Trip to KK, Day 3: We came, we saw, we conquered!

*You may click on the photos for bigger version*

THE day for us.

The day started very early. We were all already awake by 1:30AM, despite going to bed at around 10:30PM the night before. We had to wake up early since we're supposed to meet our guide at the Laban Rata cafe at 2:30AM for the trek to the summit.

Again, we had to trek down the stairs to the cafe for our breakfast, which is technically a supper considering the time. All of us had a good 'breakfast' to fuel ourselves to the summit!

By then, it was already 3:00AM and Pak Jo was already complaining. But we were all very excited! Then we had to climb back up the very same stairs we went down for breakfast since the summit trail is actually just next to our hostel. We were told the climb to the summit would be 2.7km. The first 700m on wooden stairs and natural rocky terrain. Then the rest of it will be on rock surface and we will require to use ropes to climb up, that is the rope section.

The first 700m was a bit slow. The stairs was quite narrow and there were just too many people trying to climb up at the same time. There was a group of elderly Japanese tourists going up as well, slowing things down a bit for the rest of the climbers. But more on the Japs later.

We were already struggling on the first stage of the climb. The stair was rather steep. And then we reached the 'rope section'. Now things got very scary indeed. We had to hang by the rope, stepping only on a narrow ledge by the rocky mountain side. With a deep drop behind us! With the dark surrounding, depending only on our headlights, things got even scarier. Luckily the really steep and difficult section was not very long. I admit, I was quite worried at this section, since even a slight slip of the footing or slip of the rope grip would mean tumbling down to an almost certain death. Having said that, our guide was able to jump around on one foot on this particularly steep section *damn*

Then it was on rock surface all the way up. It was not very steep, but the cold condition and the sheer distance we had to cover was rather intimidating. Additionally, we barely had enough rest from yesterday's 10-hour long climb. And the thin air at such altitude exacerbates things further. By now the sun was already rising, which meant we were quite late. We started early so we could catch the sunrise at the summit, but we were barely halfway there.

The sun was already up. We were only halfway there

Despite that, still, take photo hehehe

But we were not alone. Our group of Anis, Sue and myself was constantly being accompanied by the group of the elderly Japs. Despite of their age, they certainly had a strong determination to reach the summit. And we being much younger just simply cannot ignore that and see that as a challenge to continue to the summit!

After walking for more than 3 hours, we were literally dragging our feet, but the summit was still not yet in sight. We saw the 'summit' from afar and tried our best to reach it, accompanied by encouragement words from climbers descending from the summit. Already!? *sigh*

Special shot by our guide. Never realized the South Peak photo on our RM1 note

Little did we know, the 'summit' we saw was actually the 8km mark. From there on, there's still 700m to the summit! From that point, we could clearly see people standing on the summit and they all looked no bigger than tiny little ants. It was really that far! Never remembered 700m being that far away.

But we summoned all the energy left in our body and made our best attempt to reach the summit. We were already that near, no way we're gonna give up! Not when the elderly Japs were carrying on! I had to literally push Anis to help her move. Until the Sayang Kinabalu song played on the MP3 player. That gave us a sudden burst of energy and encouragement for our last 100m climb to the peak! It's all about the mentality really.

The last section was rather difficult and we had to be very, very careful. We were surrounded by big rock boulders and nothing else. Nothing at all to cushion a fall. Nevertheless, we made it to the summit! Yay!

We made it to the peak!! That metal signboard actually is damn cold

Spent almost 30 minutes on the summit, for pictures and enjoying the breathtaking view around us. We were lucky the weather was very kind to us and the view was clear, even though it was already about 9:00AM by then.

View of the South Peak from Low's Peak (4095.2m)

Then it was the dreaded walk down. On the way down to the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint, we were more or less on our own over the mountain top. Only the four of us, Anis, Sue, Pak Jo and myself. And with the sun shining gloriously onto the mountain face, it was now that I realized the scale of the place. The mountain top area was really a vast, wide open rocky terrain. Doesn't look like it from afar.

Last view of Low's Peak, with a nice blue sky

To give you an idea of the sheer scale of the place

The 8 km mark. The summit seemed so far away. Not a very encouraging sight while on the way up

In the background, that's the fake summit we saw from afar, which actually is the 8 km mark

We were the last climbers past the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint and the ranger manning the place locked the gates behind us and accompanied us for the descent to Laban Rata. He shared with us his experience working on the mountain. Going up from Laban Rata to Sayat-Sayat checkpoint on daily basis, for the past 9 years. On the way down, bumped into several climbers going to the top on their day-trek. And again met Mohd. Nor, he was also on the way up.

At the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint

We were so relieved when finally we safely reached Laban Rata cafe. We missed the breakfast by a long shot. It was already 1:00PM. But they were kind enough to accept our meal vouchers in exchange for fried rice. Special mention, the RM10.35 canned F&N soft drinks tasted soooooo nice compared back in KL. Dunno why hahaha!

Only at around 3:00PM we started our descent to the bottom. We chose the shorter Timpohon trail this time around. Everything was going fine, until after about 2 km when Erwan complaining of knee pain, which is rather common when going down such steep stairs. Another kilometer passed by and Anis started complaining of fatigue. No amount of chocolate and energy drinks helped. But we pushed on. Stopping for rests regularly. Later I found out she skipped the fried rice lunch at Laban Rata. That explained it. She was just too exhausted.

At Layang-Layang hut, just after the T-junction, again we met Mohd Nor, on his way down. Fahizam then took off with the group for the descent while the rest of us stayed together in our group.

Another kilometer passed-by and Anis started vomitting. She already called it quits, but that's simply not an option in the middle of the mountain jungle! We have to make our way down by any means. With assistance from Pak Jo, we pushed on. By then, we had another casualty, Irma was having wobbly feet as well and would at any time just simply fall to the ground. She was also suffering from total exhaustion, also because of skipping lunch at Laban Rata. It was not a pretty sight. 3 out of 5 were injured or severely fatigued. The rest of us just tried to encourage the group to push on as it was already getting dark, which reminded us of Nuang experience.

But pushed we did and we managed to reach Timpohon gate at 8:45PM. In total, we trekked for 16 hours in one day! 10 hours from Laban Rata to the summit and back, then 6 hours going down to Timpohon gate. That's 26 hours in two freaking days! No wonder we were so fatigued by then.

After the long-ish journey in the van to KK, we all retreated back to our next stay, Kinabalu Backpackers lodge. Relieved and proud that the climb was already behind us. We all reached the highest peak in South East Asia! 6 of us attempted and all 6 made it to the top! Bravo!