Photo Essay: The climb

Mount Kinabalu is mystery even in its height. It is known as a growing mountain and mostly its height is shown as 4905 meter, and 4101 meter in some books. There are many unverified and unofficial stories about Mount Kinabalu starting with how the name "Kinabalu" derived from. Both legandary and scientific explanations about Mt Kinabalu are interesting.

As Miley Cyrus sings
"Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what is waiting on the other side
It's the climb ... "

Yes, it IS the climb.


Twelve of us started the Mt K climb from Mesilau Nature Resort on 19 May around 8am. The top of the Mount Kinabalu can be seen clearly in the early mornings. We have to pray hard for the weather as it is a major decision factor for reaching the summit.




Between the two starting points, I prefer Mesilau as there are more scenic views along the route and the longer and gradual climb is also helpful to reduce risk of getting altitude sickness. This is the entrance of the Summit trail at Mesilau.




Various flora and fauna surviving at different climate conditions and fertility of the soil were found as we climb up. I referred to "A Color Guide to Kinabalu Park by Susan K. Jacobson" to familiarize myself with the paradise of flowers, plants, trees and animals. Here are some beautiful flowers at the bottom of the mountain.




After walking about one hour, most of us are still together. We chit chat, take photos, and have fun near a small water fall. The water supply along the climb route is from the natural sources and thus the guide warned us of the risk of allergens. Since my body sometimes overly response to all sort of allergens I decided to drink the bottled water I am carrying until getting closer to the rest house.




We still enjoy taking more photos and having fun along the way, but after this point we started to form sub-groups depending on the pace of climbing. The first rule I follow is "Listen to your body; follow your own pace" to minimize getting altitude sickness




The guy in white-brown stripe shirt is our guide; we call him Jay Chou ;) He is Dusun from the largest ethnic group Kadazan-Dusun in Sabah and he guides average 8 trips per month. I think Mt K guides earn handsomely as they also have some side-line businesses such as carrying our bags. The one in the blue shirt is his assistant and still learning to be a guide.




We started to walk in the cloud forests which were most of the time enveloped in the thick and saturated mist. The weather is so humid that this part of the mountain is hardly seen from the bottom. The pale green lichen are hanging on the brunches, mosses cover the tree trunks.




When we walked out of the thick forest, we reach 5 Kilometer point (starting from Mesilau) and the view was breath taking. This section of the route has some of my favorite scenes. This is where we started to see the shorter trees and various shades of green.




The weather favors us for the climb. It started to rain in the late afternoon but it was not so heavy. We manage to continue walking under the cover of poncho (rain coat). The tongkat (hiking stick) is very useful along the accent. It helps to reduce the knee injuries. Now only 4 of us are in the same group. The younger ones have already gone up fast.




This section also makes a difference Mesilau trail from Timpohon. It is the ridge connecting between two mountains. By now, I started to feel the exhaustion and the impact of thin air. I also notice the walking speed is getting slower. This could be the tipping point for tomorrow summit climb if I am not careful.




The flora around this place at about 3000meter is colorful. The small reddish flowers closer to me are Rhododendron ericoides which is found nowhere else in the world (Ref: Jacobson). The guide books say we can varieties of pitcher plants (Nepenthes) along the trails. Probably I am anxious about the climb and thus not looking around; I only saw a few small pitcher plants. After this point, it rains and no more chance to take any photos until we reached Laban Rata Resthouse.




20 May, my official birthday, at 2am: we are ready for the summit climb. I feel I am overly protecting myself as I do not feel the intense cold weather inside the building. However, when we are walking up, I understand why my friends who ever climbed before suggested me for the protections. It is 8 degrees C at Laban Rata.




I follow "go slow and steady", and successfully checked in at Sayat Sayat hut at 4:07am (I was told that I won't be allowed to continue the climb if I reach Sayat Sayat after 4:30am) and continued the climb alone. It was dark and cold but I take time to walk up. I met our guide and two other friends at the 8 KM point.




