We arrived at Kinabalu Park HQ at 1600 hours. The weather was fine. Registered at the Park's office and we stayed the night at the park's hostel. Packed all required items and slept at about 11pm.
An exciting day. Woke up at 6.30 am. It was chilly outside. We took breakfast and we went to the park's HQ to wait for a charter bus. The bus then took us to Timpohon Gate. This is where the climb starts.
It was easy for the first 10 minutes. Later, the steps were getting steeper. Oxygen level dropped as we ascended higher. We met a lot of people going down the mountain. For about every km, there is a hut for resting. There is a fresh water pipe where you can fill your water bottles.
We completed the 1st leg of the climb at about 12pm. We reached Laban Rata Resthouse which is located at 11,000ft above sea level. Resthouse provided good food. Our room was equipped with heater and beds. We took photos and slept at about 8pm.
We woke up at 1.30 am and the 2nd leg of the journey started at 2.30 am. The resthouse's cafeteria opened at 2 am. We took light breakfast. We only took light items with us. Like camera, flash light and water bottle.
The trail was dark but lucky the moon was up at that night. An hour later, we reached the rock surface. It was still dark then. At one point, we have to trail the cliff. There was a rope to assist us. At about 12000ft, there was a hut called Sayat-Sayat. The oxygen level was very low so we had to maintain our paces.
By 5.15 am, I managed to reach the peak. The wind was quite strong and I have to shelter myself behind the rocks. The rest was still making their way up. Around 6.00 am, the sun was up. It was a majestic view from atop the mountain. We stayed for about an hour and took pictures. We went down around 6.45am.
We reached Laban Rata at about 8.15 am and rested. We continued our way down the mountain and ended the journey.
