Pitch 3.We were up pre-dawn and hiking back up through the jungle at daybreak the next day. We jugged our lines and inspected the gear. The contents of the haul bag remained fairly dry. We opted for the easier rivet ladder on the lower half of pitch three and once again used the intermediate belay per David and Stephan’s suggestion. Puffy thunderheads were once again building over the sea with the occasional rumble of thunder off in the distance. We were pretty stressed – a touch of PTSD perhaps. Upper part of pitch three (our 5) was a beautiful looking finger crack that of course got aided…excuse being all the heavy shit hanging on my rack but really switching modes from aid to free mid-pitch is a 7b+ mental effort and not to mention that the crack is probably too hard for me anyway. We were moving pretty slowly – somehow everything was taking twice the normal effort for us in the sauna. By the time we reached The Alcove we felt deflated, worried and bailed.
Photos
On the jungle approach again (May 2014).Hey ho, hey ho, it’s off to work we go! The ants seemed to be operating on a blue collar schedule (morning and afternoon) – busily using logs and sticks to commute to I’m not sure where. Hiking back to our fixed lines in the morning.Jugging the fixed lines on pitch 1 (May 2014).Rivet ladder on pitch 3 (May 2014).More pitch 3 (May 2014).Shirley belaying me on pitch 3 of Waking Dream (May 2014).Views (May 2014).Pitch 3 under The Great Roof (May 2014).More views (May 2014).A closer look (May 2014).Shirley jugging pitch 3 (our 4). We took the easier rivet ladder “variation” (May 2014).More of Shirley on pitch 3 (May 2014).Leading the upper half of pitch 3; our pitch 5 (May 2014).Look at that water (May 2014).The mosque in Mukut (May 2014).More of the same pitch (May 2014).A closer look (May 2014).Looking back at Shirley from the lead of the upper half of pitch 3; our pitch 5 (May 2014).The rumbling cloud build up that was tormenting us that day (May 2014).More views (May 2014).Shirley jugging pitch 3 proper (May 2014).Shirley on pitch 3 (May 2014).More of Shirley on pitch 3 (May 2014).The jetty in Mukut (May 2014).Almost at the third belay (May 2014).The Alcove on Waking Dream (May 2014).So inviting (May 2014).Another one from our highpoint (May 2014).Bailing (May 2014).Back at base: Shirley and her thousand yard stare (May 2014).Shirley on our walk of shame back to the village (May 2014).“Hey throw me that down jacket and the wind shell, would ya?”Nearing Mukut (May 2014).Waiting for our ride back the following day (May 2014).Some decent snorkeling here (May 2014).Heading back to Genting (May 2014).One last look (May 2014).Shirley and some of our bags (May 2014).Tam, the other half of the bags, and my fat ass in this second boat (June 2014).Shirley and some tourists from Tam’s resort heading back to Genting (May 2014).Crowded ferry terminal in Genting (May 2014).An overloaded ferry back to Mersing (May 2014).A (very) fresh seafood restaurant in Mersing – no shortage of culinary delights in Malaysia (May 2014).Sambal makes the world go round (May 2014).
