Mount Kota Kinabalu trip- 21/09/1999 to 23/09/1999

After 2 training sessions at Batu Caves, my husband and I took up the challenge to sign up for the trip to conquer Mt Kinabalu - South East Asia's greatest challenge for climbers. Our trip was organized by Selangor OBA (Outward Bound Association). The group consisted of 12 members ranging from 26 to 62 years of age with 5 men and 7 ladies. Out of the 12, 6 were from OBA who were regular climbers and physically fit. The 2 most senior in the group were our team leader James Yap and his same age brother-in-law Uncle Kon, a trekking fanatic who trekked every month with 4 times experience in scaling Mt KK.

We departed from Subang airport and arrived at Kota Kinabalu airport at noon. After claiming the baggage, we headed for Kinabalu Park by van. The trip took about 2 hours, an 83km from Kota Kinabalu. As the van ascended the hilly and winding road, the weather gradually began to cloud over. Soon the sky became dimmer and turned to stony grey with rain pouring down on and off. The clean air, scenery and pleasant cool mountain temperatures were a contrast to the sunny warm and humid weather we had at the foot of the mountain.

We were told later by the locals that brilliant early morning followed by clouding and afternoon showers was a common weather pattern of the highland weather in the area. On the way ascending, we started to notice the presence of the native residents - Kadazan, the main tribe of the mountain.

Kinabalu Park Headquarters is located at the height of 1,558 metres above sea level. The weather here is very refreshing with daily high of 20C and low of 13C. The park covers an area of about 754 sq km with altitudes ranging from 600m up to the summit of Mount Kinabalu at 4,095.2 metres.

Our dormitory hostel.

The Park is full with various types of accommodation, ranging from economical dormitory to luxury villa. We checked in to one of the dormitories, 5 minutes walk from the Park's office. We were given two rooms with 6 wooden bunk beds each. After settling in, we came to realize that we were not blessed with hot water shower facility. This was bad news for most of us, especially Goy who was used to taking hot shower since his student days in New Zealand. Still, to remove the sweaty felling of our bodies, most of us braved ourselves to take the icy cold shower in a rainy day temperature of less than 20C! When I took off my clothes, I felt the cold air caressing my body. I couldn't stop shivering and my teeth chattering when the shower splashed down "OOHHHHHHH.......". Well, I guess this was the price to pay for being cheap budget travelers like us!

Sunset view from Kinabalu Park.

As the evening drew on, the sun slowly slipped from our view behind the mountain. However, it's rays were still shining on the mountaintop, giving out a magnificent yellowish glare, as if on fire. It was simply a stunning sight. Vaguely, we could see a few white lines, which were the flows of distant waterfalls formed, by rain on the day and before.

At night, temperature dropped below 15C. However we managed to retire with a satisfied mind with a decent dinner served with hot soup.

I couldn't get much sleep in a cold night. Without any good sleep, I woke up early. We started to clean up and prepared ourselves for the big mission to conquer Mt Kinabalu!

With some advice from James, we unloaded our big backpacks and repack into bags of 2 days supply and kept the rest at the Park's storage room for a RM1/- per bag. Even after unloading, Goy still had to climb with a load of 17kg weight of rucksack for the both of us as the camera equipment alone made up 5kg. I was glad to have found this strong man to be my life time partner!

We divided into 2 teams. One team was made up of 4 first timers. In this team, the 3 ladies - HS, BC and myself along with Goy, joined James as our group leader, opted for the old trail. Whereas the rest of the OBA members picked the new Mesilau trail, a considerably tougher and more challenging route.

At 9am, together with others, we were transferred to the entry point at Timpohon Gate (approx. 6,000 ft) by 30-min bus ride. I asked Goy to take a few photos at the entry gate to have a "before" and "after" look comparison at the end of the trip. After a short break we began our big quest, 6 of us including our guide Putih started our journey at around 9.45am. Mount KK here we came!