The strong wind attacks the climbers from various directions. The 3-4 degrees C cold air is cutting through the skin. That is where I appreciate all the protections. We take some photos and continue the climb.




Getting closer to 6am, started to see the rays of sunlight. I still have about 200 meter to go. When I started to see the light, the view around was magnificent and thus I walk even slower to give myself some more time to enjoy the moment. After all, it is the climb what really matters.




I climbed up and reached the last few meter of Low's peak. I see many people at the top taking photos and I decided not to go up there after confirming with the guide that I reached the summit. (Later when my friends talk about how crowded and congested up there, and how they have to hold on to the signs to get their photos, I am kind of regret for not going up a few more steps and getting a photo of myself with the signs.)




The following photo is St John's peak. The local legend says "a woman who waited for her husband till her last breath was turned into a stone. Her face was made to face the South China Sea, so that she could wait forever for her dear husband's return"




This is South Peak which appears on 1 RM (Malaysian Ringgit) note. And it is my motivation. My goal is to take a photo of myself with South Peak on the way back from the Low's peak. I take a 10-minute break up there, refueled myself with overly sweet chocolates and some bananas and climb down.




Now, we are back to the South Peak. I brought prints of my artwork - flags of Malaysia, Singapore and Myanmar and the South Peak in the background. The sizes of the flags roughly represent the importance of Malaysia, Singapore and my home country for this trip. Too bad, I do not have a chance to take photo with all my team as I was the last one coming down from the summit.




Time for decent. This is the time I realize the return journey. Decent sometimes can even be more difficult than the accent. Here, I have a benefit of being the last one in the group. The guides usually walk with the last one to ensure no one in the group is missing and also to assist if there is a need. Walking with the guide makes my decent much easier.




Soon after, I catch up with the group on a smoother plane. We exchange our experiences of reaching the summit, take some photos and walk down together. We are favored by the weather thus we can see the surrounding very clearly - the near by towns and even Kota Kinabalu.




We didn't really see anything on the way up as it was too dark. Now we can see the steep cliff and the path we walked through. Sometimes, I sit and slide down to save energy. We still have a long way to go from Laban Rata Resthouse back to the bottom of the hill.




The check out at Sayat Sayat Hut ensures the certificate of submit climb. I take some time to fill up my water bag and continue descending. I am the first Myanmar climber our guide has ever accompanies and thus he wants me to reach the summit. Now our guide's wish has fulfilled ;)




Between Sayat Sayat Hut and Laban Rata Resthouse is the most dangerous part of the climb. People are walking down right on the cliff with the only help of the rope. A slip or an angle spring can happen any time. No safety harness, nothing. I think it could be improved for more safety precautions.




We ask our guide if there is any accidents and injuries among the climbers. The answer was "yes" as expected. But to my surprise, most of the accidents happened along the climb between the resthouse and the starting points rather than the tough climbing points. It seems like people are more vulnerable to accidents when they are off-guard.




I take the last shot of the summit climb before reaching Laban Rata Resthouse and appreciate human’s capability. A piece of natural resource can be turned into a tourist attraction. A tough climb can be made accessible. The flowers in the photos are seen at very high elevation only.




This is the magnificent view of Mt Kinabalu from about 2800-3000 meter. Only the short trees with white trunks can survive at harsh weather and poor soil. The sun is so intense that I barely see the peaks. The weather still favors us.




We are back to the misty region again. Although it is sunny, there is heavy mist in the forest at that altitude. Descending takes less time but it makes the muscles tense and later painful. This last portion of the climb gives me the pain in the muscles.




After walking for three and a half hours, we finally reached to the end of our climb, Timpohon gate. With the arrangement of our group lead Haravin, the vans are waiting to bring us to the restaurant. It doesn’t really matter how long it took me to reach the summit. It IS a good climb I will always remember.