the journey to kinabalu summit.
Hello peeps,
Happy weekend. As promised, I would like to share my journey climbing the Mount Kinabalu.
It all starts when my best friends ask would I want to join them in climbing the Kinabalu? I was hesitate at first because my fitness really not up to the par. Anyways, we started the training and able to reach the summit in the end.
Here’s my honest experience on what to expect as well as some useful tips when climbing Mount Kinabalu. It happened last year February 2020. Known as the highest summit in South East Asia, it was really challenging as everything was compressed into 2 short days. From climbing up to the base camp to the summit climb and then descending to the bottom. It was certainly a test of my endurance, both physically and mentally. And honestly, I got sick when I reach down. Gladly, my friends take a good care of me.
So let me starts, there will be 4 check points in total throughout the entire climb whereby it’s mandatory for every trekker to sign off. We started at Timpohon Gate and will end up the first day hiking at Panalaban Hut.
There are huts along the way where we stopped to rest and drink water. These huts soon became my short term goals. I’ll just keep moving, till the next hut is in sight.
“Nak sampai dah!” I just kept telling ourselves that. And finally after almost 6 hours of non-stop climbing, we reached the base camp of Mt Kinabalu! We stayed at the Panalaban Hut.
The rest of the trekkers stayed at a different lodge. We also had to reach by 3pm as there was a compulsory briefing on the track heading up to the summit. We started the trek at around 8am, and reached the hut at 3pm.
It was honestly the most painful experienced I ever had climbing the mountain. Not to scared you guys. Is just my experienced. Thanks for lacking of preparation and training. That is why I’m writing up some of the tips to get you prepared with the hiking.
Buffet dinner was provided as part of the package as well. The spread was really good! Didn’t take any photos of the food as we were starving!
Soon it was time for us to get some sleep, at around 8pm. Reason being we had to wake up again at 1.30am for the summit climb. Supper was served at 1.30am and we had to set off for the summit climb at 2.30am.
It was really cold at night and we were all decked in full winter wear at the start! I wore my dry fit top, down jacket and the waterproof windbreaker. I had a fleece hat on and gloves too! It was less than 10 degree celsius!
And finally…..we did it! We reached the summit at around 5.45am and were blessed with clear skies to witness the most beautiful sunrise ever. It was a moment between us and nature, a moment that we’ll always remember for as long as we live.
Below some of the pictures I’ve managed to captured.
emir’s tips.
Rent a walking stick! It cost us only RM10 and it was really useful! Definitely helped to take pressure off the knees especially when descending the mountain.
Bring along a day pack for this trip. It’ll come in handy for your summit climb where you’ll only need to pack your essentials such as warm clothing, sunblock, water, headlights, gloves, etc. You can leave the rest of your stuff at the base camp. Do note that headlight is compulsory for the summit climb.
Practise layering! You’ll start removing layers by layers as you climb. When you’re nearing the summit, it’ll get really cold again and that’s when you’ll have to put back on your layers again.
Do not rest any longer than 5 minutes. As once your body cools down, you’ll use up more energy to regain the momentum again.
Wish you all the best!
Good luck.
Lots of love,
EMIR xx
