I went on the hike with a friend from MMU. So on 27th June, a day before the climb, we went to the management office at Kinabalu National Park to pay for our permits and insurance which are RM50 and RM7 each (Malaysians).
I also read that it's best to be at higher grounds a day before the climb to get used to the altitude, so yeah we went to Kundasang the day before and stayed in a mixed dormitory at Kinabalu Mountain Lodge :) I don't have many comments on the accommodation coz it's cheap (RM3x) and comfortable enough. Plus, there's hot shower so it's all good. Oh and the dorm is capsule concept so I have plenty of privacy considering that I was sharing the room with 4 or 5 males. Privacy is ok but noise cancellation isn't really and I still could hear noises through my ear plugs.
We were told to be there by 8am to pay for our guide and take our food so we set off from KML at around 7am, along with two brothers we picked up en route to the hostel the night before.
And whaddaya know, the path was blocked by a fallen tree from the storm the night before! After futile attempts to move it by the men, people from the lodge came with a chainsaw and saw the whole thing apart! I snapchatted: What a way to start the morning!
After that little bump, we went to Kinabalu National Park, paid for our guide and a porter to carry my bag, took our packed lunch then off we went to begin the climb! (Paid RM34 for 2 of us for transportation to the starting point at Timpohon Gate)
Our guide briefed us about the trails, told us some precautions and it began!
Walking up was harder than I anticipated. I thought it'll just be normal mud/dirt trail, but to my surprise, it's a combination of steep stairs, dirt trail, and rocks and rubbles. It was very painful on my knees as my previously injuries still weren't (aren't) fully recovered. But stamina wise, I think I did pretty okay. As how I am, the first few kilometers made me exhausted and felt like fainting but when I reached a certain stage, my stamina were all there and I didn't feel much exhaustion after that.
We started off from Timpohon Gate at 8:27AM (I checked coz I wanna time) and I reached Laban Rata Resthouse, 6km, at 1:25PM. Less than 5 hours so I'm pretty happy.
Washed up and took a 2-hour nap then proceed to wake up around 4PM to hang out with other hikers in the restaurant/common area.
Dinner started slightly before 4:30PM. Ate while listening and talking to fellow tourists.
Slept at around 7:30PM coz we needed to be up by 2AM for the summit climb.
I had my thermals layered under a pullover and leggings so I was pretty toasty tucked into thick sheets.
Woke up at 1:30AM on 29/06/2016 with massively painful knees. It felt like someone stabbed me repeatedly in the middle and around my knees. Surprisingly my calves and thighs were perfectly fine. I ignored the pain and went on to get ready then went down to have our supper to prepare us for the summit climb.
At 2:30AM we set off to the peak. The trails were all steep stairways and he inside of my knees felt like they were on fire with every step I took but I kept pushing myself to go. I told myself that I can do it. That I WILL get to Low's Peak and take gloriously stunning pictures up there. My dad told me that I'll need to believe that I can do it in order to reach the top. So I steeled myself and kept moving on.
But I couldn't take it anymore. The pain was just beyond my ability to withstand. I walked very slowly and when I reached the 300m mark, I stopped completely. I felt like passing out with the pain. So I asked some other guide to get my guide who was up wayyy in front with Alister.
I then asked him if there's still a long way to go and if I should carry on with the pain in my knees. He told me better not coz if my knee is hurt, it'll be difficult to descend later on.
I was thinking to myself that if I forced on up, I might not be able to get down. And asking porters/guides to carry will cost RM800 per kilometer (according to our guide, dunno how true that is), so I pondered on it and decided to be smart about it and I turned back.
Man, it took me an hour to go back to Laban Rata which was only 300m down. My knees kept on buckling but thank God for the barristers/railings and my hiking pole!
Reached back at Laban Rata and was locked out of my dorm coz key was with Alister. The staffs there informed me that they don't have any spare keys to open my room door for me but they were kind enough to help me break into the room by lock-picking HAHA.
So I slept and rested till around 7AM when my mom called me.
Slighly about 8AM, climbers started to return.
A couple from Australia who stayed in the same dorm as I was were the first persons to reached back and they were super nice and sweet!
They told me reaching Laban Rata was already an achievement by itself and proceeded to show me the pictures they took on the summit. Pictures were stunning!!
Alister arrived around 8:30AM, knackered and looking like he was gonna pass out LOL seeing him like that made me a bit thankful of my knee pain lolol.
Around 9:45AM, we started to descend.
Because of my knees, the way down was painful and frustrating coz I couldn't walk as fast as I'd like to and Alister was already very very very far ahead. The guide was wayyy behind me coz I walked too slow so I suppose it bored him to death so he let me walk ahead and he popped up behind me every 30 minutes or so and repeated the same pattern.
"You go first Audrey", he'd say. And I'd be walking at what I thought was a reasonably fast pace and about half an hour later he'd appear behind me asking if I'm okay. Lol, superhumans.
