If you are like what I used to be, please read on.
(Kinabalu Park office, taken at 3.50pm 27 July 2007)
I had wanted to climb Mt Kinabalu way back in 1998, and I ALMOST did in 2000. You say to yourself, I must do it one day. That thinking slips away and it is now 10 years later. Your hear friends have made it. In 2006, you wanted to join other groups but did not find the right group to join...and it is 2007 when global warming has changed the weather pattern.
So what now? Ok. Set a target, make your plan, then go and execute it. No time to waste.
And so...here it begins
(this picture below against cloudy backdrop of summit inside Kinabalu Park, before it gets dark)
A small group of hikers making regular Sunday treks either at Mount Singai or Mount Santubong since Jan2007. Somewhere in March 2007, talk about planning a trip to Sabah's famed Mount Kinabalu was rekindled.
April 1, 2007 Started to plan, arrange and book accomodation for the Kinabalu Park trip.
(abbreviation : A=Alfred, J=Jong, H=Hoe, C=Chua)
April 15, 2007. Finally confirmed booking for Mt K Park lodge/Laban Rata hut
accomodation for 27-29 July, and flight booking is made and the trip is now set for two persons, for myself and my friend Alfred (or A). (picture is Kinabalu Park office, taken upon arrival straight from KK airport, at 4.00pm 27 July2007)June3, 2007 Training 5 hrs at Mt Santubong and followed by a cool dip at nearby mountain stream. Next few sundays mostly training either at 3 hrs Mt Singai or 5 hrs Mt Santubong with either A, J and/or H.
(Flight departure 7.00am being re-scheduled to 11.00am, notified by airline SMS.)
June 27 Went to Sibu and Bukit Aup for 1 hr solo trekking/training.
July7, 2007 Saturday. Good day! So many couples wed today because of the number 07.07.2007. A and myself went for a blood test today to ensure in fit condition. Collected the result on 12.7.2007 and results are fairly comfortable but cholesterol levels still need to improve.
July15, 2007 Sunday went to Mt Singai for 3 hr training with A, with 2 redbricks weight each.
July20, 2007 Went to Sibu and Bukit Aup Park for 45 minutes solo trekking/training.
July22, 2007 Sunday went for 5 hr final training at Mt Santubong with A and J, followed by cool dip at mountain stream nearby. Body weight check later: 63.5kg
July23, 2007 Went to Sibu and wanted to train but raining the whole afternoon.
(Pic taken in front of Hill Lodge room 4, where we stayed, at 4.50pm on 27July)
July24, 2007 Flew back to Kuching and in the evening went for final shopping of needed items for the trip and later drove to Bintawa supper with A. Final week will be resting, no hard training.
July25, 2007. Went for another supper at Sekama with A, J and C.
It is hoped that enough training has been made and I am fully prepared to reach the summit of Mount Kinabalu on this 1st trip. Pills for altitude sickness are bought for this purpose.
(Pic below is taken in front wholesale fresh vegetable stalls at Kundasang, on our way to Mersilau Resort on 28July morning. We stopped by to take a look at cauliflower and broccoli)
a.jpg)
July27,2007 - DAY 1 of the real trip finally arrivesFinally, after months of preparation, waiting and anticipation, the day has come. Reached Kuching airport at 9.45am with A and checked in with only 2 pieces of hand-carried backpack bags. Electronic scanner at check-in entry detected a swiss knief in one of my bags, and security advised to check-in bag as luggage. One minute after walking to check-in the bag, I thought what a hassle and later would need to wait for luggage on arrival, and suddenly thought of finding a good place to hide the knief. So I saw this aquarium fish tank at the front lobby and found the flower pots to hide the knief, went back into the scanner without problem. Dressed in shorts and T-shirt and a pair of slippers. 11.00am flight departing Kuching delayed by 20 minutes.
Can you believe this? Flight from Kuching to KK is smooth ride, we keep the conversation alive to stay excited. Time flies!!! KK can be seen out of B737 small cabin windows below.
Arrived at Kota Kinabalu airport at 12.50pm and picked up by agent's guide in a van. Went for a quick lunch at a local coffee shop. Oh boy the lunch was heavy but good. Never fear of being starved if you are traveling with A, he has a HEAVY food consumption record. Porkleg, chicken and broccoli with rice, then another plate of someting-like-foochow-noodles. Picked up a bunch of bananas at few yards behind
the shop. Left the city at 1.30pm.(Pic shows map of Timpohon Gate from south and the 2.5km longer trail from Mersilau Gate from southwest)
If this is your first visit to KK, you will like the city landscape, the sea, the mountains. The drive from airport vide Kota Kinabalu city to Kinabalu National Park HQ was scenic. The city has many project developments coming up, some new shopping malls. Tg Aru, Port, University, Alamesra project, then we were past the city and on the winding road to Ranau. You see many church signboards along the way. So many christians here. Road is climbing uphill mostly and winding. Good thing the van is brandnew and Nissan. Enjoying the view along the drive. Spirit is high. We stopped for a short while along the roadside to buy some fruits and food. The Dusun teen girl is so pretty. No, I forgot to take her picture to show you. You wish you have
a daughter of that gene. Bought some nuts.This road leads to Kinabalu Park, Ranau and also to Sandakan.
