.Disaster on the Waterfall Trail.
The plan was to leave at seven am and head for the Ginseng Camp. Then at a junction in the trails about a kilometre from the Ginseng Camp we would set down our rucksacks and carrying only a single day pack take the trail that led to the Maliau Falls, where we would rest and picnic before returning the same way to pick up our packs and make the final short trek to camp. That was the plan.
We did get up early but after coffee, packing and clearing up it was close to eight when we set off.
The trail was easy enough and led along a ridge through the montane forest that grows on poor soil, so there were few tall trees to be seen, though we did see many beautiful pitcher plants, some huge and some tiny. For a time we passed through mossy forest with surrounded by ferns and lichen and for a while we walked with high walls of pale moss on either side.In this forest the soil is so poor there are few fruiting trees and few large animal, though pitcher plants thrive.
I thought we reached the junction in reasonable time but when we set down our packs and Cowboy asked if we had torches 'just in case' I had some doubts.
Even without packs the Waterfall Trail was difficult, there was a lot of slippery mud, two streams to cross and some very steep descents by fixed ropes and ladders.
Finally we could hear the roar of water below us in the valley and we began the steepest descent of all
We were about half way down when Madison suddenly collapsed with heat exhaustion and after a short discussion Alice and I went on alone, leaving Madison with Cowboy and giving her time to rest and recover. At the time I don't think any of us knew how serious Madison's condition was. The Indonesian and Malay word for heat exhaustion is 'panas dalam', heat within, and I have had it once in Sulawesi while moving heavy logs in the midday sun. It is a curious feeling of being hotter inside than out, despite the scorching sun on your skin. You also very suddenly lose all energy and the slightest movement is a huge effort. There was no direct sunlight in the jungle but the heat and humidity were like being trapped in a sauna. We did try to urge Madison to make the last descent to the falls but she firmly refused and stretched out on a log to wait our return. It was just as well because the final few hundred feet were the steepest and most slippery of all.
The Maliau Falls are not high but they are broad and fall in a series of steps. Alice and I stood on the flat rocks above one of the waterfalls and marvelled. The current was too strong and dangerous to swim so instead I lay flat on a rock and plunged my head beneath the water, then filled my bottle.
A few minutes for photographs was all we got before we made our ascent.
We found Madison still lying on the log in a very bad way. Her body had lost temperature control and she was convinced that she was going to die. I was confident that we could cool her down by fanning her with Alice's bush hat and lots of cold water and rest, and I think Alice was too, but always there is that nagging doubt at the back of your mind. It started to get dark. Cowboy carried a shortwave radio and though it was clear we could not call for a helicopter rescue in such a spot we could radio for help from the Rangers who now were in Ginseng Camp with an Italian botanist and his girlfriend. Cowboy made the call.
The knowledge that help was coming gave Madison the strength she needed to get back on her feet and begin the climb up to the ridge. By now it was dark and we had to rely on our torches to pick out the trail. Sometime later we saw lights ahead and four rangers arrived. Together we climbed the ropes and ladders that helped us up the steepest part of the trail.Once or twice we stopped when the rangers spotted an unusual frog or snake, because new species are continually being discovered in Maliau they had to report all wildlife sightings back to the Field Station.Then it started to rain.The trail got horribly slippy and streams we had simply stepped over on the way to the falls we now had to wade across.Madison carried on valiantly and at last we came to the junction where we had left our now sodden packs.'Only 750 meters to camp.' we were told. But the last few miles always seemed to be 750 meters. By now I was very tired and just concentrated on putting one foot down after the other. The rain had been so heavy that I could not wear my glasses which made seeing the trail by dim touch light very difficult at times and once I stepped off into nothingness. Luckily I did not fall far and was easily able to scramble up to the trail again. On the steep slope down to a bridge, from which it was only a short climb to Ginseng Camp, I passed Alice sitting to one side of the track with a fixed grin on her face. This was unusual as she was the fittest of us three and rarely to a break. "Having a rest?' I muttered as I staggered past. She said nothing and just gazed at me with her frozen smil. The last few yards to camp were painfully slow but I made it and threw down my pack, a few moments later Madison arrived. 'Where's Alice?' I asked. "She fell and may have broken her ankle.' I realized that what I'd taken for a smile was in fact a fixed grimace of pain. I staggered to my feet and was about to go back down the track when Alice was helped into camp by the Rangers. She had crawled the last hundred yards. by that time we had been on the trail for over fourteen hours.
Luckily the girlfriend of the Italian botanist was a doctor, she examined Alice's ankle before bandaging it and said she thought it might be broken. Cowboy had already called the Field Station and arrangements were being made to fly Alice and Madison out. It looked as if I would be left to trek back to the Field centre with Cowboy.
