After two years of wishing, longing and wanting to conquer the majestic Kinabalu, and several months of physical and mental preparation, our dream to step on its peak finally came true in June.
Some people would say that the months of preparation are surely an exaggeration. There are those that claim that lots of people with low to moderate levels of fitness have made it up and down with little or no prior training at all. However since we were both going to be climbing with prior injuries (me with my back problem and both of us with bummed knees), then it’s best that we get ourselves fit enough and our bodies strong enough to make it up and down the mountain safely, without aggravating our preexisting injuries.
After a heavy breakfast to at the Kinabalu Park HQ, at 7.30am, we started our hike up the Timpohon trail. This earlier part of the hike was not much different from some of the other jungle trails we’ve hiked before. The undergrowth was dense, the canopy cover thick and the paths well cleared and laid up all the way.
In certain spots, the dominating peaks of Kinabalu became visible far in the distant. At that point it was still hard to imagine that we were actually making our way all the way up there on foot.
As we got higher and higher in altitude, the harsher conditions and rockier grounds slowly transformed the surrounding fauna into something completely alien looking.
At this point in time almost four hours into the journey up the mountain, exhaustion started to creep in. The thing that kept me going were the distance markers which indicated that it wasn’t far before we’d make it to our pit stop for the day.
Finally at 1pm, we safely arrived at Laban Rata hut looking forward to half a day of rest dormitory style as well as refueling our bodies at the buffet table.
When we first arrived at Laban Rata, it was too cloudy to appreciate the mountain peaks looming over the hut. Fortunately just before sunset the skies cleared up completely for a brief moment to create the perfect backdrop.
The surroundings cleared up just in time for us to appreciate seeing the sunset from above the low-lying clouds.
At 2.30am, after a light breakfast we started the long, arduous journey to the peak, hiking up the rocks in darkness aided by our headlamps and the long trailing white rope to ensure we don’t stray too far from the main path. It truly was a memorable sight seeing light from the long trail of headlamps slowly snaking its way up the mountain.
During these last parts of the climb, the effects of high altitude can definitely be felt by everyone and every single step became a torture to take. I couldn’t go beyond 20 tiny steps before stopping and sometimes lying down for a few minutes to catch my breath. The near freezing temperatures didn’t help at all either. But as soon as the sun rose that morning, the spectacular vista all around us suddenly came into view. It was exactly what was needed to give everyone the extra boost to push their bodies up the final few hundred metres to the peak.
At 6.45am on the 29th June 2011, we finally conquered Mount Kinabalu. It was a long and exhaustive climb but definitely well worth the sore muscles, the knee aches and the litres of sweat.
When we were right at the peak, I started feeling a little nauseated and my head started throbbing away. Knowing that those were some of the early symptoms of altitude sickness, we didn’t spend too long at the top. And so began the long hike back to Laban Rata for breakfast, a short rest and then followed by the longer hike all the way back to the Timpohon gate. The hike down the mountain was much less tiring however the hard impact on the knees made it seem like more of a torture especially towards the end.
The adventure finally came to an end 30 hours after it began the day before. Was it worth it? Most definitely. Will we do it again?
On the to-do list for April next year – to climb Kinabalu again starting from the Mersilau Trail and next time we’re going to check out the world’s highest via ferrata at the same time.
