The mountain that almost killed us

Mount Kinabalu

So last I left off I was heading, pantless, towards Mount Kinabalu. The mountain dominates the landscape and, at just over 4,000 m tall, is the tallest mountain in SE Asia. I, along with my travel mates, had certainly never climbed a mountain that high, but we thought we would give it a try. The hike consists of two parts, a 6km trek to Laban Rata where the guest houses are and a 2.7 km jaunt up to the peak that is usually done the next morning in the dark to reach the top for sunrise. I have certainly hiked more than 8.7 km before but never with such an elevation change. The base is at roughly 2,000 metres, so that doubles in a very short period of time.

Mount Kinabalu is known for its levels of endemism (plants and animals that live nowhere else on earth). It has over 800 species of orchid, 400 types of fern, and more Nepenthes species (pitcher plants) than anywhere else. Pitcher plants are the ones filled with digestive enzymes that consume insects and even small lizards to obtain nutrients because the soil is so poor. Needless to say I took a lot of macro photos of flowers and plants.

At the 5 km mark of the 6 to the first base camp we started to slow down substantially. We were already moving at a slow pace due to all of the pictures we were taking, but then the altitude hit us. Every couple of steps you would have to stop because your head was pounding so hard to the beat of your quickened heartbeat. The thumping would stop briefly when you stopped walking but return again seconds after activity resumed. It was slow and grueling but we made it to the base camp in 6 hours (that's about the maximum they say it takes...I blame the pictures). After almost passing out we headed to a different hut to have a huge buffet. After engorging ourselves we went back to our unheated hut and curled up in the sleeping bag provided and went to sleep.

At 2:00 am we crawled out of bed and slipped on our clothes for the dark ascent to the top. I had to test out my new "pants" for the first time. They consisted of my quiksilver bathing suit with the zip of bottoms of my lost pants (they weren't attached when the laundry place lost them) duct taped to the bottom. I looked ridiculous, but whatever. After some toast and a hot drink we started off with our headlamps on at about 2:30. About 100 or so people head up to the summit for sunrise so the beginning is slow going up steep stairs in a never ending single file line of light. You just see a line of marching lights way up above to remind you of where you are going. The slow pace was a welcome change and we had gotten a little more used to the altitude. The only thing we really wanted to do was make it there for sunrise.

The last hut is at the 7 km mark. We still couldn't see a thing due to the darkness and thick fog and were trudging our way up slippery slopes of granite holding on by just the grips of my keens (my shoes) and a rope attached to the rock. At 7 km it began to rain...just a pleasant freezing cold, chill you to the bone rain. It wasn't as if we were trying to climb a sheer rock face at 4 in the morning in the pitch black and fog or anything. After donning our rainjackets and ponchos we silently marched ahead up a never-ending rock face towards an unknown destination. Cold does not even describe it. It probably was around 5 degrees celsius but with no tree protection and no real pants or jacket it was just a wee bit chilly. Step after precarious step we went higher and higher. This was made even harder for Alex by a pre-existing ligament injury in her foot that hurt every time she walked. Again just what we needed.

At 5:45 am I reached the summit at 4,095 m, exhausted and freezing. I waited up there for awhile as my dejected climbing mates made their way to the top. The summit is a tiny boulder with a sign that was crowded by everyone who was summitting at the same time. Not exactly climactic. The sun rose just as I reached the top but all I could see were the clouds slightly better than before. Not the sunrise we had envisioned. Just as we were about to leave the top the clouds broke. We could see all the way to the ocean and most of the other peaks of the mountain (it has many jagged peaks but the ironically named Low's peak is the highest). Just a spectacular site.

The hike down was slow but steady, as between us we were both sore and had injuries. We somehow made it slowly down to the hut at the 7 km mark where Kyle and I went on an adventure and the girls headed down the way we came towards Laban Rata at the 6 km mark for a second breakfast. Our package, unbeknownst to us before hand, included a session of "via ferrata". It is kind of a combo between repelling and rock climbing. Basically you strap yourselves in with ropes, harnesses, and other safety equipment and slowly make your way down the vertical rock face using metal holds that were drilled into the rock. Hard to explain but you can look it up. We made it down to the hut, gobbled some breakfast and made our way down the mountain.

We weren't moving too quickly in the first place and were only saved by the trusty walking stick and the promise of a hot shower. Our whole bodies ached and my knee began to act up a little. The piece de resistance was at about 2.5 km from the finish. The rainforest showed us how it got its name and it started to pour non-stop for the remaining part of the hike. Nothing dreary, injured, tired hikers want more than rain. This wasn't just drizzle either. Big droplets of unrelenting water came down on us and turned our trail into a river. The only positive of the rain was one of the creatures it brings out. Right before it began raining we saw a squirrel attacking what we thought was a snake. It was about 30 cm long, blue, and writhing around trying to get away. We asked our guide Feliks what kind of snake it was and he said that it was a worm! As we descended further we found 3 or 4 others of the same species. The Kinabalu giant earthworm is its name and it lives up to its title. One that we saw had to have been close to the maximum size of 70 cm long! Its about as thick as my finger and a dark blue colour. I couldn't get any pictures due to the rain, but needless to say it is bigger than your average backyard dirt digger. Its main predator is the Kinabalu giant leech (only eats worms and not human blood), but we didn't see any of those.

We got down safe and found the first hotel we could, rented the entire 8 bed dorm room for the 4 of us and had a warm shower. Recovery was/is still slow. A couple of days later and stairs are still difficult. Definitely worth it though and I would do it again in a second....only maybe next time with pants.

We caught a bus to Sandakan the next morning. I bought a new shirt and shorts and we headed to the airport to fly back to Kuala Lumpur. After a restless night in the airport we left at 7:00 am for Siem Reap in Cambodia near the temples of Angkor Wat. It was sad to leave Malaysia after 7 weeks here. We finally were getting a hang of the language and customs and certainly had mixed feelings about leaving. Having said that I've been in Cambodia for 5 hours and I've already had the most interesting hour of my life. I'll leave that for the next journal though...

Luckily there are no more mountains to climb in my near future, that I know of...

-Josh

P.S. I am trying to add pictures but not all computers here will accept the program required. I will get the underwater Sipadan shots and the Mt. Kinabalu shots when I can.

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