Only one million and a half years ago, a mass of granite rock that has been cooling and hardening under the surface for several million years began to rise and break through the overlying crusts of softer rocks. Erosion by heavy rains and later, by ice and glaciers shaped the new mountain. Even today the striations, "glaciers polish" and the sculptured and streamlined forms and the summit peaks five witness to the effects of the glaciation. Millions of tons of rock debris were washed into lowland approaches of the mountain. The Park Headquarters itself sits on a ridge of accumulated mud, clay and rock washed off eroding heights 34000 years ago. With return of a warm climate and the melting of the glaciers, Kinabalu attained its modern form and appearance.At its present height of 4101m (re-measured at 4095.2m) Mount Kinabalu is still rising at approximately 5mm per year. The landslides on its slopes and rock debris beneath its peaks are evidence of its still-continuing movement Nature's powerful forces have produced a scenic location of remarkable beauty. The gradual evolutionary process has also resulted in fauna and flora, some of which are found nowhere else in the world.
10th May 98, Sunday, first day of our trip, nine in total, we rest in KK for a night.
The second day, we took a bus (83km) to Kinabalu Park (1558m) and rest another night there. Along the way, we saw numerous burnt jungles, caught fire due to prolonged drought there.
Day 3 morning, after getting the permission to rock-climb from Park Warden, we took a van (4km) to Power Station (1829m). The trek started there at Timpohon Gate that dips down to the main slopes of Mount Kinabalu. We followed the Summit Trail for about 6km to Laban Rata Resthouse (3353m) and rest there overnight.
Day 4, it rained since Day 3 midnight. According to local people, it had been no rain since Nov 97, the prolonged drought posed serious water shortage to those summit huts. Thank god it rained, the water was free-flow again, much needed for cooking and cleaning toilets. We woke up at 2am to prepare for summit, the rain was bad news to us, we could not climb. The extraordinarily good news was we can go back to beds. We slept until morning 9am, the weather was clear after rain, so we decided to attempt and reached summit at about 1pm after about 3km climb. Lows Peak (4095.2m) was known to be highest in South East Asia. By 2pm, we started descending, the fog enveloped the mountain at 2.30pm and then it begin to rain again, this time heavy rain. We managed to get into a poor Sayat-Sayat (name of a tea-tree) Hut (the hut at highest altitude) to take cover. It was cold, we waited for the rain to stop, at 5pm we made our way down to Laban Rata Resthouse and spent another night.
Day 5 at 6am, BK, Jerry and me moved to Sayat-Sayat Hut where we will be spending 2 more night there for rock climbing. The rest of the group is heading down to Park HQ. There are 2 huts there, we stayed at the lower, bigger, warmer one that equipped with cooking facilities. The higher one is what I called poor Syat-Syat Hut (max 4 persons) where we sheltered from the rain yesterday. Fortunately we were allocated the better one, that the capacity for 10 persons was all for 3 of us. After settled down, at 9am, the whether was good, so we rock-climbed Kinabalu South (3933m). The 3-pitch route ranging from 5.8-5.10 for first 2 pitches, the last pitch was easy scramble up to the peak. We spent 3 hours climbing the route and descended to hut at 1pm, although no fog, the strong winds stopped us for further climbing. That day, the luck was not at our side, in the middle of afternoon nap, the landlord came and requested us to move to poor Syat-Syat Hut as there will be another 20 persons group who was moving in our hut. That evening, we climbed up Lows Peak again to see the sunset. Poor thing at night, the poor hut was vulnerable to strong wind, you feel colder there compared the other hut. No choice, that night I could not sleep well, too cold, about 5°C.
Day 6 morning, we climbed first pitch of Donkeys' Ears (4055m), the south face, about 5.9. We did not make it to the peak (the second pitch), after the first pitch, about 12pm, the fog approaching fast. We made a quick descent to, today the better Syat-Syat Hut, the visibility was probably around 10m, all the rest white out. In evening, a clear sky, we explored up to the Ugly Sister Peak (4032m). 20m away from the foot of the peak, the weather turned suddenly, it seemed like thunderstorm, we turned back in a quick pace. We were right, just as we reached the hut, it rained heavily, the rock face to the summit were invaded by rain water, a few waterfalls emerged suddenly as the rain fell. Anyway, that night was better, the hut's wall is doubled layered, so it is warmer. Chinese chess, playing card and the Brick Game were our common pastime these 2 days beside tucking in f&B.
This paragraph is some details for rock climbing on Kinabalu peaks. Write to Kinabalu Park Warden for permission to rock-climb prior the trip. Many routes exist, for example on Kinabalu South, Alexandra Peak, Donkey's Ear, Ugly Sister Peak, St. John's Peak, Victoria Peak and so on. Even more if you are able to bolt anchor point yourself. Some routes are bolted and some have natural anchors from which there are slings, advisable to leave your new sling for your safety. Some route may have rock spike to rap off. Loose rock are all around the routes, be careful. There are some Himalayan style bolts, placed by hand drills and many of them are only 1cm inside the rock, do not put your life on them. Double rope is strongly recommended although it is possible with single rope, some of the routes are zigzagging. 60m rope is better, 50m one is just enough for a long pitch. Natural Pros is a must, at least full set of nuts, hexes and friends. Big size nuts and friends are crucial, do bring extra. Climbing usually well in the morning where weather is calm and clear. After 12pm, the mountain usually enveloped by fog and cloud, strong winds, or it may rains. Finally, the climb may be toughened when high altitude effects such as wind-chill, cold, altitude sickness and so on set in. Look out for recent development that may make the statement above inconsistent.
Day 7 at 4.30am, we climbed up to Low's Peak for the third time, this time to see the sunrise. At 5.30am we were there, the fastest in timing although with relaxing pace. It was cold at about 10°C. While the sun was rising, the temperature changed quickly to about 15°C. We descent from the mountain that day and reached Park HQ at about 4pm. The last 3km before Power Station, it rained again (why so much rain? x#o!o#x), we continued descending in ponchos. We took a minibus to KK later on.
The following days, we spent in KK until returning to Singapore in Day 10. Some of the memorable visits including to Pulau Manukan (snorkeling for corals, sea cucumbers were abundant there at seabed), Filipino Market, Central Market, Pasar Malam as well as modern shopping centers.
