Journey to the summit.... Day 2

It was Day 2 of the climb... we were headed for the summit.... didnt sleep at all the entire nite... just kept tossing and turning.... maybe what people say about sleep avoiding you when you are too tired is true... anyway... we woke up at 0200hrs and met up with Francis at Laban Rata... Started our summit trail at 0210hrs in pitch black darkness with a temperature of 7.4 Deg.... Bbrrrrr.... cold...We has a 2.7km hike ahead of us... it was so dark that all we could see was the patch of ground right in front of us that the head torch was shining on... there were so many staircases my legs were screaming for help.... it didnt help that with the cold weather it was difficult to warm up our bodies much less hike efficiently...haha!! But hike we did.... and we also had a Kodak moment with every marker....

0220hrs

0310hrs0345 hrs

0428hrs

0455hrs

0523hrs

We has no idea how far more nor what grounds we were actually climbing on... everything was just dark... the thin air didnt help as well since we were constantly short of breath...

Finally!!! We reached the peak!! we have successfully conquered the peak!!!!! We were at Low's Peak 4095m above sea level... and the view was spectacular....

0540hrs

We got to the peak in just the nick of time to witness the breathtaking sunrise.... What a sight it was... At that point, all the tiredness of the climb just melted away as you stare with awe over how beautiful nature was.... After lingering for almost an hour while taking in the beauty and snapping our camera's happily, we headed down back to Laban Rata.... turning around, we were greeted with this....

So this was how we hiked up... while we had previously just blindly followed the rope, it was now all visible to us... The mountain top looked like it was from another planet... the groves on the planes... the textures.... it was a work of art just by itself...

We took a snack break at the base of Low's peak and was approached by a journalist from Malay Mail who was doing a piece on the climb... He was part of a group of media sponsored by Air Asia... why did he approached us? Well something caught his eyes when he saw us... or more that he saw our pack of rations still full to the brim with chocolate bars... haha!! he immediately stopped by our side as asked whether we would mind sharing some with him... share away... we were glad someone helped us out with the chocos.. I kinda bought too much... haha!!

After a short break we headed down towards Laban Rata again... the downhill walk on the slopes were really killing my knees... but there was no other way down so I endured it... we got back to Laban Rata at about 0930hrs, had breakfast and a short break and once again started our gruelling task of hiking downhill via Timpohan back to Kinabalu part...

Now this was the worst part of the entire trip... for me at least... my knees were warning me on our way down from the peak but it just totally gave way after 1km of hiking from Laban Rata downwards... after that I was in pain every single step... every km became more and more difficult... has to use 2 walking sticks to aid me... it just got from bad to worse that it came to a point where I couldnt bend my right knee anymore... a slight bend would send jolts of pain through me... It was excruciating.... at km3... Ming has to take over my backpack... So as much as I would have loved saying I conquered Mount Kinabalu all by myself carrying my own backpack (and not using a porter like most girls...) it would not have been 100% accurate since Ming came to my rescue by carrying my bag for me...

It took me an hour to finish one km and I had 6km in total... and what made it worse was that it was raining heavily off and on for 3 times... We left Laban Rata at 1028hrs and only arrived at the base at 1640hrs... It took me longer to come down than it did it go up... I even had to walk backwards the last km just to reduce the suffering....But at least I could proudly say I made it up and down all by myself... I knew I had the option of paying a porter to carry me down and end my torture which I nearly did.. I was so upset and frustrated with myself that I nearly gave up but something in me just kept telling myself that I could do this... I could and would finish it all by myself irregardless of how painful it was or how long I took... I will not give up (unlike the grown young man who relented and opted for the porter to carry him)... Call me stupid but I was just determined... Anyway you view it, I would still have completed my Mersilau-Low's Peak-Timpohon hike all by myself with Ming alongside....

Thank you Ming for carrying my bag and walking by my side every single step of the way eventhough you could have just went ahead and finished the hike so much earlier on... and thank you to Aaron for patiently waiting for me to finish my hike eventhough it was your wife's birthday... really appreciated it....

Was it worth it? Definitely yes.... Would I do it again? Not in the near future but maybe next year? Via Ferrata? We shall just have to wait and see.... ;)

*the nicer peak pictures are courtesy of Ming...