Mountain Climbing in Khao Sok National Park

Nathan and I had been in contact for quite some time. He was finishing up his MBA at the University of South Carolina and said he was is need of a break. He had been living and studying in Tokyo and he wanted the complete opposite of that. “The more remote the better”, he said. Another father and son team from the UK wanted to visit Khao Sok during the same timeframe. Richard (dad) teaches medicine at a university in Plymouth, England. Tim (Son) is a medical student in a university in Cardiff. As it turns out, these guys were very fit and more than capable of accomplishing virtually any physical challenge laid before them. The program was set. We would give a few mountains our best shot.

Our first day of climbing found us scrambling more than climbing. We ventured up a creek where I’ve seen plenty of wildlife in the past. One of my favorite encounters was a group of wild pigs. On that occasion, we were able to sneak up very close to the pigs via our silent kayaks. Anyway, we were on foot this time.

We had paddled over from the bungalows, carrying our shoes in our boats. Nathan started trying to find a place to sit down and put his shoes on. He wanted a dry place. I giggled a bit, while putting my shoes on in the water. He wanted to keep his shoes dry. That lasted about one minute.

Aew, my guide, lead the way along with Tim. Aew wielded a Thai jungle knife. This is a curved blade mounted upon a one-meter stick. It allows the user to generate a lot of momentum before contact. Tim used my machete. Our first slight obstacle, as expected, was a bit of large diameter bamboo. Aew would whack big sections out and throw them in the creek. They would rebound off of us before settling downstream.

Nearly every rock in the creek was slippery. I commented early on to Richard that, “you can’t fall down if you’re already down.” Meaning, when it gets real slippery, get down or even sit down when moving. Being 6’ 5” tall, I’ve learned this valuable lesson before.

The jungle was thick and lush. The creek provided us with a relatively easy path up the valley.

We slipped up to our first waterfall. It was very pretty. Tim, Richard and Nathan immediately scurried up it. Tim found a way to slide down, so dad, Tim and Nathan took turns sliding. I knew then that I was in the midst of like-minded individuals. We carried on.

The creek turned out to consist of relatively flat stretches interspersed with lovely waterfalls. We found a waterfall with a shallow opening behind the water, allowing us to swim behind.

The next waterfall proved to be a bit more difficult. The slick rock provided no foot holds nor hand holds. Luckily, a piece of bamboo lay just in the right place to use as a substitute for rope. We muscled our way up. The second tier of this tall falls required rope. I had brought some, so Tim the athlete scrambled up without rope and set one end around a tree.

Further up, we came to a confluence. Having no real idea where we actually were in relation to the mountains that we saw from the water as we approached the creek (paddling), we pondered. “Does the creek coming from the left come down from the tall cliff-riddled mountain?” “Where does the right branch go?” Perhaps there’s a passage through the mountain range. What lies on the other side? We don’t know as we had to turn back. The day didn’t provide us with enough time to see the conclusion.

This is certainly a creek we will do again during the dry season. There were many close-calls on our only day on this creek. But the slippery rocks won’t be an issue during the dry season. They’ll be dry.

The next climb we did was on ‘Will Hill’. Aew and I had done this mountain back in January during the dry season. It took us two days to figure out how to reach the top. It was not too difficult, though there were some tricky rocks to travel across. Some of the rocks near the top were loose and/or crumbly. No one should ever venture near the edge.

August can be pretty wet. On the day that we picked to go for a summit attempt on Will Hill, the Water Gods chose to give us liberal bursts of cooling liquid sunshine. This treat however came at a price. The ground was very slippery indeed. This also made some of the short vertical sections of rock even trickier. With clay-caked shoes we wiggled into rock formations grasping for whatever peck of a hold we could find.

By the time we got to the top, we all had scratches on our hands, arms and legs… well, Aew didn’t and I only had a couple small ones. Aew and I have paid our dues on previous climbs.

It seemed as we neared the top, that there were strategically placed small palm trees just where we wanted them. But no, these had short thorns. It didn’t matter, as the summit was visible by then. We slithered on up.

Aew and Tim had gotten ahead of the Richard, Nathan and I. The excitement grew with every step. The breeze picked up a bit. We had arrived!

The view from the top was breath-taking and almost surreal. We had succeeded in climbing a tall mountain in the off-and-on rain in the middle of the most stunningly beautiful jungles in all of SE Asia!! What a feeling.

We had lunch and watched a rainbow for desert. An orchid was in bloom on the very apex of the rocky top outcropping. I’ve seen this orchid species all over Southern Thailand and this was the first time I ever saw it in bloom. It was incredible and completely different from what I was expecting. Oddly, this orchid isn’t in any of my orchid books. I wonder why. Maybe it isn't an orchid. Out of a large yellow bulb shot a thick stem with several orange flower petals.

