Hiking Mt. Kinabalu, The Highest Point (elev 4095m). Pt 1 of 2
In July 2013, Yuki and I hiked our biggest mountain yet, Mt. Kinabalu Malaysia
Back in January when we were first starting to plan air tickets for this trip, we visited a travel agent who upon hearing about Malaysia and our interest in hiking, suggested that we go to Borneo to check out the snorkeling at Tunku Abdul Rahman National park and hiking at Mt. Kinabalu National Park. I had wanted to go to Borneo since my last trip to Malaysia four years ago, even though I didn’t know about the mountain at the time, so this sounded like a good idea.
After much anguish over the cost to hike Mt. Kinabalu, we finally booked our tour to the mountain only a few days before leaving for Japan. One company, Amazing Borneo has a monopoly on the park. It is possible to show up the day-of, but anything booked in advance has to go through them. A week before we were to hike the mountain on July 26th and 27th, we received an itinerary by email that told us to transfer to the base of the mountain on the 25th and stay at the mountain headquarters. The next day, we would climb half way up and sleep mid-mountain. Then, we would wake up early to summit the mountain before sunrise for a spectacular view followed by the entire descent and ride back to Kota Kinabalu. Three days and two nights.
Our mountain guide waits for us as we admire the view of Borneo below us. We started somewhere down there. Mt Kinabalu, Malaysia The tour began on with the friendly staff of Amazing Borneo picking us up from our hostel and taking us to the National Park. There was only one other guy, a Frenchman from Hong Kong, listening to his ipod in the van. The van needed fuel, which took half an hour in traffic, and then it was an hour and a half drive into the mountains along windy roads filled with lots of lorries spewing black smog into the greenery. There was a short rest-stop which had lots of roadside stalls selling trinkets and old fruits. Right before we had to leave we discovered a small park with a pretty nice view. We snapped a few photos and then ran back to the van for what was just a couple of minutes up the road.
A small part of Borneo, Mt. Kinabalu, Malaysia
The normal itinerary is 2 Days 1 Night from KK. We choose to go a day early because I didn’t want to go from sea-level to 3,200m in one day — it would be too much and would be asking for altitude sickness. Talking with others later on, I think this was a smart move, abit costly. It also meant we were able to get up 2 hours later as we didn’t have to drive from KK that would also would have given us car sickness. We picked the Hill Lodge to get a private room instead of the dormitories. After a short rest that involved a lot of Minion Rush gaming on our phones, we walked a kilometer back to the Headquarters for the dinner hall.
Meals were provided on this tour and this first dinner was probably the best even if it didn’t seem all that healthy to be eating before a big hike. I stuck to pasta and some fried rice and skipped the satay skewers and deep-fried stuff. Dessert included fresh fruit which made me happy.
When we got back, we packed our essentials into Yuki’s bag and stuffed the rest into her purse and my backpack. We were pretty impressed that we could slim it down to the essentials and only one backpack.
Neither of us slept through the night. Maybe we were too anxious, maybe we’d slept too much the night before. It felt like neither of us slept at all and I spent the night watching the light slowly change through the curtains. Fortunately, the sunrise was directly outside the door and when our alarm went off at 6:45 I opened the door to cast a blinding light onto Yuki. I don’t think she appreciated that…
Our living quarters for the first night, Mt. Kinabalu Malaysia
Fortunately, we were able to call a van to the headquarters and didn’t have to walk which also saved a European group from walking. We left the big pack at the Headquarters, 10RM per bag not included in our initial fees, and then took the small one with all the essentials to breakfast. This breakfast was pretty good and included fried rice, fruits, omelets, and roti. They also gave everyone a packed lunch in a paper bag. It had a water bottle which was good to keep hydrated but we were already prepared, an apple that we’d later find out to be rotten inside, and 3 triangle sandwich halves. One with a slice of ham, one with cheese, and one with scrambled egg. Not much for a big hike. Because it is a buffet, I got some lettuce for the sandwiches and honeydew for the road which proved to be a very good choice. They say on their website to pack snacks, but I think that turns out to be half of one’s lunch.