I was glad to see that it was not hard to meet people along this trek. The structure of the mountain was quite easy to climb with no special mountaineering skills required, except for a fit physical body. This trail had attracted thousands of tourists not only for the climb but also for its climatic, scenic, floral and faunal splendours. Along the trail, I saw lots of fern trees and a number of squirrels running around chipping nuts and leftovers by some of the travelers at the rest stops.

Our mission for the day was to reach Laban Rata rest house, which was located at 11,000ft above sea level and 6km from Timpohon Gate. The trail started with soil walkways, which soon turned into stepped path. There were 7 rest stops along the trek before reaching Laban Rata rest house. Pondok Kandis (6500ft, 20minutes), Pondok Ubah (6900ft, 15minutes), Pondok Lowii (7500ft, 30minutes), Pondok Mempening (8300ft, 45minutes), Layang-layang Staff Quarters (8600ft, 30minutes), Pondok Villosa (8600ft, 45minutes) and the last stop at Pondok Paka (10,000ft, 30minutes). Each rest stop was an open shelter but equipped with a flush toilet and a drinking water tank. It took an average of 5 to 6 hours to reach Laban Rata for an average fit person.

Initially, we managed to reach the first few rest stops at the stipulated time estimated at the "You are here" map displays in the rest huts. Before long however, our group began to split into a few small groups, with James staying far ahead. It was really amazing to watch a 62 year old swiftly making his way up, showing no sign of his age. As for BC, she left us far behind following James closely. Both BC and HS were not trained for this trip as they were last minute substitutes for HS's sister and friend who pulled out before the trip. BC was a regular jogger. This explained why she was coping well even without any pre-training. On the other hand, HS was having a tough time catching up with the group, or should I say gasping for breadth. I was trying my very best to follow Goy closely, leaving Putih to accompany HS some distance behind us.

Apart from us, there was a team of military men resting and lunch at Layang-layang. Looking at their muscular bodies and the normal tough training they underwent in the field, I doubt they would have much difficulty making to the top. After a 20 minutes rest, there were still no news of the Mesilau group and we decided to move on.

Laban Rata rest house at 11,000 ft

We had to rush ourselves to reach the rest house to avoid being drenched. We were lucky to make it before the heavy down pour.

When we reached the rest house, James and BC were resting in the canteen. They were at least 15 minutes ahead of us. However, there was still no sign of HS, Putih and the rest of the members yet.

Looking out the window, we spotted a spectacular view of torrents of rains streaming off the edge of the rock plateau transforming into a few waterfalls gushing and tumbling hundreds of metres down the vertical rock face. After nearly half an hour resting, HS and Putih finally walked in, totally drenched. HS's look was terribly pale. Subsequently, Uncle Kon was the first in the Mesilau team to make it to the rest house. Before long, members of the Mesilau team started to appear one by one at the door step, looking like half dead fishes from fishing pond. They were caught up in the heavy rain and the steep path of the Mesilau trail had slowed them down.

While resting, Goy and I started to feel unwell. We seemed to show signs of altitude sickness. Goy had headache but his heartbeat was still normal at 70+ as compared to 60+ at lowland. I felt weak and the whole body felt warm. My heart was pounding at an alarming 100+. Bad news, I had fever. This was what I was worried about. The same predicament happened to me when we did our 4 days 3 nights' trek in Nepal's Annapurna trail, reaching 4,000m above sea level in 1996.

With these symptoms, it seemed I was not fit enough for highland activities. I was afraid my dream to go to Tibet would be shattered. We were total losers comparing to the two 62 year old seniors who were still in good shape. Especially for Uncle Kon who took the much tougher trail than us with an astonishing steady heartbeat of 70. We had to take Panadol for our headache and fever.

We decided to take early dinner and retire early to get enough rest. Luckily the rest house was equipped with heater and hot water shower. We were arranged to a room with 6 double bunk beds. The night was very cold and windy although I could not tell the actual temperature. After taking a good hot shower, I slipped into the thick blanket for a good night sleep. I needed to recharge in preparation for the biggest challenge the following day i.e. climbing to Borneo's highest accessible peak - Low's Peak at 4,095.2m above sea level.