Anyhow I didn't stop to take any breaks during the descend coz I was very sure Alister would already be waiting and well, it isn't very nice to have people waiting for you I suppose. So I walked/limped/crawled down as fast as I could.
Reached Timpohon Gate at 1:20PM, half dying.
Went to Balsam Cafe to have my lunch and to meet Alister. Turns out he had been waiting for half an hour oops.
Had lunch and went home.
I wasn't too sad about not reaching the summit coz honestly, I was expecting it. My knees aren't fully recovered so I was sort of prepared for the failure. I frankly don't think risking my knees is worth even the most breathtaking views nor the sense of accomplishment.
My ego was a bit bruised tho HAHA but ah well I'm over it now. Definitely going again next time! Maybe next year same time again as a Mount Climbing anniversary? Quite psyched thinking about going for it again!
Don't know if I can make it to the top the second time. I hope I can. But if I can't, I'll do it again and again until I do :D
 |
| At around the 300m point |
We started off from Timpohon Gate at 8:27AM (I checked coz I wanna time) and I reached Laban Rata Resthouse, 6km, at 1:25PM. Less than 5 hours so I'm pretty happy.
Washed up and took a 2-hour nap then proceed to wake up around 4PM to hang out with other hikers in the restaurant/common area.
Dinner started slightly before 4:30PM. Ate while listening and talking to fellow tourists.
I had my thermals layered under a pullover and leggings so I was pretty toasty tucked into thick sheets.
Woke up at 1:30AM on 29/06/2016 with massively painful knees. It felt like someone stabbed me repeatedly in the middle and around my knees. Surprisingly my calves and thighs were perfectly fine. I ignored the pain and went on to get ready then went down to have our supper to prepare us for the summit climb.
At 2:30AM we set off to the peak. The trails were all steep stairways and he inside of my knees felt like they were on fire with every step I took but I kept pushing myself to go. I told myself that I can do it. That I WILL get to Low's Peak and take gloriously stunning pictures up there. My dad told me that I'll need to believe that I can do it in order to reach the top. So I steeled myself and kept moving on.
But I couldn't take it anymore. The pain was just beyond my ability to withstand. I walked very slowly and when I reached the 300m mark, I stopped completely. I felt like passing out with the pain. So I asked some other guide to get my guide who was up wayyy in front with Alister.
I then asked him if there's still a long way to go and if I should carry on with the pain in my knees. He told me better not coz if my knee is hurt, it'll be difficult to descend later on.
I was thinking to myself that if I forced on up, I might not be able to get down. And asking porters/guides to carry will cost RM800 per kilometer (according to our guide, dunno how true that is), so I pondered on it and decided to be smart about it and I turned back.
Man, it took me an hour to go back to Laban Rata which was only 300m down. My knees kept on buckling but thank God for the barristers/railings and my hiking pole!
Reached back at Laban Rata and was locked out of my dorm coz key was with Alister. The staffs there informed me that they don't have any spare keys to open my room door for me but they were kind enough to help me break into the room by lock-picking HAHA.
So I slept and rested till around 7AM when my mom called me.
Slighly about 8AM, climbers started to return.
A couple from Australia who stayed in the same dorm as I was were the first persons to reached back and they were super nice and sweet!
They told me reaching Laban Rata was already an achievement by itself and proceeded to show me the pictures they took on the summit. Pictures were stunning!!
Alister arrived around 8:30AM, knackered and looking like he was gonna pass out LOL seeing him like that made me a bit thankful of my knee pain lolol.
Around 9:45AM, we started to descend.
Because of my knees, the way down was painful and frustrating coz I couldn't walk as fast as I'd like to and Alister was already very very very far ahead. The guide was wayyy behind me coz I walked too slow so I suppose it bored him to death so he let me walk ahead and he popped up behind me every 30 minutes or so and repeated the same pattern.
"You go first Audrey", he'd say. And I'd be walking at what I thought was a reasonably fast pace and about half an hour later he'd appear behind me asking if I'm okay. Lol, superhumans.
Anyhow I didn't stop to take any breaks during the descend coz I was very sure Alister would already be waiting and well, it isn't very nice to have people waiting for you I suppose. So I walked/limped/crawled down as fast as I could.
Reached Timpohon Gate at 1:20PM, half dying.
Went to Balsam Cafe to have my lunch and to meet Alister. Turns out he had been waiting for half an hour oops.
Had lunch and went home.
I wasn't too sad about not reaching the summit coz honestly, I was expecting it. My knees aren't fully recovered so I was sort of prepared for the failure. I frankly don't think risking my knees is worth even the most breathtaking views nor the sense of accomplishment.
My ego was a bit bruised tho HAHA but ah well I'm over it now. Definitely going again next time! Maybe next year same time again as a Mount Climbing anniversary? Quite psyched thinking about going for it again!
Don't know if I can make it to the top the second time. I hope I can. But if I can't, I'll do it again and again until I do :D
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