Deep Survival in the Khao Sok Rainforest, Part I: Frolicking on Karsts

Let me begin by promoting my father's personal bible, a book by Lawrence Gonzalez entitled "Deep Survival".  In a nutshell, an extreme adventure journalist with a neuroscience education tackles how people get into "survival" situations, and then how (or if) they get out alive.  It is fascinating and thought-provoking,  most especially for anyone who has spent time in the backcountry.  It is not a book about people building shelters and finding water.  No, it is about understanding why smart people do stupid things.

Now then, in a flagrant non-sequiter, I'm going to tell a short story about a short hike that I took in mid-March in Khao Sok National Park, Thailand.  My girlfriend and I were part of a group of six.  The instigator of the hike was Boone, a charismatic California Buddhist with a mission to change the world. There was also Reinhold, a German ex-pat who owned property bordering the Park which would serve as our trail head.  And finally there were Jacob & Mia, two very Californian (at least in diet and attitude) rock climbers.  (All names have been changed to facilitate full disclosure).  The plan was to hike from Reinhold's property north to Cheow Lairn Lake, a vast reservoir lake in the Park, where we would be picked up by a boat and taken to the floating raft houses, where cold beer bottles were patiently perspiring.  Three hours of hiking through verdant old-growth rainforest, marveling at Nature's fecundity while savoring the prospect of mankind's finest fermentation.

Again in the interests of full disclosure:  There were three (3) lies in the opening sentence of the last paragraph.

We left the lodge second thing in the morning, arriving at Reinhold's place a couple hours late.  Upon greeting us, he then informed us that the Thai guide, a National Park ranger, had called in sick that day.

"But it is ok, I can lead the group, I have taken this trail before, I can get us most of the way to the lake for sure, we might lose the trail towards the end, but it is ok, we can turn back or we can spend the night in the jungle" (note: please read all Reinhold quotes with a friendly, arrogant German accent). 

The five of us all responded with a variant on "Sure, no problem, we're ready for an adventure".  My girlfriend and I both had backpacks full of food, water and clothes to spend the night in, as we were packed for a couple days of playing on the lake.  Boone, Jacob and Mia had sent their gear and supplies in a truck to meet the boat the normal way, via a paved road.  Reinhold had a daypack on, contents unknown and unasked.  We clarified with Reinhold that the boat would be waiting for us from 2pm to 3pm, and if we had not reached the lake by 3pm, he said we would turn around, giving us 3 hours to return before dark.

And we were off! Into the jungle primeval, with the exquisite feeling that only the confidence that we would emerge and meet civilization on the other side could engender.  The lack of knowledge, in retrospect, is rather impressive.  We did not know the trail and we had no map. We did not know this piece of wilderness, its qualities and particularities  We did not know how much water people had, or how much food they had, or any other sort of supplies.  We did not know a damn thing about our companions.  We did not know their wilderness experience, we did not know their medical issues, we did not know their personal styles or expectations.  About the only thing we did know was that we would emerge from the jungle with less blood than when we entered, thanks to the voracious leeches of Khao Sok.  But enough foreshadowing, back to the story!

Rainforest tree - really big, magical

Words will pathetically fail to communicate the grandeur of the rainforest that we entered, or even the awe that we felt in response to the magical miracles of the rainforest.  Anywhere one looks, up into the canopy or down into the leaf litter or straight ahead into the spider's web, Life is composing its masterpiece, showcasing the most exotic, marvelous examples it has to offer.  I have never felt so completely enchanted by the miracle of life as I did in that rainforest.

Scaling vertical karsts

Give this fungus a hand!

So we tromped onwards, we scaled jagged vertical limestone karsts*, we descended into lush jungle valleys, we stopped and marvelled and rejoiced, we hugged trees and got scratched up by thorny vines, we took pictures and brushed against poisonous nettles that produced a burning sensation that lasted for weeks. We descended from the first karst and met a stream flowing towards us ... for all the world it appeared to be flowing uphill.  Upon closer inspection, we realized it was diving down into the karst, disappearing from atmospheric influences, and entering the unknown world of labyrinthine limestone faults and caverns.  We stopped, a lot, to inspect the latest entry on the "holy shit this is cool, check it out!" list. 

We finally reached the top of a second karst, which we were informed was the half-way point.  From the top, Reinhold (who had become our de facto guide) and Boone took a compass sighting, targeting a gap in the karst cliffs which circled the jungle ahead of us, into which we were about to descend.  It was early afternoon, our pace had been slow due to the frequent stops, but we felt strong.  All that stood between us and the lake was a steep descent, an hour's hike through the jungle below, and finally pushing through the gap on the far side of the valley.



Coming up next...

Part II:  "I have a gut feeling" - Reinhold

Karst towers

* A karst refers to a body of limestone that has been severely eroded by dissolution via slightly acidified water.  The acid reacts with the calcium carbonate in the limestone, causing it to effervesce (make bubbles).  The bubbles are carbon dioxide; the remainder of the original calcium carbonate molecule is dissolved in the water.  The end result is a lot of holes.  This produces the famous caves of limestone formations, such as are found in Kentucky or the Yucatan.  Karts in Thailand are usually "tower" karsts, meaning they look like isolated cliffs, towering above the landscape.  The dissolution process produces incredibly sharp jagged edges, making the rock rather dangerous.  For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karst