This is my 1st "holiday trip" to Sabah. Previous 2 trips were only overnight stops and on transit or business. So really getting to know you, KadazanDusuns.
Land Below The Wind is a beautiful place indeed. The guide tries his best to introduce KK and background information, but he is not very good at it. Still young and 6 years after migration from Kuala Lumpur.
Cool weather is felt as the van cilmbs above 1000m ASL. Mountain ranges can be seen all around the route. Reminds me of South Korea landscape. Arrived at Kinabalu National Park HQ around 4.00pm and the guide helped to arrange entry permits, accomodation, meal coupons, mountain guide and pass. Many visitors can be seen, coming by cars, vans, buses, and they come from many countries. Most of them with only 1 goal in mind : climb Mount Kinabalu to the summit.
Although some are here for holidays and relaxation. We are here for Low's Peak!
We took some photos around the Park HQ. Quite cooling weather, but cloudy at the summit.
The park faciliites are now privatized and managed by Sutera Sanctuary Lodges. The female counter staff are all pretty local Dusun girls in uniform of green and light brown, friendly and smiling to visitors. They handle a lot of tourist registration and appear very efficient. Cool temperature.
Our guide settled most of our enty procedures and applications. After breakfast, to meet next morning for van transfer to Mersilau Resort. Ok.
All set. Here it is. Hill Lodge room 4. Twin single beds with a front window and view of Mt Kinabalu, but it is cloudy and the mountain is blur. Comfortable room with electric kettle and tea bags, telephone but no TV or radio.
Well. About 4.30pm now. Unpacking and figuring out how to prepare things for next day's hike. Re-arrange things and splitting into a bag to be carried myself and another bag for the potter.
Plenty of preparatory things to do, including adjustment to weather and mentally.
My bags unpacked on 1 of the twin beds. You meaning to say that I am taking this bed? And facing directly to the door is bad fengshui? ...will it affect my sleep or can I finish the climb?
Let us see tomorrow then.
The view in front of the Hill Lodge provides the cloudy scene of Mount Kinabalu. Looks wet. Some photos taken.
Relaxed a bit, unpacked and re-packed for tomorrow. Tried Sabah Tea bag that comes with the room. Hungry? No problem, some Snickers and Mars chocolate bars.
Refreshed and hungry. Time for dinner. Walked a short distance and it is Liwagu Restaurant where we will be served dinner. Nice looking building design and in a great setting. No, we are too hungry to see anything else, so straight to dinner table for two. Waitress girl named Jenny, small petite and with big smile. You can see a lot of expat tourists in the Park.
Dinner is served....hot spicy vegetables, curry this, hot spicy that. What? Already full? We cannot finish the food, felt a bit uncomfortable, the different dishes and style of cooking do not seem to blend well together. Agreed, not really enjoy the dinner. But Jenny keeps smiling and pours tea. Oh. Fruit plate, thanks Jenny.
After dinner, we visited the photo museum at first floor, the souvenir shop at entrance. What? Headlamp made-in-China selling RM75? We bought from China-girl for RM8/each from Kuching! How much is head mask? Cannot remember but the price is more than 6 times that we saw earlier at roadside Dusun girl's shop along the drive.
Why are we still here in this shop? Nothing to buy, so expensive. Anyway, food is important to give energy and tonight we have our meal done.
After dinner, we walked around the Park area to digest the food and to feel the night breeze, it was wet and damp and cloudy. Roads in the Park are mostly one-way.
We returned to Hill Lodge and prepared things for next day, then rested. The room is comfortable but heated water is not hot enough. Goodnight. Rest well for next day.
July28,2007 - DAY 2 Going up Mersilau Trail to reach Laban Rata Resthouse
Around 3-4am, a bit of soft noise and without opening my eyes, I guessed something in the room is eating some food. The tearing of packing paper, must be the chocolate bars. Good, hunger must be fed for tomorrow's task to climb. Go back to sleep.
Waking up at 6.00am, cleaning and washing, then off to Balsam Cafe for breakfast. This is going to be a long day, so eat well. A packed lunch is provided. The mountain guide and driver picked us up at 7.20am and we collected our bags and started our journey to Mersilau Resort. Our plan is going up Mersilau trail.
