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Night Climb on The Summit Trail of Kinabalu
You
will arrive in Laban
Rata (on the Summit Trail of Mount
Kinabalu)
at
about 2.00pm the most. You
can have some meals to
regain
back your energy in the resthouse's restaurant. Bear in mind that the
prices of the food there is quite expensive. It is because the raw
material are brought up there everyday - by foot. For
example,
the ordinary 'mee goreng' (fried mee) is about RM8.00 to RM10.00 per
plate (normally it would cost about RM3.50 everywhere else). Be
prepared with some extra money, so that you can have your meals
properly - at about 10,000 feet above sea level!
The restaurant serve
local and some western dishes.
Most of the Mount
Kinabalu
climbers will sleep
early, the latest is at 9.00pm after having dinner. It is because you
have to wake up early - at about
2.00am, to continue for the second
phase of the climb. If you
are susceptible to mountain sickness,
you may feel some headache,
nausea, muscle ache and giddiness just before dinner time. You can take
some medication to relieve the symptoms before you go to sleep. If you
want to know more, check through medical
advice
page.
The next phase
of climb will begins
at about 3.00am, when you are woken for an early breakfast (at least a
hot drink is advisable). You do not have to bring your alarm clock, as
the noise of other climbers and guides will definitely wake you up. The
restaurant is open at that time, but you can have you own hot drinks at
your own hostel. As there will be only one stop
at Sayat-Sayat
Hut
for
another registration, given a whistle for safety precaution and
refilling your water, it is advisable for you to bring your own small
water bottle. You will now head up to the Summit of Borneo
- the Low's
Peak.
Above Laban
Rata,
the trail continues
as a series of wooden ladders, fashioned out tree roots and branches.
This is where a good torchlight is essential. As most of the time you
have to hold something for stability, it is best if you have a
headlight. This gives way to flatter, more easy walking just below Sayat-Sayat,
when the true edge of the tree-line is reached. It would
take about 45 minutes to Sayat-Sayat.
This is the highest mountain hut
at 3810 meters (12,500 feet). The dwarfed vegetation at this altitude
contrast sharply with enormous silver black dome of the summit.
Ropes are fixed
at difficult places,
but these are more to inspire confidence than from necessity. Please be
close to the rope. You would
not get lost if you stay close by. There
are some places where the trail is very steep, almost 70°
angle. Be
very careful.
Tough grasses
and other plants cling
to rock cervices, flowering and fruiting only a few centimeters tall.
You will pass the 8km mark with the South
Peak
and St.
John's Peak on
your left. From here the bare granite slabs stretch endlessly ahead to
the pile of jumbled rocks that is Low's
Peak
- reached at last in time
to catch the sunrise.
The view of the
surrounding peaks is
magnificent. By 6.00am, you will be able to see most of the peak very
clearly. This is usually the best time to take pictures of the sunrise
and the peak. By 7.00am, most of the climbers will start to climb down
the summit, back to Laban Rata.
On the way down,
try to ask your
guide to show you what they call it as 'sacrifice
pool'.
It is actually
a pond where the early explorers reported that their Kadazandusun
guides performed religious ceremonies to appease the spirit of the
mountain as well as the ancestral spirits who lived there. If you are
lucky and the the weather is cold enough, you can see a layer of ice
formed on the surface of the pond.
Further
down on
your right will be
the South
Peak. If the weather is
clear, you will also be able to see
Kundasang and Ranau town from here. Along the summit plateau, you will
walk down with your Ugly
Sister's Peak
and Donkeys
Ears on your left.
Soon, you will arrive at Sayat-Sayat
Hut
and you can refill your water bottle with the mountain
water. (Some climbers keep the water from Sayat-Sayat
as a souvenir -
it's the water from 13,000 feet above sea level). 45 minutes later, you
will arrive in Laban Rata.
Most of the
climbers will
arrive at Laban
Rata at about 9.00am. You can
now prepare yourself and your backpack
for the descent. If you arrive early, try not to sleep. It will
actually worsen your body, especially if you are prone to have acute
mountain
sickness. Pack quickly, have some breakfast, check out from Laban Rata
and climb down with your guide - slowly. If you do not have enough
training
before the climb, this would be the most difficult part for
you. When climbing down, you are exhausted and most of you weight will
fall on both of your thighs, knees and the ball of your foot. Be very
careful. Most of the accidents happens during the decent.
If you start
climbing down at
10.00am, you will arrive at Timpohon
Gate
at about 1.00pm. There will
be a bus waiting for you there to pick you up and send you to the Kinabalu Park HQ
office where you will be given certificate. If you
reached the summit, you will be
given nice colourful certificate, but
if you only arrive at Sayat-Sayat
or only Laban
Rata (that should n
be if you prepare for the climb), you will only be given black and
white certificate - signed by your guide.
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of Mount Kinabalu (Day Climb)
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