Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Hard trek up the Mulu Pinnacles

The spectacular landscape with the soaring Pinnacles
(New Straits Times file picture Copyright © NST)

IT was a beautiful morning. The sun was bright, the greenery looked fresh and the mountain peaks were covered by cotton-white mist.

But somehow this picture perfect landscape didn’t help ease our apprehension about climbing the razor-sharp Pinnacles that stood like needles on the slopes of Gunung Api within the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak.

Along the 40-minute upstream ride to Kuala Litut, from the national park headquarters, photographer Munira Abdul Ghani and I just couldn’t stop feeling nervous.

We were worried whether we were mentally prepared and had enough stamina to complete the arduous climb up the Pinnacles. The thought that we had not packed enough clothes and snacks for the three-day expedition also bothered us.

Gunung Mulu National Park is Sarawak’s largest park and is known for its vast biodiversity and limestone karsts and caves. The park usually attracts 20,000 visitors every year but the number went up to a record 24,000 last year.

Of this number, only about 250 guests a month check in at Camp 5, the base camp at the foot of Gunung Api. The mountain is located midway of the Kuala Litut-Kuala Terikan trek of Sarawak’s famous Head-Hunter Trail, stretching from the national park to Limbang.

Continue reading (incl. pics) at: Hard trek up the Mulu Pinnacles