We woke up before 3am. I felt much better with my fever subsided after a good night sleep. After a quick wash, I quickly wrapped myself up in my warm clothes.

We went to the canteen downstairs. There were already quite a number of climbers waiting anxiously in the canteen. James decided to drop out as he was suffering from a bad headache while Uncle Kon joined the quest.

The weather was not looking good as it was drizzling. Nevertheless, our guide informed us that it was still safe to carry on but we had to bring raincoat. Hearing that, I took off my Jeans jacket and rented a shower proof warm outfit from the rest house at RM10/-.

It was in total darkness when we headed off systematically, team by team, following our own guide. The stepped path was wet and slippery. We had to use torches to light our way. At first, our move was slow with human traffic ahead and behind us. After an hour or so of walk, the rain got heavier. We were contemplating to quit. Uncle Kon kept encouraging us to move on quoting from his past experiences that it was common to have short shower in the early morning.

With his motivation and pacing, we struggled to continue the trip. True enough, the rain stopped after nearly one hour. The Summit trail leading to Low's Peak was equipped with clear paths. We trudged slowly up, every time we came to what looked like a peak there turned out to be more path up ahead. We trudged on and on, the altitude was starting to make the uphill sections noticeably harder than before. Each tiny step made us totally out of breath and sent our heart racing and we had to stop for many rests. Soon, other groups left us far behind.

After approximately 2 hours of steep climb, we came to a steep rocky section, the most dangerous part of the trail. The day was still pitch dark. Carefully with the beam from the torch, we observed the people in front of us took their turns to pull up the rocky steep slope one by one using the pre-affixed thick ropes along the rock. I feel a little scared at first but in the end I forced myself to follow Goy scrambling up the slope. Inch by inch I wobbled and squelched my way and pulled myself up. The ropes wetted my gloves and made my fingers so cold and numb. When we finally made to the top of that section, the ground started to flatten out with a bizarre landscape of no vegetation, just bare rock.

South peak at the right and St. John peak at the left

The climb from here on was not supposed to be tough as the ground was now getting flatter. However my power was fast failing when I reached a large rock. That was the hardest day of exertion I had ever had in my life. Even moving in small and slow steps, I had to breathe extra hard and fast. We had past two peaks - South Peak and St John Peak. Low's Peak was still not within sight. We sat down on the rock face for a few minutes to catch our breath back. The near freezing temperature and the wind did not help much. We could not stay seated for too long. Goy's left knee was aching making his movement more difficult. I was very determined and would not give up so easily. I marched on.

South Peak

It was just another 100 metres away from the peak, my body felt like running out of energy. Still I was driven by a strong mind - if only I could say that I've done it!

Victory grin at Low's Peak - 4,095m above sea level

Along this last stretch, I met up with the military men we met the day before. We shouted "Malaysia Boleh!" to each other giving encouragement to complete the last few steps.
Finally, I made it! I was at the very top of Borneo. I wanted to jump and shout for joy but all I could do was fall over and sat on the ground with a big grin. The view all round was of course breath taking. It occurred to me at that very moment that I was probably standing at the highest point on Earth that I would ever stand in my lifetime.

I felt on top of the world! Too bad I was not alone! The peak was packed with other successful conquerors. With that many people, we had to queue up for our turns to take our celebratory photos at the peak.

Sun rise view from St John Peak.

These were the mountains I had come to see. The view was incredible. Looking warily at the clouds around the peaks, it's quite frightening in places. The ground fell away steeply, one badly judged step on the uneven ground and off from the thin fencing, one would end up plunging into the deadly valley.

From back: Uncle Kon, BH, HS

Here is our victory cheers, did I look great here?

By the time we reached the top, it was too cloudy for a good sunrise. Soon after the sunrise, the summit became unbearably hot. We were unable to spend much time at the peak as we were required to get back to Laban Rata by 10am to continue our descent to the Park HQ.

If you have heart to do something, you can do it!