Mount K diaries–the final push, summit day

The final push VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After much rest, its time to hit the summit trail and this time, we’ll hike from Laban Rata to the Sayat-Sayat station.
Supper was really good as I worked out an appetite. We had about five to six hours of sleep before waking up and had our gear and don our cold weather clothings.
The duofold longjohns held up very well and my biggest worry was the wind chill factor. This was founded much later.
When the door at Laban Rata opened, I can feel the chill down to my bones. Slowly, in an orderly manner, we hiked up to Gunting Lagadan lodge.
Just a few yards away, came the rope section.
At this point, some climbers had turned back and as far as 30 people didn’t make it to the peak.
Vincent, who was the strongest of the lot had made his way to the top.
For Michelle and me, it was one step at a time.
I hiked up the trail of rope which was laid out all the way to the peak.
We had a distance of 2.7km to cover before reaching Low’s Peak at 4,095metres above sea level.
The mist was so bad, visibility was down to about 10 metres.
I can see as Michelle had slowly faded away in the fog. The reflection on her pack’s special reflective strips were my guide.
Half-way through, a man, probably in his mid-40s spoke to me. He said he had reached the peak at 6:30am. At his pace, he took nearly four and a-half hours to reach there.
We were at the half-way point.
Michelle watched as we hit the 8km marker. And with another 700 metres to push, I can see the peak, with a set of ropes on a vertical ascent.
She was the first to reach and as my wife made her way to the peak marker, the weather had cleared up, revealing a fantastic view of Mount Kinabalu and her peaks.
I wasted no time on capturing the beautiful scene, one which most of the earlier climbers would have never seen.
We were the last to summit the peak of Mount Kinabalu and for our patience, we were rewarded with some really awesome pictures.
The journey down was a different story.
After our successful summit attempt, we made our way back to the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint.
A ranger was waiting there didn’t show any sign of amusement.
Infact, he was fed-up of waiting.
We made our way down the rope section and walked back to Laban Rata.
Vincent was already waiting with a plan.
Since everyone from the original summit group have left for the Timpohon gate, Vincent suggested that it was best to remain at the basecamp for another night.
We took the idea and rested before making a 6km hike back to the gate.
This, we completed in five and a half hours. It was an achievement and at the Kinabalu Park HQ, we were issued two certificates: one for the successful summit attempt at Low’s Peak and the other for completing the Mesilau trail.
I couldn’t be any happier in life for pulling this off.
Despite my bad left leg and my overall physical condition, I made it.

Mount K diary–Day 2–Mesilau-Laban Rata

Mount K VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We started our day early in Mesilau.
Shortly after breakfast, we met Atong, our guide at the summit trail's gate.
This was to be a 6-km hike to the basecamp junction at Magnolia hut.
Now, I was told that the Mesilau trail has plenty of promising sights. Its also much longer than the Timpohon trail which we were supposed to have hiked.
At 8:15am, we began our ascend up to Mount Kinabalu.
The first 3km hike was a breeze until we hit the next half of our journey.
At about 3.30pm, we reached a steep incline on km 4.5 which proved to be really tough.
My legs gave way because I was hauling about 13kgs of gear and equipment.
We switched baggage between our guide and Michelle, my wife to push on.
With the cramps setting in on both my legs, each step was agonising.
I had to put up with the pain and just a short distance away, I saw a big guy sitting down on the steps.
His guide, a young Kadazan boy said the man had cramps on both his legs.
He was hauling a small sling back. That was it. From his accent, I discovered that he is West Malaysian and was left behind by a group of climbers we met earlier during breakfast in Mesilau.
The poor dude had to limp his way and from the tone of his voice, I knew he had given up.
From what I heard, the plan was to divert to Layang-Layang staff quarters where he will spend the night before descending down to the Timpohon gate.
At 5.30pm, we reached the Laban Rata junction and were already exhausted.
This was followed by a 2-km hike up to basecamp.
Luck wasn't with as it poured heavily.
Strong winds made the situation worse.
Nevertheless, we pushed on to the next hut and took a short break to mount our headlamps as daylight was fading really fast.
At 7:35pm, we reached Laban Rata and were the last team of climbers to check-in.
We had packed dinner and settled-in early.
My motivation to reach this stage of the summit attempt, was a cup of hot tea and my chocolate bar which was already chilled...

Mount K diary - Day 2 - Mesilau - Laban Rata

We started our day early in Mesilau.

Shortly after breakfast, we met Atong, our guide at the summit trail's gate.

This was to be a 6-km hike to the basecamp junction at Magnolia hut.

Now, I was told that the Mesilau trail has plenty of promising sights. Its also much longer than the Timpohon trail which we were supposed to have hiked.

At 8:15am, we began our ascend up to Mount Kinabalu.

The first 3km hike was a breeze until we hit the next half of our journey.

At about 3.30pm, we reached a steep incline on km 4.5 which proved to be really tough.

My legs gave way because I was hauling about 13kgs of gear and equipment.

We switched baggage between our guide and Michelle, my wife to push on.

With the cramps setting in on both my legs, each step was agonising.

I had to put up with the pain and just a short distance away, I saw a big guy sitting down on the steps.

His guide, a young Kadazan boy said the man had cramps on both his legs.

He was hauling a small sling back. That was it. From his accent, I discovered that he is West Malaysian and was left behind by a group of climbers we met earlier during breakfast in Mesilau.

The poor dude had to limp his way and from the tone of his voice, I knew he had given up.

From what I heard, the plan was to divert to Layang-Layang staff quarters where he will spend the night before descending down to the Timpohon gate.

At 5.30pm, we reached the Laban Rata junction and were already exhausted.

This was followed by a 2-km hike up to basecamp.

Luck wasn't with as it poured heavily.

Strong winds made the situation worse.

Nevertheless, we pushed on to the next hut and took a short break to mount our headlamps as daylight was fading really fast.

At 7:35pm, we reached Laban Rata and were the last team of climbers to check-in.

We had packed dinner and settled-in early.

My motivation to reach this stage of the summit attempt, was a cup of hot tea and my chocolate bar which was already chilled...