and have a breather.  Since our pace is good, we will have a break every 300m from now on.  We get into a rhythm, and with the regular breaks for water (and maybe a cheeky Percy Pig), I am starting to feel some confidence that this might be doable after all.

At about 1900m John signals us to be quiet – he’s spotted something. It’s two wild boar and their litter of stripy piglets (boarlets?).  The mummy boar soon spots us and starts noisily crashing through the jungle – not exactly at us, but certainly more towards us than away from us.  We think she’s trying to frighten us away from her babies and she’s succeeding.  We all hurry to scramble a bit further up and out of her way.  John laughs at us, but admits that they can be quite dangerous when they are protecting their young.  For someone who practically learned to read with Asterix books, seeing (and being chased by) wild boar is a real thrill.

2000m is the point where you must turn back if you have not been quick enough, but we are well within time.  This is where it starts to get interesting.  The last 400m is the climbing section and there are ladders, metal footholds and ropes to help you ascend.  This bit is enormous fun.  It took us about an hour from here to reach the summit.

The view over the Pinnacles is pretty good, but if was just at the side of the road you probably wouldn’t even stop for a photo.  It’s the challenge of the climb that makes the view worthwhile.  After taking our snaps, we sit down to our lunch.  We soon become aware of rustling in the bushes all around us, then we start catching glimpses of furry movement out of the corner of our eyes.  There’s a family of shrew-like squirrels living up here and their staple diet is titbits left by climbers.  They have got very bold and are soon coming right up to us to beg for food.

A camera shy squirrel exits stage right.

Two squirrels bribed with peanuts to stay in shot.

After eating our lunches and playing with the squirrels, it’s time to descend.  The climbing section is just as much fun on the way down.  But the walking section from 2000m down is tough.  It is very slippery and you need to be very cautious so progress is painfully slow and, after a couple of hours, painfully painful on the quads and glutes.  We arrive back at camp by 4pm and head straight to the river to soak our weary legs.  After wolfing some cold rice and curry, I am in bed by 6.45pm.

We wake up early the next morning to pack up and hike out to the boat waiting to take us back to Park HQ.  On our arrival, Mr Beet tries to help my aching legs by massaging them.  But even the gentlest pressure on my quads makes me feel like I want to throw up.  Two days later, I am still hobbling and sore, quads and bum mainly.  It even hurts to sleep.  When I roll over in the night, I am woken up sharply by my entire body complaining about it.  I get a kind of masochistic pleasure from feeling like this though -  it’s the feeling of a job well done!

Some more pictures of our climb are on Mr Beet’s flickr page, and if you are thinking about doing the trek yourself then check out my tips.

---