Day 1, 31/12/2009: Hiked 7.2km, Mesilau to Laban Rata, 2,000m to 3,272m above sea level, 7 hours 20 minutes.
Day 2, 1/1/2010: Hiked 2.7km, up to Low’s Peak, 4,095m above sea level, 3 hours.
Descended 2.7km, back to Laban Rata, 3 hours.
Descended 6km, down to Timpohon gate, 1,866m above sea level, 4 hours 15 minutes.
I arrived at Mesilau Nature Resort on December 30th for a good night’s rest before beginning my ascent the next day. The booking for myself, one person, made things awkward: steamboat dinner all by myself at my own table with a room full of other guests; buffet breakfast by myself; but at least I had a room all to myself, that’s a good thing. On the morning of the climb, I quickly joined another group to share the cost of hiring a guide and to have some company. We started at about 8:20am.
With Steve, Camellia and Michael
This Mesilau trail doesn’t climb all the time, there were sections of gradual descents which allowed me to think, “Hey, this is not so difficult. It’s actually fun and I could do this again.” But we dreaded the reality of every step that we took downwards meant two steps up, and the differences in the flora or vegetation helped us keep track of our progress.
After about 5.5km, the Mesilau trail joined the main trail from Timpohon to the summit. From then on, it was mostly big laterite steps upward transitioning to rocky surfaces before we arrived at the Laban Rata rest house at about 3:40pm. The camera also started to act funny although I was not entirely convinced it was caused by the climate.
There was plenty of time before the buffet dinner started at 5:00pm so most who had arrived earlier would queue for a ‘hot’ shower. The earlier ones said the water was fine, the guy just before me said the water was only at body temperature. When it was my turn, the boiler was no longer effective so it was too cold for a proper shower. I had to find that out the hard way.
At dinner, I replenished my system mainly with rice, warm winter melon soup (i.e. soluble MSG), and sago dessert. After some repacking to separate what to take to the summit and things to leave behind at the rest house until the descent, I was in bed by 8:00pm to try and catch enough shut eye for 2:00am supper and the final leg of the ascent to the summit.
I tossed and turned with a throbbing headache, especially in the frontal lobe because I had put on too much warm clothes (expanding brain in contracting skull). After shedding a layer or two, the slight pounding in the back of my head was bearable enough to catch intermittent naps like those on the night sleeper trains (some said later that the altitude would make it difficult to sleep). When my phone clock flashed 1:15am, there was little reason stay in bed so I already waiting for breakfast at the lounge by the time the staff got up to prepare breakfast in their pyjamas.
In the drizzle, we set off at 2:45am on the summit trail which was at times treacherous, at times under the full moon light of January 1st 2010, and at times in the darkness of my vintage two-D-sized-battery-powered made-in-China bicycle lamp. Whenever someone was ahead of me, I would rest whenever they rested. When I lost touch and led the next group, I stopped more often to catch my breath. But I still made it to the summit of Low’s Peak at the 5:45am before it started to become bright. After finding shelter from the winds, I had a Snickers bar while the shy sun rose for the first time this year behind a large cloud.
I was back at the Laban Rata rest house for a proper breakfast at 9:00am before the starting the home leg descent to Timpohon at 10:15am. From this point on, it was a slow but sure transition from the emotional high point of conquering Mount Kinabalu to the negative anticipation of my knees buckling at the next step down when the strained thigh and calf muscles can no longer support the combined body and baggage weight.
But with an abundance of God’s grace, spurred a little by the I-never-want-to-do-this-again attitude, me and Steve (together for almost all of the Mesilau ascent and this final descent) finally arrived at Timpohon gate at 2:30pm.
The next four days of muscle recovery was full of painful oooh’s and aaah’s whenever I sat down or got up from a seat, going up or down sloping ramps, and especially climbing and going down staircases (think getting on and off AirAsia plane on the return flight to Penang).
My brother said that I might think I never want to climb Kinabalu again for now but a few months down the road I would change my mind. My cousin’s husband also said the same thing, climbed a second time successfully, before turning back soon after starting the third time thinking “I am not going to make the same mistake a third time.” Well, I haven’t changed my mind about not doing Kinabalu again but at least I’ve set my sight on the more challenging Mount Tahan.