The plan was to leave at seven am and head for the Ginseng Camp. Then at a junction in the trails about a kilometre from the Ginseng Camp we would set down our rucksacks and carrying only a single day pack take the trail that led to the Maliau Falls, where we would rest and picnic before returning the same way to pick up our packs and make the final short trek to camp. That was the plan.
We did get up early but after coffee, packing and clearing up it was close to eight when we set off.
The trail was easy enough and led along a ridge through the montane forest that grows on poor soil, so there were few tall trees to be seen, though we did see many beautiful pitcher plants, some huge and some tiny. For a time we passed through mossy forest with surrounded by ferns and lichen and for a while we walked with high walls of pale moss on either side.In this forest the soil is so poor there are few fruiting trees and few large animal, though pitcher plants thrive.
I thought we reached the junction in reasonable time but when we set down our packs and Cowboy asked if we had torches 'just in case' I had some doubts.
Even without packs the Waterfall Trail was difficult, there was a lot of slippery mud, two streams to cross and some very steep descents by fixed ropes and ladders.
Finally we could hear the roar of water below us in the valley and we began the steepest descent of all
We were about half way down when Madison suddenly collapsed with heat exhaustion and after a short discussion Alice and I went on alone, leaving Madison with Cowboy and giving her time to rest and recover. At the time I don't think any of us knew how serious Madison's condition was. The Indonesian and Malay word for heat exhaustion is 'panas dalam', heat within, and I have had it once in Sulawesi while moving heavy logs in the midday sun. It is a curious feeling of being hotter inside than out, despite the scorching sun on your skin. You also very suddenly lose all energy and the slightest movement is a huge effort. There was no direct sunlight in the jungle but the heat and humidity were like being trapped in a sauna. We did try to urge Madison to make the last descent to the falls but she firmly refused and stretched out on a log to wait our return. It was just as well because the final few hundred feet were the steepest and most slippery of all.
The Maliau Falls are not high but they are broad and fall in a series of steps. Alice and I stood on the flat rocks above one of the waterfalls and marvelled. The current was too strong and dangerous to swim so instead I lay flat on a rock and plunged my head beneath the water, then filled my bottle.
A few minutes for photographs was all we got before we made our ascent.
We found Madison still lying on the log in a very bad way. Her body had lost temperature control and she was convinced that she was going to die. I was confident that we could cool her down by fanning her with Alice's bush hat and lots of cold water and rest, and I think Alice was too, but always there is that nagging doubt at the back of your mind. It started to get dark. Cowboy carried a shortwave radio and though it was clear we could not call for a helicopter rescue in such a spot we could radio for help from the Rangers who now were in Ginseng Camp with an Italian botanist and his girlfriend. Cowboy made the call.
The knowledge that help was coming gave Madison the strength she needed to get back on her feet and begin the climb up to the ridge. By now it was dark and we had to rely on our torches to pick out the trail. Sometime later we saw lights ahead and four rangers arrived. Together we climbed the ropes and ladders that helped us up the steepest part of the trail.Once or twice we stopped when the rangers spotted an unusual frog or snake, because new species are continually being discovered in Maliau they had to report all wildlife sightings back to the Field Station.Then it started to rain.The trail got horribly slippy and streams we had simply stepped over on the way to the falls we now had to wade across.Madison carried on valiantly and at last we came to the junction where we had left our now sodden packs.'Only 750 meters to camp.' we were told. But the last few miles always seemed to be 750 meters. By now I was very tired and just concentrated on putting one foot down after the other. The rain had been so heavy that I could not wear my glasses which made seeing the trail by dim touch light very difficult at times and once I stepped off into nothingness. Luckily I did not fall far and was easily able to scramble up to the trail again. On the steep slope down to a bridge, from which it was only a short climb to Ginseng Camp, I passed Alice sitting to one side of the track with a fixed grin on her face. This was unusual as she was the fittest of us three and rarely to a break. "Having a rest?' I muttered as I staggered past. She said nothing and just gazed at me with her frozen smil. The last few yards to camp were painfully slow but I made it and threw down my pack, a few moments later Madison arrived. 'Where's Alice?' I asked. "She fell and may have broken her ankle.' I realized that what I'd taken for a smile was in fact a fixed grimace of pain. I staggered to my feet and was about to go back down the track when Alice was helped into camp by the Rangers. She had crawled the last hundred yards. by that time we had been on the trail for over fourteen hours.
Luckily the girlfriend of the Italian botanist was a doctor, she examined Alice's ankle before bandaging it and said she thought it might be broken. Cowboy had already called the Field Station and arrangements were being made to fly Alice and Madison out. It looked as if I would be left to trek back to the Field centre with Cowboy.