Just down from that, I spotted a small fragile plant with one of the most attractive diminutive white flowers I’ve ever seem.

Something about this flower touched me. One of us had accidentally stepped on the plant. I propped it back up with a small rock. The injuries looked non-fatal. The whiteness of the flower’s petals mesmerized me momentarily. Dainty best described it.

We had a bit of fun trying to get back down. Sometimes down-climbing can be awkward as foot placement is somewhat blind at times. Being very tall, I find down-climbing fairly easy. Once we got off of the top region, we encountered a really fun stretch of turf. We had climbed up a different way from where we climbed down.

The route down was primarily clay… wet clay. If it wasn’t for trees of all sizes, we’d have had a wild time trying to get down. As it was, we could be in a sort of controlled chaotic state as we dove at trees. “Keep your weight over your skis”, I remember yelling as someone who took a runner… probably Nathan. He was having a bad shin day. His shins looked battered as he had had some kind of strange conflict with his limestone adversary. All of us left skid marks on the soil. That often proved to be the safest way down the very steep decline.

The following day we spent licking our wounds. None of us were game for another summit attempt, so we had a motorboat tow our kayak to a very remote part of the park. We were actually outside of Khao Sok National Park and in a wildlife sanctuary called Klong Saeng. I had paddled quite a bit of this area, but there were still some parts that deserved exploring.

Shortly after starting, we came upon a Wallace’s Hawk-eagle dismantling another bird. It stood proudly on top of a dead tree. The prey had blue legs, but that was all we could see. It was big though. The raptor repeatedly grabbed clumps of feathers in preparation for its meal. We got closer. It didn’t seem to mind us. We probably spent fifteen minutes watching the event. It’s not something you see every day, even in Khao Sok. However, we have seen this sort of thing before. We’ve even seen the capture a few times.

Gary, a South African living in Qatar, joined the group the next day. Gary was a front-liner rugby player. He was huge. I can only imagine what it must be like trying to tackle this mammoth of a man. Though built like a brute, Gary was easy-going and very friendly. We chatted about the climbing we’d done and he said he was definitely game to give a go.

I’ve had my eyes on a couple of gentle slopes that I felt would offer a glimpse into the most mountainous part of the park. I dreamed of looking over the edge and seeing a hidden lake or lagoon. I know that there has to be one in there... if not a lake, then a hidden valley or bowl. We approached the mountains by motorboat. I made a last-minute change. I saw a cliff that looked like it lead to a perfect spot for seeing over the edge. Looking at the angle of incline, I thought, “this is nothing. We’ve already done steeper than that.” The cliffs would guide us to a split between this cliff and the next range. Here was our opportunity. If things worked as hoped, we’d be on top shortly and looking over into the promised land.

We set off with Aew in the lead. The first bit required some clearing. Aew made a wide path for us with his jungle knife. As soon as we got through the outer fringing undergrowth, the jungle opened up a bit. With just a little bit of struggle, we pushed onward. We reached the cliffs in no time. From here, it’s just a walk up.

The cliffs provided shade and something we hadn’t experienced to this point—dry soil. The walking was fun and easy. A troop of Dusky Langurs saw us and started running up the cliff to get a bit of distance between us and them. Nathan managed to get some nice photos of the Langurs. At one point, a huge langur leapt across the rock face. What grace. It looked effortless and probably was. Our jaws dropped as we watched the troop move up the cliff.

Along the way we got brief peeks at the reservoir. Gauging our height was easy. We steadily climbed on. It was easier going than our previous climbs.

The summit approach was exciting. Summits are always exciting. The first time is always the best though.

The foliage at the top was different. There were some lovely big blue flowers nestled in many of the rock cracks. Trees gave us the support needed to climb safely.

Once on top, the cameras came out. Dozens of shots ensued. We first looked out over the reservoir, but almost immediately started moving toward the uncharted area. Finally, I would see that which I has fantasized over for so long.

My dream became a reality. From what we could see, there is a massive area of unexplored terrain… a hidden bowl of uncharted jungle. It covered a very large area as well. It was closed off from the rest of the world by steep cliffs and rugged mountains. Surely there must be animals and plants in here that are unique. The inaccessibility of the region makes it distinctive. Perhaps a tiger rules the region. The area looked large enough to give refuge to such an animal. Primary jungle is a certainty. No one with a chainsaw would go to the trouble of climbing into this bowl.

I will go in at some point in the near future. It’s going to be tough, but certainly worth the effort.

We are devoted explorers and we will find a way into the hidden bowl. You have the opportunity to do some primary exploring with us. If the thought of treading where no one else has ever walked before excites you, drop us a line.

Click here to see a photo gallery from this exploratory.