We had to wait an hour for a group of Canadians to get going. Yuki and I were both unimpressed by one lady who seemed to complain a lot and would plague us latter up the mountain. Then we got ride to Timphon Gate, considered the start of the Hike.
To hike the mountain requires a mandatory guide. They don’t really speak English but are there to make sure we don’t die or something and to provided local employment. We began our accent at 0900 from KM 0 and an elevation of 1866m. An odd factoid I found was that the signs around the park have varying levels of accuracy that can be up to 10cms both in horizontal and vertical units. As expected, the trail descended for a short distance to a small waterfall and then began to climb on stairs, stairs that go on and on. The trail is so well worn that everything is made up of stairs. Whether wood boards to hold up a dirt step or rocks set in place for the hikers.
The first part of the hike passed rather quickly. I think we were pretty energetic and excited. The jungle canopy provided excellent shade and it wasn’t too hot being so high up in the hills.
One pack and a camera bag made for easier hiking, between us we had three bottles of water. Mt. Kinabalu, Malaysia
Yuki lead the entire way so that we’d have steady pace. If I were in front, we’d end up rushing too often and tiring ourselves out. On the way up, there are 7 Rest shelters with benches, water refills, and a toilet. Like the rest of the hikers on the trail, we used these stops to take a sip of water. I’ve found that while hiking it works better to take frequent small sips of water rather than infrequent large gulps. 1.5L of water proved to be about 500ml short of what we needed for the day’s hike that took 4.5 hours and we didn’t eat many snacks except at lunch break, half way.
After a long 45 minute lunch break, we continued up. Our goal was the Laban Rata Resthouse two-thirds of the way up to the summit. It is 6km along the trail at 3,272m elevation, a gain of 1,406m from Timphon gate. The second half of the day’s hike was definitely harder. It was the stairs, some so high that Yuki had to pull herself up, that made it so tiring. Nearing the top, we began to leapfrog a group of British boys and men but eventually surpassed. At that altitude, we had entered the clouds that came in rather quick. We were told that the last week had been all rain and the top had been closed so we hoped that tomorrow would be okay and we’d be able to see the sunrise.
The entire way up we were passing people. I thought we were going pretty slow, but I think what happened was that we were going so slow as to be steady. Where most people would go fast and then need rest at the huts, we would go slow and only stop long enough for a sip of water.
Arriving at the Laban Rata Resthouse, where the cafeteria is, was both a relief and a small disappointment. We had been assigned to the Gunting Lagadan Hut so had to climb another 51m in elevation up the trail. That might not sound like much, but after 4.5hrs on the trail and being so high up it’s pretty tiresome. That wasn’t so cool. Why the 5 huts aren’t clustered
together, I don’t know; and while the huts had showers, they were cold. Yuki
was able to brave a shower but I only wiped myself down with a wet towel.
Arrival at the Resthouse and out of water. Funny enough, there was a group of Thai’s just to the left of this picture doing the same thing. Mt. Kinabalu, Malaysia
Our dormitory was a room with two bunkbeds which provided a good place for a rest and a short nap until the dinner buffet at 6pm.
The dinner hall was undersized and already packed when we arrived. There was even one guy sitting on the staircase but we were fortunate to get a table with an American and German/Vietnamese couple. The American man told us that 30 years ago he had hiked the mountain and there was only one small hut. In hindsight, Yuki was more energetic and go-getter than the other two girls at the table who seem pretty apprehensive of the following day. The Vietnamese girl seemed to have had problems with altitude sickness and we found out later that the German man and Vietnamese girl from Germany were actually our roommates; but that was after some spectacularly wonderful cloud formations that we photographed from the door to our dormitory.
