Date: June 25 - 28, 2010
Via Mesilau - Timpohon Trails
Prelude:
It was February when my friend mentioned that SMC (Smart Mountaineering Club) is going to climb Mt. Kinabalu on June and I immediately contacted their climb organizer sir Don if I could join them. I figured that if ever I was going to climb this mountain, it should be within this year or not at all… I remembered telling him that although I had minimal climbing experience at the time, I was currently setting training climbs for myself that should be accomplished every month until May where I would get to climb Mt. Apo so I would have the confidence to take on Mt. Kinabalu immediately on June. Unfortunately, there were no more slots left and told me that if ever someone would back out that he’d let me know. Months had past, and Mt. Apo was a "no go", and also no word from SMC. I almost thought that maybe it wasn’t meant for me to climb this mountain this year… but still I kept on hoping that I would be able to join them. And so I still went on with my training climbs, I kept on pushing myself to climb mountains once or twice a month starting from minor climbs slowly building up to major climbs until such time that I got to climb Mt. Isarog, and Mt. Kanlaon (both are major climbs) on the same month in May 2010.
It was already June when my friend informed me that she just had an operation and that I should be ready to replace her in-case she would finally decide to back out. Unfortunately she did. With only 1-2 weeks left, I prepared the funds, the equipment, and filed my vacation leaves. With God’s grace, everything fell into place and I was ready to go on an adventure of a lifetime.
The Mountain:
Mt. Kinabalu is the highest mountain in Malaysia with it’s elevation of 4,095 meters above sea level. A few thousand meters higher than Mt. Apo. It is a haven of biodiversity and hosts a number of endemic species of plants like the pitcher plant Nepenthes Villosa and Nepenthes Raja. The geology of the mountain is also quite interesting. Unlike our mountains here in the Philippines where majority are Volcanic in nature, Mt. Kinabalu is actually what they call a "Granite mound" which was forcefully pushed upward through the earth’s crust for millions of years – and is still growing ¼ inch every year. The mountain has many peaks, some of which are: Donkey’s Ears Peak, St. John’s Peak, Alexandria’s Peak, South Peak, Oyayubi Peak, Dewali Pinacles, and the summit Low’s Peak to name a few.
Day1: We started our trek at around 8:30 am using the more arduous Mesilao trail which was a 7-8 hour climb to Laban Rata. Majority of the trail was uphill, but manageable, they’ve placed wooden stairs and wooden bridges at some points where it was steep. After several hours of hiking in high altitude, I began to experience constant minor headaches which is one of the symptoms of Altitude Sickness. So I stayed with my slow but steady pace and kept myself hydrated every so often. The views in the Mesilau trail was really a sight to behold, very scenic, there was also the occasional squirrels suddenly crossing the trail in front of you. Further up the trail between Magnolia Hut and the trail junction, I saw what seemed to be a dead pitcher plant, so I slowly scouted further and found a separate trail on the side leading to a dozen colorful pitcher plants as if like grapes hanging down from the vines. I was so contented to get a picture of them since this was actually my first time to see up close and in person. After a few minutes we reached the junction where the two trails meet - Mesilau and Timpohon (tourist trail). We then proceeded with the final assault going up to Laban Rata. We reached Laban Rata at around 4:35 pm in time for the dinner buffet at 5’o clock. It is some form of a guest house/ dormitory on top of the mountain wherein climbers spend the night. Pitching tents in the mountain was prohibited. The dining hall is busy during supper time and is usually packed with climbers from different countries. Laban Rata’s elevation is already 3,270 meters above sea level.
Day 2: We began our summit assault at around 2:30 am in order to view the sunrise. For me, this is where the climb went up a notch in difficulty, maybe because of my fatigued body from yesterday’s climb, the chilling cold, the thin air, and simply because my body just got out of bed, I was tired easily, catching my breathe at some points. It was then that I decided to take it slow, since this was my first time to climb at this very high altitude. The trail started with stairs and continued uphill for a few more hours until I reached the rocky massif of the mountain. This was the start of the “white rope” that is bolted on to the rocks and extended all the way up to the summit (around 2km more or less). The earlier part of this trail was hair raising since you have to climb the rocks using the rope with the ever present cliff just on your right side, you literally have to shift your body weight to the left and cling on to the ropes while walking and pulling yourself up. This was just for several minutes though and once you’ve passed this portion, it would be a gradual steep incline all the way to the summit which was also taxing. I arrived at the summit around 6:00 am and the sun was almost up. The guys from AMCI (Jeff and Aron) and SMC (Sir Pip and Chito) were already there, and the sweeper team arrived around 45 minutes later. Good thing I caught up with the sunrise. It was only during that time, when the sun came up, that you get to see all of the surrounding views, you can see the vastness of the granite massif, the many Peaks of Mt. Kinabalu, the sea of clouds and the view of the low lands. It was also at this time that you feel the wind blowing and suddenly everything got a little more colder. We had our photo opps and stayed there for about an hour and a half.
We started to descent at around 7:30am and once again took a lot of photos on our way back to Laban Rata. I arrived at Laban Rata almost 10:00 am just catching the buffet breakfast. Around 11:00 am we continued our descent of the mountain via the Tourist trail (Timpohon) which is for me a “Calvary of Stairs” and was really hard on the knees. I arrived in Timpohon Gate at around 2:30 pm and waited for 2 more hours for the sweeper team to arrive, while waiting I had a chance to mingle with other foreign climbers from China, Malaysia, and Singapore which was also a nice treat.
I will definitely remember this climb for years to come, this is my first time to travel out of the Philippines and my first international climb. I’m looking forward for more in the coming years.
I would like to extend my deepest thanks to Sir Don of SMC (Smart Mountaineering Club) for organizing this climb and to the 2nd Batch Kinablu Team namely Sir Don, Sir Pip, Chito, Jeff (AMCI), Aron (AMCI), Bheng and Grace. And to my friend Ms. Jhess – it was really unfortunate that you had to back out but safety is always top priority and you made the right decision. :)
And to everyone who gave their support and had extended their love and prayers to me, those who have inspired and pushed me to go on with the climb despite the financial concerns (ang dami nyo, you know who you are :) ), I am forever grateful, I appreciate it very much. :)
This climb is dedicated to my Dad who had his birthday last June 23 and who is now with our Lord God in Heaven.
