Low's Peak: Land above the mist

Do you know how it was like to wake up at 1am? Well, not actually wake up but to pull ourselves from our warm beds (okay, not-so-warm beds) to face the bloddy cold? We had been hearing that the temperature up there - at the peak - could fall to zero degrees. Not taking any chances, we added layers to our clothes. I had three layers on and there, perhaps was my mistake.

Anyway, here you can see some of us all togged up and ready to leave the Waras Hut at 2am:


Our initial climb was up a long series of rocks and wooden steps in the dark with only our headlights on. Took us about an hour or so. I tried to make light of it but I was actually struggling and boiling beneath my clothes. I felt very uncomfortable. Then came the part where we had to climb the bare granite rock while hanging to the thick rope. I took a hold of the rope, climbed about maybe five feet and something snapped inside me. Apart from my physical discomfort, the complete darkness overwhelmed me. I gasped out to my wife that I couldn't continue further and she urged me to go back. Behind me, Poh Yong's voice rang out: : "If you are not going, I don't want to go too." Thus, See Keong was left to climb all by himself. I asked my wife to be careful and then I gingerly climbed down from the rock. My legs felt like jelly and my head spun briefly.

It took Poh Yong and I about 90 minutes to make our way back to the Laban Rata resthouse. There were hardly anyone else going up the mountain so the trail back was practically in the dark. We made a wrong detour to the Panar Laban Hut and had to turn back. At the Gunting Lagadan Hut, I lost my footing and slid down the short granite slope.

At 7.17am, I received a text message from Saw See to tell me that she reached the top at 5.55am.


She couldn't remember the time she sent but it sure took its time to reach me! Well, at least one of us reached the peak. I'm so glad.

Not many people saw this clever juxtapositioning of rocks but See Keong did. Don't you just think that it resembles the Hongkong Bank lion?

At 8.30am when I was just about to have my breakfast at the resthouse, Boon Hock arrived. About 15 minutes later, Long Kin and See Keong had also come down. Yuen Chee and Chui Tee arrived at about 9.25am and Saw See at 9.30am. My friends said they had never see our guide, John, smile. He was always the serious bloke but here he was, all smiling away:


We began our long trek down from the Waras Hut at 10.45am. See Saw's toes were in great pain despite having worn the Columbia trekking shoes, so she was hobbling along. All the way down from Laban Rata, we moved very slowly, myself helping her whenever we came to the steep steps, telling her where to place her feet. No mishaps or missteps. And I still got time to take some great photos. Here is a very dreamy landscape, thanks to the thick mist:


We reached Timpohon Gate at 6.15pm. That's 7.5 hours. Whoever that said coming down would be easier than going up just haven't tried Mt Kinabalu before. But despite the pain, it was a triumphant climb for us both. She had always wanted to reach Low's Peak and she did that; I reached my goal which was Laban Rata. No bonus for me, though.

Stay tuned for Part Three.

As an afterthought, I should add that Saw See and my friends that reached Low's Peak walked a total of 11 kilometres that day: 2.5 kilometres from Laban Rata to the top and 8.5 kilometres from the peak to Timpohon Gate.