It happened. I somehow threw myself in the one place I rarely find pleasures at: altitude. So here's my mid-year travel gig (illustrated through pictures!):
Pre-agony
Pauline, her colleague, Shwu Shan and I spent most of our pre-hiking days walking around the Kota Kinabalu. Food was in abundance, so obviously I regressed to my primal Malaysian state and engorged whatever was in sight.
Jesselton Point
Island-hopping with these two ladies
Seafood Laksa (although it's more like Curry Mee) - Scrumptious!
Agony, Round One
The big event!
In way over my head
Arguably I under-packed for the initial stages of the hike, as it was 15 C at the base of the mountain. So I quickly doubled-up with a thermal layer and we soon began our hike.
Some 200 meters into our hike (looking promising!)
The initial trail was great! Hiking definitely made the slightly cold weather more bearable.
I was surprised how many people were hiking this spot
The last picture of Pauline struggling (for that day)
I actually (wrongly) rested at Laban Rata (6 km out of 8.5 km), when I should have been at the Pendant Hut. Nearly missed the ferrata briefing deadline.
Agony, Part Two
The lamb-and-beef fest of a buffet dinner last night definitely made my sleep more peaceful. The 2.30 am alarm, less so.
Thankfully at that point my aching legs have recovered (thanks to said meal and some protein bars). Pauline and I had mild headaches since the day before, around the 4, 5 km mark. Hers had receded after some medication, but mine continued to linger. The altitude was unsurprisingly getting the better of me.
We had to delay our ascent to Low's Peak as there was an overnight storm and winds were going at 25 km/h. It was already -1 C at this point, and we were behind schedule to reach the peak before sunrise.
The initial trek saw me on par with Pauline, but my throbbing head started wearing heavy, and I was forced to take more and more breaks, falling behind.
At one point, I was hiking alone, with a very dodgy torchlight (should not have skimped on that). I had reached a small hill where the trail seemed to have went cold: warning tapes of a sheer drop to my right, and an observation deck to my left. Dread slowly settled as I found myself lost in the cold 3 am morning. The wind picked up as I hurriedly laid flat next to a rock to shield myself from the wind. Thankfully, moments later a few descending hikers illuminated the path forward, and I pushed on.
As I reached Sayap-Sayap Checkpoint (7.5 km out of 8.5 km and the last checkpoint before the summit), the accompanying guide broke the news: we weren't going to make it in time. I was gutted, but with my worsening condition, I had to concede.
Camping there with another hiker (I'm sorry I forgot your name!), it was both too cold to descend in the morning and fruitless to continue the hike. So we decided to wait it out, in hopes to still do the ferrata climb (if things get any better before 8 am, when the segment was arranged). Perhaps unsurprisingly, I took a nap while waiting for the time to pass.
Surprisingly, that "power nap" lasted an hour and a half. My companion had obviously left after I woke. With her nowhere in sight, and the weather not improving, I decided to descend back to the rest house, as it was nearing 6 am and I could see the fog starting to roll in to our path back down.
Hey, at least I got to take some pretty pictures and chat about a whole lot of things to a great friend throughout our hike. Below are the other pictures of the hike.
We had to delay our ascent to Low's Peak as there was an overnight storm and winds were going at 25 km/h. It was already -1 C at this point, and we were behind schedule to reach the peak before sunrise.
The initial trek saw me on par with Pauline, but my throbbing head started wearing heavy, and I was forced to take more and more breaks, falling behind.
At one point, I was hiking alone, with a very dodgy torchlight (should not have skimped on that). I had reached a small hill where the trail seemed to have went cold: warning tapes of a sheer drop to my right, and an observation deck to my left. Dread slowly settled as I found myself lost in the cold 3 am morning. The wind picked up as I hurriedly laid flat next to a rock to shield myself from the wind. Thankfully, moments later a few descending hikers illuminated the path forward, and I pushed on.
As I reached Sayap-Sayap Checkpoint (7.5 km out of 8.5 km and the last checkpoint before the summit), the accompanying guide broke the news: we weren't going to make it in time. I was gutted, but with my worsening condition, I had to concede.
Camping there with another hiker (I'm sorry I forgot your name!), it was both too cold to descend in the morning and fruitless to continue the hike. So we decided to wait it out, in hopes to still do the ferrata climb (if things get any better before 8 am, when the segment was arranged). Perhaps unsurprisingly, I took a nap while waiting for the time to pass.
Surprisingly, that "power nap" lasted an hour and a half. My companion had obviously left after I woke. With her nowhere in sight, and the weather not improving, I decided to descend back to the rest house, as it was nearing 6 am and I could see the fog starting to roll in to our path back down.
Icy winds were to follow next
The only way I could ever properly descend a near-45-degree slope: butt-sliding with the rope sandwiched under my armpit
The rest of the descend was uneventful, as I took my time going down guide-less. I did however, take many pictures of the flora around, along with my customary self-imposed psychoanalysis (more on that in the next segment!...).
As I returned to Pendant Hut, I was greeted by one of the Sabahan staff there. I immediately gave him a hug as I slowly yanked off my shoes in relief- the remaining 6 km descent will be hell on my knees.
The remaining staff were about to start their prayers for the victims of the 2015 earthquake. I joined them, reciting prayers in a foreign dialect as they paid respect to the 18 people who lost their lives that day.
There was pain and sorrow in their eyes. And I felt it as well, as I welled up in tears shortly after. Empathy is extremely powerful, even after all the shit I went through hiking up here to start.
After our second breakfast, the gang had covered up to prepare for the prevailing winds. Thankfully, we all hiked down without much fuss or incidence.
Kenny #1 and Kenny #2 before leaving the comfort of Pendant Hut
Finally reaching Timpohon Gate, after a 5-hour downward marathon
Of the six of us, Pauline and Xin made it to the summit, and those two ladies were phenomenal. A huge thanks must go to our guides, for pushing them to completion, even if they were about to hit the runner's wall.
My admiration for Pauline never seems to run out, as she once again shows how her perseverance can outshine the toughest tasks. Shameless plug, but I kept forcing her to do the second half of our hike up, as she was starting to show reluctance in continuing the hike over dinner in part one of the hike.
I supposed I owed her that much to make sure we did the best we could muster. But hey, at least I get a crummy black and white consolation certificate, revealing that I was just another 300 meters from the peak's elevation (not to be confused with trail length).
Hey, at least I got to take some pretty pictures and chat about a whole lot of things to a great friend throughout our hike. Below are the other pictures of the hike.
Purdy flower post-rain
Purdy bell-like flowers
Widdle purdy flower
Cutie pink flower
Cutie fungi
Props to Pauline for spotting these clusters at one of the rest stops (I think it was at the 4-km-mark)
All in all, it was an amazing experience, even if I'm not a fan of hiking or altitude. A huge amount of appreciation has to go to Pauline for inviting me along for this journey. Maybe after a few years, I might just return to conquer that sucker one day.
Until then, I suppose this picture of me looking cool would have to do.
Yes, I made it extra large. Suck it.
Good Girls - LANY
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