Climbing Kinabalu

Day 1. On the balcony at Timpohon Gate, the starting point of the trail, still looking alive. The night before the climb we considered changing the original plan of taking the Timpohon trail and going up via the more scenic Mesilau trail instead, but it was a too late to change plans, so up the Timpohon trail we went!!! This was my third time climbing the mountain, second time for the tall guy on the right, and first time for the other four.

The early section of the trail has some short stretches of flat terrain like this. But do not let this image fool you. The rest of the trail is basically steps going up and up and up and up.

Posing for a photo at km4 of the trail, just after the rest stop at Layang-Layang. The entire Kinabalu trail is about 8.8km.

At Pondok Villosa rest stop along the way up to Laban Rata. The majestic rock face beckons to us from yonder.

A tree. I'm not sure if it's dead or alive.

Cloud formations on the way to Laban Rata. The blue sky is all natural. Every photo on this trip was shot on Fuji film. Everything you see here has been scanned from the prints. No Photoshop. No touch up.

Sun

Laban Rata, at 3300m above sea level, our destination for the first day's climb. Local porters go up and down everyday, carrying fresh supplies like rice, vegetables and cooking gas tanks. Amazing.

Hanging out on the deck of Laban Rata resthouse. To say that the view is breath-taking is a gross understatement.

The view from the deck of Laban Rata. Nice rainbow.

Sunrays streaming through the glass panes and casting long shadows across the floor of the cafe at Laban Rata resthouse.

Laban Rata was full so we went just a stone's throw away to Gunting Lagadan Hut, where we spent the night. A very very cold night. I could not sleep even a wink. The frigid cold simply pierced through every layer of insulation that I wore. Anyway, we had to "wake up" at 2:30AM to start the climb to the summit in the dark, so there wasn't much of a night to sleep.

Sunset view from Gunting Lagadan Hut.

Day 2. Sunrise along the way up to the top. We were slow, so we missed seeing the sunrise from the peak. Instead, the sun crept up on us as we trudged along, step by step. In Sabah, sunrise happens at around 6AM.

A bit more light...

getting brighter...

and brighter...

Pink and orange giving way to blue...

That's me, silhouetted against the brightening sky... Donkey's Ears on the left.

Plodding on to the summit. As you can see, we were very slow. The sun had already risen but we were still on the way up. Slow and steady.



Low's Peak, as seen from the last leg of the climb. The final push to the summit is sometimes the hardest, but you just gotta keep going.

The three stooges at 4095m above sea level.

Standard photo with the signboards.

Not so standard photo.

Low's Gully, with Eastern Ridge in the distance.

This shot was taken from Low's Peak, looking southwest.

That's me in front, St. John's Peak at the back and the invisible wind blowing everywhere... this is the beginning of the descent from the top.

St. John's Peak

Posing along the way down. This is a trick shot taken from a low angle to give the impression of height. That little sharp protrusion on my right is actually the top of South Peak about 1km away, but juxtaposed against the foreground.

Further down, the team stops for a group photo with South Peak in the background.

I, the straggler, looking forlorn on the rock face... South Peak in the background, again. South Peak is featured on the back of the Malaysian 1 Ringgit note.

An view of South Peak from a different perspective. Most "postcard" shots of South Peak are from the Plateau above. This shot was taken from below.

Taking a breather to enjoy the view on the way down... that's Sayat-Sayat in the distance below... thank God for the perfect weather.

Yup, the rock face looks pretty steep. But only this section. The other sections are not so steep. It's not that difficult to walk up, really. You just need lots and lots of determination and motivation. And it helps if you're fit. My team wasn't, so we had to pull/push one another up. :)

At Sayat-Sayat checkpoint, on the way down from the peak. We were so slow, we only made it back to Gunting Lagadan Hut at noon! The rest of the day was spent descending all the way back to Park HQ. We made it just before sunset. Really slow.

The view of Mt. Kinabalu from Hotel Perkasa, Kundasang, on a clear day. This photo was taken the day after completing the climb.


I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2