The van took us to Mersilau Resort. Along the way, we stopped by Kundasang where locals sell fresh vegetables and produce. The valley has many crop gardens. Many fresh vegetables of Kundasang are available in Brunei and Sarawak.
We arrived at Mersilau Gate and our guide weighed our bags for him to carry, RM8 per kg x 10 kg. Quite a big group of people going up this way, about 60. After a while, we started climbing the trail. The trail is full of rainforest vegetation and scenic. We had packed lunch before 12 noon. Except for 2 other people we met, we were by ourselves all the way along this trail.
We find no trouble trekking this trail. It rained quite a long while, we got wet even with raincoat. Cold temperature, misty and cloudy. Ground swell with water.
Soon, we walked along the ridge, then down again. Then we reached the junction with Timpohon trail. And we begin to see more people. Many people on their way down, with tired and exhausted bodies. As we go up higher, more people are seen coming down in groups. Due to sufficient training and physically prepared, we find no trouble on the way up Laban Rata, we take it easy and no rush. However, the time seems a bit long.
Finally we see Warus Hut and Laban Rata is within view. We soon arrived at Resthouse around 2pm. The Resthouse is where we will stay the night, with heated rooms (booked in early April). Temperature here is 12 degrees.
We were one of the first few to reach Laban Rata Resthouse, because only 3-4 rooms were taken. So we took a new room to ourselves, expecting to share 2-beds with others. After registration, we unpacked and had hot drinks. Too bad, heated water not working, so cold shower. The summit is cloudy and wet, as viewed from here. Hanging around the place until buffet dinner is ready around 6.00pm. Quite a fair dinner.
We shared the room with a guy from Holland and girl from Germany. Around 8pm we rested and anticipated for next day's summit climb. Mostly we find the night not easy to pass through, going to toilet a few times, could not really sleep deeply. Body temperature is very high.
Around 2.00am noises stir up almost everybody. We are up too and feeling heavy headed. Took some pills that we prepared for mountain sickness and panadol. Gave some free pills to our expat room mates as they complained of sickness and were not prepared. We went downstairs to take instant noodle breakfast and hot tea. Then prepared ourselves with coat, raincost, headlamp, gloves. And start our summit climb at 3.00am. It was wet and drizzling. We walked in silence behind our guide closely, with headlamp on to show the path.
July29,2007 - DAY 3 Conquer the 4095.2m high Summit!
One hour passed. Lonely at times, yes, slogging in total darkness except the headlights. Hungry, cold, thin air, wet, climb in silence, nothing in particular to make you think that it is enjoyable climb. A miss or slip can be fatal on the steep inclined rock surfaces. Two hour passed.
Yes, people who climbed and wrote about it were right. For every few steps you take, you collapse and take a breather and let your leg muscles recover, you feel the legs are so heavy and wobbly. Then you pick yourself up and plod on. Another few steps and you are down again, panting. This goes on for at least 2 hours. You wish the top is near, you wish it is only a few more minutes to reach the summit. But NO! Still dark and you see nothing. Another 1km to go.
Cannot believe why you want go through this torture.
I will not be exaggerating to say that at this junction, when take every 5 steps climb, you will need to stop or pause for a deep breathe and to let your leg muscles rest. The thin air must have played a part to slow you down, added by the steep climb angle. This 'last mile' must be causing you to wonder why you pay to suffer the pains, or why take the challenge. But the emphasis must be that you should be physically fit and trained for this mission. All who is reading this, please take this point in, you will be relieved that you prepare for it, because you will enjoy most of the journey to the summit.
Along this last 1 hour of the climb, you can virtually see many climbers stop and slow down to take pauses. It's kind of hush. Trying very hard to breathe and keep silent. There are some people who quit at this last stage, unable to carry on. Imagine their heads spinning and feeling weak. It is better to stop and retreat than to risk your life. Up here, a slip or a miss cannot be allowed to happen to you for that risk.
(NOTE : No pictures because it was pitch dark and we had to focus on the climb).
Awful quiet up here, if you ask me. But soon the silhouette of summit peaks come into view. It looks so near but takes forever to reach the peaks. You can see Donkey's Ear Peak and South Peak. Low's Peak is the last to be seen.
Some flashlights in front and there! We have reached the Low's Peak of 4095.2m, so says the 2 pieces of metal plate signboard planted into the rocks. It is a small place with large loose rocks, and ropes tied around to seal off the cliff zone.
