On the 4th to the 7th of April 2009, I embark to Mount Kinabalu with a group of free-spirited people to scale this majestic mountain. I will try to share my experience of the climb with you here.
Day 1
4th April 2009
I woke up early around 0500 to prepare myself for the road trip to Kundasang. Alex mentioned that he wanted to start off early so that we can rest early and prepare ourself for the big event the following day. The whole trip to Kundasang was a bit uneventful but I have managed to catch up alot with Alex, whom I seldom have the opportunity to talk with. For those people who is not familiar with the area surrounding Kinabalu Park, there are actually numerous lodge, resthouse, villa, etc and yet, we are not able to find our accomodation. Finally, after searching more than an hour and making some calls, we realized that we were misinformed and we managed to locate our resthouse soon after that. The resthouse that we are going to spend the night in was a neat little bungalow in a area called "Sunny Village". We spend the rest of the day watching a movie while waiting for the rest of the group from West Malaysia. We were later joined by Willy, Wilson, Pang, Albert, Kah Seng, Siew Meng, Jennifer, Siew Ting, Mavis and Prissilla. We had steamboat that night and we went to bed right after our briefing session.
Day 2
5th April 2009
All of us managed to wake up early in the morning. I guess everyone is eager to climb Mount Kinabalu. We took a light breakfast and later proceed to Kinabalu Park for the registration. We were introduced to 2 mountain guides, Hensen and John who will accompany us during this trip. I got a mixed feeling towards our guides but overall I think they are good. Soon after that, we departed once again to Timpohon Gate where we are going to start our ascend. Everyone started happy and spirited in the beginning... yes... they always do... For anyone who have not been to Mount K before, the Timpohan Trail is literally a uphill slope full of stairs that stretch 6kilometers. If you have this fetish of climbing stairs... please go and help yourself with it. And as for me, I know that I will not be alright climbing those dreadful stairs. It could have been my weight for I find it difficult to climb those stairs without suffering from cramps from time to time. The only thing that keeps me going is my endurance and stubborness. I do not see how a little cramp can ever stop me from reaching the top so I drag myself slowly up the stairs. By the time I managed to reach Laban Rata (a checkpoint on Mount Kinabalu), it was around 1500 and I am among the last to arrive. After cleaning myself up, change a set of clothing and ease some of the muscle pain, we prepare ourself for dinner and we went to bed straight after that. I did not even bother to go take a shower because it is so cold up there. If I am not mistaken, the temperature is around 8-9 degree Celsius.
Day 3
6th April 2009
I can hardly sleep the night before. It might be the cold but ultimately I guess I am just overeager to get this over with. I was secretly hoping that it will rain that morning but unfortunately, the sky was clear and he moon and the stars can be seen. I put on my jacket, strap on my backpack which hold my rations and armed myself with a torchlight. We took our breakfast and off we go into the darkness. For the record, it was around 0200 when we continue our ascend to the submit. The climb to the submit was not really that difficult compare to the climb from the gate to Laban Rata. We started off climbing stairs, how I loathed those stairs... After a distance of about 500m from the Laban Rata, the scenery took a dramatic turn. We are no longer climbing stairs but we are now scaling a steep surface of the mountain which is about 20-30 degree. It was not really that bad if you can take it as though it was a walk in the park but I bet a walk in the park would not be as hazardous and life threatening. I would like to remind everyone that we are actually climbing in a pitch black environment. Our one and only light source (the stars and the moon does help if it is not cloudy) is the torchlight that we are suppose to bring along with us. Without it, I dont think we are able to go anywhere. After walking for about 1 hour, our next challanege is a slope that is around 45 degree. The area is so steep that you will need to pull yourself up using a thick rope that has been allocated there. Ooo, an advice for those who might attempt the climb, do not ever, ever look down when you are on this part of the trail. It will not help you if you are attacked by vertigo and you end up stranded there until your guide comes along and errr... remove you from the spot. Furthermore, there is no point for you to look around because you can hardly recognize your environment, just focus on going ahead and you should be fine. After walking on a steep plateau for about another 500 to 1000m, you will see the final destination that is one of the submit of Mount Kinabalu known as the Low's Peak. I managed to reached the submit around 0530 right before sunrise but the sun was blocked out by the cloud so I cant snap some nice picture of the twilight. There is this sense of achievement when you reach the submit. Here are some photos that I would like to share with you guys on this wonderful trip.
These pictures were taken while I was still in the base camp. The scenery of the sunset was magnificent.
These pictures of Mount Kinabalu were taken during my stay in Sunny's Village. You can see Laban Rata in the first picture.
This is one of the picture I took when I reached the submit. The whole place is brighten up by the sun.
The submit looks like a barren land.
All the vegetation up here looks like bonzai.
Remember that part I mentioned earlier regarding pulling ropes?
I am practically on top of the world up here!
Another peak situated close to Low's Peak.
Looks like a scene from a fairy tale? The only thing missing here are fairies and perhaps a few dwarves.
I was a bit beaten up after the trip but it was alot of fun. I will be heading up towards the heavens again when opportunity arise.
