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Beware: Long post!

27th March 2007 Tuesday (Day 6) Part I

Weee! This is it baby! Low’s Peak here we come!

We woke up at 1.30am. Hahaha crazy eh? It was very cold. I just simply gargle my mouth because the chilly water was stinging my mouth. I couldn’t squat or sit properly too because what else? LEGS PAIN!

I wore the same clothing as when I went to sleep the night before: 4 layers of tops (3+1 additional more), 2 layers of pants and 3 layers of socks. We had instant noodle and chocolate for brekkie. Gotta boil our own water.

After breakfast, we put on our gears (headlamps, gloves, scarf) and waited for our guide, Bension. We brought 1 bag for the climb and it was Dreamcatcher who carried the bag all the way up. Thank You So Much Dear!

Other group of climbers departed at 2.30am for the peak but we left at around 2.50am as our guide was a bit late and he needed some time to explain another set of precaution to us.

I really thanked God for making us stay in Gunting Lagadan instead of Laban Rata. All the cold that I endured the night before was really worth it. You know why? Coz the trail to the top start at Gunting Lagadan back door! Woot! Woot!

The trail to the peak is dark so it is essential to wear a headlamp. Hand torchlight is only good for the first few metres but after that you need both hands to hang on to the rope. First we climbed on a string of wooden steps and large boulders. Your tired legs will definitely spring back to life giving you renew energy! Really man! Your face and hands will be frosty cold when the cold air blows. That’s where the scarf and gloves come in handy. Gloves are also use to protect your hand from the rope and cold surrounding.

During that time, a few climbers (2-3 climbers) made a U-turn back. Most probably they were suffering from altitude sickness because they were complaining about being dizzy.

For sis and me, we had to stop every few steps to take a breather. And when you stop, everyone behind you stop because there’s very little space available for you to pass, unless you can find an open space to take a rest. I didn’t even dare to think about ‘altitude sickness’ … scare that I might get it.

I’ve never climb onto a high altitude place in the wee hours of the morning before and seriously that was one of the most beautiful night in my life. I had a chance to view thousand and million of stars twinkling right before my eyes. It was simply breathtaking.

Then we came to the route which is the most perilous of all throughout this whole journey. Once you fall, it’s goodbye baby! From this point on, we will scale on the mountain’s granite body. We had to ascend some very very steep area that it is vital for us to hang on to the rope no matter what. It was tough and my Crocs really did a job well done. I’ve heard stories about this particular route that you won’t realise how deep and vertical it is until the daylight comes. Well, it wasn’t like that man! Even in the darkness, we knew it was steep. Some part has almost 90 degree vertical boulder. Did I scare you? Hehe…I was scared too but I continued on. Determination!

Don’t worry ok? The steep route is about 250metres only. After that it was flat ascending trail all the way. You think it is easy? No way man! I think I stopped every 10 steps to take a 10 seconds breather. In my opinion, this 2nd day climbing to Low’s Peak is much more difficult than the first day ascend to Laban Rata.

Not long after, we reached Sayat-Sayat Hut the last place to ahem ahem ‘release yourself’. Of course I’m not taking any chances la. Must go visit the beautiful toilet. This is 2nd and last check point to inform the Sayat-Sayat guide that we’re passing through. (first one at Timpohon Gate)

Then we continued our climbing and resting and climbing and resting and climbing and resting and climbing. As it was dark, we couldn’t see people around us. Guess what we heard? Sound of people farting!

Around this time we let Jidane proceed without us as we were way too slow. We saw the first changes of the sky from black to blue to orange around 5.40am. Yeah we’re too late for the sunrise. Never mind as that was just 1 of the low priority agenda. Our main agenda is of course reaching the highest point in Malaysia.

10 minutes later we reached the 8km mark! (3929m a.s.l) Hip hip hurrah.

It was 6am. Notice the peak on top of our head? Yup that’s Low’s Peak. We were even more determine than ever! Arggggghhh bring it on!

Beautiful shots.

We thought we were very near the peak. How wrong was us. It was 6.24am and we were still not there yet.

Sun painted Low’s Peak in bright yellow.

We reached the 8.5km mark in 3hours 35minutes after departing from Gunting Lagadan.

Gunting Lagadan to 8.5km: 2.50am-6.25am (4008m a.s.l)

I love this photo so much. It was taken at the base of Low’s Peak.
Notice the sun rays emitting from Low’s Peak shadow? It was the best nature gift of all. I saw that with my own eyes! Hehe wanna know how it happened? After a thorough examination by Dreamcatcher and me, we concluded that the sun beams fall on the sea/atmosphere thus creating a reflected/refracted rays to every direction and coincidently Low’s Peak’s shadow fall right at the spot where the reflected/refracted beams shine out.

25minutes later after reaching the 8.5km mark, we were still climbing Low’s Peak. Our legs? Aching but working! Notice how tiny is the people? That can only mean 1 thing. We’re tiny la!

We met Jidane 3/4 on the way to the peak. He have already reached the summit and was waiting for us. Climbing Low’s Peak is fairly easy. Yes the boulders are big but fun to climb. It’s like climbing in an indoor climbing boulder.

What can I tell you next?
YES!!!!!! I’ve made it. I’m finally at the summit of the highest mountain in Malaysia and the 3rd in South East Asia!

I made it to the top in 4hours 4minutes after departing from Gunting Lagadan.

Gunting Lagadan to 8.72km: 2.50am-6.54am (4095.2m a.s.l)

In total I’ve climbed for 10hours 42minutes from Timpohon Gate to Low’s Peak. Gua caya sama gua sendiri. Wohoooooooo! I cannot believe I’ve climbed so far and high. You all were very ‘pandai’… guessing that I’ve made it.

Tell you a secret. I didn’t felt any joyful gush when I was at the top. Just a normal happy feeling. Either I’m too overwhelm with my achievement (which I doubt that) or I’m too tired (probably) or I’ve imagined reaching the summit scene too many times in my mind that it didn’t create any joyous feeling anymore. Wuahahaha. But as I’m writing this, I’m feeling the jolt of adrenalin! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Oh yeah we can only step beside the 2 famous signpost for like 1-2minutes. Yalah have to give way to others.

Notice the name Gunting bin Lagadan on the black signpost? Our hut was named after him too. The language written on the signpost is Kadazan-Dusun. He was the first local people to reach the summit.

Low’s Peak is named after Sir Hugh Low who was the first person to reach the summit in 1858.

I’ll stop here for now because this is where my PC got struck by lightning. Do come back for Part II as I have tonnes of beautiful Mount Kinabalu photos to share with you all. Can’t promise you when. Got a copy of Windows XP but PC is very stubborn… couldn’t boot from C drive or even the CD.

Tags: Low’s Peak, Gunting Lagadan, Laban Rata, altitude sickness, Crocs, Sayat-Sayat Hut, Timpohon Gate, adrenalin, Gunting bin Lagadan, Sir Hugh Low