My first climbing expedition! Hiking Doi Luang Chiang Dao

Looking at the hundreds of mountains that surround our valley, the ranges that seem to go on forever.  None of the mountains stand out from each other, except for one -- Doi Luang Chiang Dao, Thailand's third-largest mountain. It is dark and foreboding; begging to be sought after. Several of us interns took note of it, and instantly wanted to figure out how to get to it -- and how to get to the top.

It seemed easy enough after we found out the base was only an hour away by car.  But to add the intrigue, we found out that it closed during the rainy season from March - September and it was illegal to climb during that time... so if were were to climb it, we would have to sneak into a national park, use a machete to retrace the closed trail, and risk getting caught.  We made several recon trips to see if it could be done - and we decided it could.

The trip started wonderfully as we realized our bungalows had amenities we weren't used to: comfortable beds, soft sheets and flush toilets, to name a few.

Katie and my bungalow at "The Nest 2", at the base of a low part of the mountain.

Incredibly comfy beds! And robes!

We prepared the night before by eating a delicious gourmet dinner with wine under the stars, courtesy of our friend "Uncle" Ray.

The morning of the hike, we ate bright and early at 5:00 in order to get into the park area before the rangers arrived at 6 am.  We packed our bags, hid the car and were on the trail by 6:15.

It started easily enough, but we came upon our first trailmarkers - and realized that they were all in Thai.

Which way, Ray?

Our only map was a crude picture of the mountain from Google maps - and in the rainy season downpour, it got soaked.

Next time, bring a real map. And laminate it.

As a result, we got lost several times, but always managed to find the trail.  Finally, at 2:00 pm, eight hours after setting out, we summited Doi Luang Chiang Dao!

Fellow Warm Heart intern, Katie, and myself

We hoped we could see our sleepy town of Phrao in the next valley, but clouds on the leeward side of the mountain completely blocked our view.

Looking along the ridge, you can see clouds forming on only one side of the mountain (in the direction of our valley).

However, the view toward the back of the mountain was just as breathtaking.

View from the summit.

Since it took far too long to climb up, we were at high risk for getting stuck in the jungle after nightfall. We were moving as quickly as possible after we summited, so I have no photos of the descent. It rained the entire way down, which made for slippery, muddy and cold walking for another six hours. We walked back out of the trail head at about 8 pm: 14 hours after we started, and about 30 minutes after sundown.

We were exhausted, and so soaked with mud, clay and water that we had to throw away most of the clothes we were wearing, had scratches and bruises from the overgrown jungle, and one hiker even had to remove a few leeches.

But the view and the experience was completely worth it to make my first summit, and I am looking forward to taking up this hobby when I get back to the States!