Sidin

Adventurous Journey of climbing Mt. Kinabalu (Revised)

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• published: 03 Aug 2017
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Our adventurous journey to climb Mt. Kinabalu was planned about a year ago. During that time, we had also begun to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for the climb. The long-awaited day finally arrived and we found ourselves at the Timpohon Gate ready to start the ascend up Mt. Kinabalu. About half a kilometre away we were greeted with a beautiful waterfall called Carson Waterfall. It felt like the Mountain was giving us her blessing for us to proceed on our climb. The first few kilometres went by like a breeze but after that we began to experience some difficulties when we reached the 4-km mark. One of our party was injured due to muscle cramps on both thighs and the other one was experiencing extreme exhaustion until she felt like throwing in the towel. I am not a Liverpool fan but their motto “You’ll never walk alone” resonated deeply within our group that day. We were adamant that no one especially the injured and the weary were going to be left behind. Thus, I earn my title as a porter there and then as not leaving them behind involved me carrying their bag packs. Despite all this we managed to reach Laban Rata at 3pm, quite late but safe. It was so cold due to the strong winds that most of us had to wear double windbreaker jackets just to keep warm. Even though we were tired, we were unable to sleep and we put it down to acclimatization. Then again it could be due to the excitement also. Finally, it was 2 am and so we rose to get ready for the climb up to the summit. The climb to the summit commenced at 3 am after we had our breakfast. I was glad that I brought a head lamp for this journey as the way up was pitch black. As I look up I saw a long trail of lights going up towards the summit. It was a beautiful sight indeed. We reached the summit at 5.18am giving us ample time to relax and wait for sunrise. The sunrise was so magnificent. I took this significant moment to wave the Parti Anak Negeri’s flag ( a newly registered Political Party in Sabah) at the highest peak in Southeast Asia. The flag flew majestically on the peak as if it was heralding a new dawn for the people of Sabah - politically! I couldn’t agree more. We stayed for a while just to bask in the wonderful feeling of being on top of the world. As we descended down the mountain we stopped to pay our respect to the people including school children and guides who had lost their lives during the earthquake on 5th June 2015. To sum up our feelings for this climb, yes we were victorious because despite it all we managed to conquer Mt. Kinabalu. However, lessons learned from this adventure is that we should never ever underestimate Mt. Kinabalu. One ought to respect it! Always be prepared mentally and physically fit for whatever challenges that the mountain might throw at you. Until next time, we will treasure these memories always. The following is my diary of our adventurous journey as we climbed Mt. Kinabalu: 25/7/2017 Depart from KK to Ranau, 10.30 a.m. 25/7/2017 Had a meeting with one of our Party machineries in Paginatan 12.30 p.m. 25/7/2017 Stayed overnight at Kundasang. 26/7/2017 Arrived at Kinabalu Park early in the morning. 26/7/2017 Registration at National Park Office, Kundasang, 7.30 a.m. 26/7/2017 Depart from National Park office to Timpohon Gate, 9.00 a.m. 26/7/2017 Depart from Timpohon Gate to Laban Rata, 9.30 a.m. (The climb was tortuous and arduous, steep at times, trekking from Timpohon Gate to the top. Arrived at Laban Rata (3,272 m a.s.l.) at 3pm). 26/7/2017 Stayed overnight at Laban Rata. 27/7/2017 Depart from Laban Rata to the peak of Mt. Kinabalu, 3.00 a.m. 27/7/2017 Reached the peak at 5.18 a.m. 27/7/2017 Parti Anak Negeri flag flew proudly at the highest peak of Mt. Kinabalu... with style, 5.50 a.m. 27/7/2017 Went back to Laban Rata, from the peak, 6.30 a.m. 27/7/2017 Went down after a nice breakfast from Laban Rata to Timpohon Gate, 8.30 a.m. 27/7/2017 Reached Timpohon Gate at 2.30 p.m. and National Park Office at 3.15 p.m. Dr. Julian Paul Sidin, (Senior Lecturer, Research & Consultant - Quality and Strategic Management), University Malaysia Sabah.