Finally we set foot on Low's Peak at 4095.2m ASB around 5.20am and there were only a handful of people who arrived ahead of us, so we had plenty of space. It was still dark and no skyline to be seen. Photographs taken needed flashlight. You can count our faces showing fatigue and tiredness from the steep and long climb. But everybody who reaches this spot, shows broad smiles on faces and this is unforgettable experience. Feels great to be at the highest point in South-East Asia. Our legs did not fail us. The lungs withstand the thin air. The heart beats well. AMS is no more a threat. It is a bit misty and cloud formation whisks through the sky.
It feels great to reach the summit! The night climb is quite a challenge, and something we never do before.
Slowly, many more people starts to arrive, exhaustion showing on faces but smiling.
It is still pitch dark when we reached the summit, later the photographs taken will show my watch at 5.35am. Only a handful of people arrived ahead of us. Temperature is cold and a bit of wind. What a climb. We made it! The feeling is conquering the challenge is so strong and beyond
words. You feel that you can take hardships. Take a few moments to sink the feeling down.In sub-freezing temperature, trying to reach our handphones and compact digital cameras. No phone signal. Most of my spare batteries are dead. So can use take a few photographs with the camera. Then use handphone camera to take some more.
Too bad, no phone signal up here. Some of my camera batteries also not working (cold temperature?). Alfred felt dizzy, so took some mountain sickness pills.
Everybody coming up to this summit must take a picture.
The metal plate inscribed with Low's Peak 4095.2m.
Within the next 30 minutes, the sky turns pale and first light streams across the sky. You can dimly see the landscape of Kota Kinabalu and Kundasang. Many more people start to arrive at the peak and the small place is crowded. Everyone takes a photograph for remembrance at the signboard. Then taking pictures of the scenes and surrounding view. It is still cold and a bit windy. The late arrivals are those who struggle longer physically. But the weaker you are, the stronger and happier feeling you will get to achieve this feat. A lifetime's chance to make it this high.
Retreat down - I am in blue coat, after the yellow coat.
Low's Gully is really steep cliff and frightening. The summit view is really majestic. Full of awe.
By 1 hour, it is evident that the clouds handing over the sky will not let sunrise to happen. Most people then after taking pictures and viewing the scene, will start to descend and retreat down. Due to cold temperature, hunger, weak body etc etc. And for feat that it could rain later.
We reluctantly take last views of this majestic mountain and proceed our descent. It is a bit sad having to leave the peak. Coming this long way and months of preparation to be up here. And I really do not know if I will be back to see this majestic view again. So? What comes up, must comes down, so they say!
The descend is not as scary as initially thought it would be. We came up in total darkness. But going down is found easier, you can see the path clearly. Mostly rock surfaces, loose rocks. When passing the last checkpoint, there will be a tally check to confirm your tag number, and guide will confirm that you reached the summit for certificate to be issued later. I started hopping down the slope after 6.35am and 30 minutes later, reached Laban Rata Resthouse where the temperature shows 9.8 degree C at 7.00am. Later Alfred asked a question : Dare to climb the summit again tomorrow morning? We did not feel sore, except for cold temperature and wet conditions. Anyway, enough for the day.
Temperature outside the Laban Rata Resthouse after I came down.
.gif)
We took some hot drinks only because the breakfast was terrible. No hot water shower, so we had no alternative but pack our bags and took a breather, then started to go down the Timpohon Trail. Two of us with our guide, hopping down and catching up with everybody on the way down. It was easy for our guide, he could even talk on his handphone while going down.
It took us about 1 hour from Resthouse to arrive at Timpohon Gate, which is a shorter way. On the way down, we can see so many local potters carrying heavy packs of 25-40kg up the mountain. Many new visitors are also starting their way up the climb, at the beginning part of the trail. We literally did not stop on the way down. The guide was surprised that we arrived down earlier, because along the way, he had to call the driver to come earlier to pick us up, which is almost 1.5 hrs sooner than planned. Running down the last 20 minutes of trail, the legs begin to feel a little fatigue.
While waiting 40 minutes for the driver at Timpohon Gate, we relaxed and saw Koreans, Taiwanese visitors enjoying the view and wildlife. With 2 hours to spare, after lunch we walked around the Park and enjoy the scene before the driver came at 3.00pm to send us to airport.
We drove from the Park to airport, along the way, dropped by town for a quick early dinner, then took a taxi to airport to board the flight home. On arrival at Kuching airport, I recovered the swiss knief still tucked away at the flower pot corner.
And so, this trip comes to an end. It has been a great trip.
Going to do it again? You bet, it is very worthwhile event.
Reward of Mount Kinabalu climb : 2 colorful certificates with climber's name on it. One certificate for reaching summit, another one for using the Mersilau Resort Trail which is scenic longer route by 2.5km.