A beautiful sunset we hoped would lead into a beautiful sunrise, Mt. Kinabalu Malaysia
Although we napped before dinner briefly, I had planned on an early evening so as to get a full 8 hours sleep. I thought that if I didn’t sleep before dinner, I’d be able to sleep faster after dinner as we were tired and our legs were sore. That didn’t end up being the case. Neither of us felt like we slept at all during the night and this time the night was filled with achy joints and muscles in our legs. We both used earplugs and for my part I only heard the deep sound of my breathing which surprised me when we got up to go to the washroom and there were still lots of people up making noise repacking gear. I suspect everyone without earplugs would have had trouble sleeping unless they were really tired or really deep sleepers.
We got up at 01:30am and went back down the mountain for breakfast at 02:00 followed by departure at 02:45 with what seemed like everyone else. We passed through more of the foliage and did more stairs. Yuki and I seemed to be the only ones chatting and no one seemed to ever talk to people outside of their own friends. The trail was slow going for the first part as everyone was crammed together and the faster ones couldn’t get out ahead. We thought it would be cold but it was pretty warm by our standards and we stripped down from wearing five layers to just a t-shirt.
The best part of the ascent was a slopped rock face with a rope to follow. This was more scrambling than hiking but made for a happy change from the stairs. The rock was incredibly rough and thus very grippy so there wasn’t much risk from falling. It was also marked the end of the jungle and where we jumped ahead of the crowd.
The trail of people on their way up to the top. Mt. Kinabalu Malaysia
After the scramble it was a steady hike up the inclined rock slope following a rope tied to the ground for guidance. Our guide stayed to chat with some others as he normally did and we soon found ourselves alone. We weren’t fast enough and hadn’t started out early enough to be at the front crowd and we were ahead of the larger crowd which put us in our own empty part of the trail passing a lone guide or hiker every so often. Yuki also pointed out that there weren’t many girls on the trail. Just like the day before, we steadily passed people and had only been passed at the start by some super fit runners. I noticed that most walked straight up following the rope but I told Yuki to zigzag which made it easier on our legs. We were in high spirits and spent the time talking to each other and singing which helped to pass the time.
One thing we found uniquely pretty was the moon. It was partially cloudy but around the moon was a perfectly circular hole through the clouds that the moon shone through and almost gave enough light that we didn’t need our headlamps. I’m still not sure why that is so if you know, please tell me.
Near to the top it began to get windy and we clothed up again. Yuki wore her scarf that she’d picked up in Lijang, China, but I didn’t have one so I used my towel instead. It worked wonderfully well and kept my neck really warm. Except for the wind chill, it wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be. I would have liked to have gloves but they weren’t necessary.
Finally, one last hurdle of a climb, we hiked and scrambled the last 100m of boulders and reached the summit at 05:20am.
The highest point, Mt. Kinabalu Malaysia
We took some photos and got the guy that took the same van as us take some photos of us and then we waited for the sunrise. The wind was freezing cold and hard to bear. We didn’t have many snacks except for a few pieces of chocolate which we ate and shared. Then we found out that there were rats at the top. Probably because there’s like 100 hikers daily that bring up food bits.
While our van mate decided to go down early, we stayed for the 06:00am sunrise which didn’t end up being anything. Clouds on the horizon blocked the sunrise from warming us up or making a brilliant sky. This wasn’t that much of a surprise because I’d seen the clouds coming in but it was a disappointment. I imagine that if the weather had been better it would have been a glorious view.
Instead, we ended up taking some more photos with the signboard and with Turtle who I’d brought up.
Turtle and I at the top of Mt. Kinabalu, Photo by Yuki. Some notes on stuff to bring and the like:
- Enough water, that goes without saying. There are places to get water on the way up but they seemed a little sketchy to us being rusted steel boxes although probably safe.
- Bring lots of snacks because packed lunch isn’t enough.
- After bringing lots of snacks, stock up on fresh fruit at breakfast before going up.
- Bring a scarf or pack towel to use as a scarf because it gets really windy at the top.
- Light gloves are a good idea. So are toques. There’s department stores in KK where you can buy it for a couple bucks. If you don’t want to, it’s not essential.
- Earplugs are a must.
- Our dorm also had a plug per bunk so we were able to charge our phones over night (Yuki uses hers as a camera)
