Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo

Climbing Mount Kinabalu is such a popular thing to do in Borneo, you have to get your permit months ahead of time to get one of the limited spots. I guess I thought that meant it climbing it would be pretty easy--a walk in the park--since everyone and their mother seemed to be doing it. Well, we got our permits months ago as required and headed up to Kinabalu for the two day hike. It was a doozie. Mt Kinabalu is the highest peak in that part of the world, hitting somewhere about 14,000 feet. Since Borneo sits on the equator, 14,000 feet is high but not quite as cold as it would be further north or south. Totally do-able.

Because I can tell the suspense is killing you, we made it. But it was made very clear to me that I am no longer 20 (or 25 or 30). Somewhere in my early twenties, I hiked Mt. Whitney at 14,494 feet with a full backpack, carrying food and camp with me. Just to laugh in the face of Whitney, I slept on the summit (not recommended). Hiking Kinabalu is a 2-day affair that starts at the National Park headquarters and climbs for 6 kilometers. We only had to carry some layers of clothes and odds and ends since we would be fed and would sleep at a lodge. The first section of the hike was almost entirely stairs. That’s right, a 6 km-long staircase. Brutal, especially considering the thinning air with each step. Besides the killer stairs though, it was really great hiking through protected forest that is mostly hidden in mist, giving rare glimpses into it. The rain started just as we limped into camp.

That day’s hike wrapped up at a lodge called Laban Rata where we were fed 19 meals in 12 hours. Come for the hiking. Stay for the food. Seriously, we got there and were fed a great dinner, which was just the first of many meals. The way to do the climb is to then get up at about 2-3am to get to the summit around sunrise; immediately after sunrise, the mist rolls in, obscuring the reason for being up so high (besides the obvious benefit of altitude sickness). Soon after that, the rain starts.

 So the trip up starts early. Very early. We had actually made pretty good time on the 6km hike to Laban Rata the day before so decided that we didn’t need to leave with the masses at 2:00am to get to the summit on time. We were hoping to avoid the traffic jams on the series of ropes on steep rock that are traversed one traveler at a time. If you have climbed Half Dome in Yosemite, you know what I am talking about. The problem is that at some point, someone panics, or decides that they are beat, or just wants to rest for a really long time. That means that everyone behind has to wait. So, Sally and I left at about 3:30am to avoid much of the humanity. It mostly worked.

It is somewhere on this final 3km that a lot of folks don’t make it. 14,000 feet isn’t that high but since most are coming from sea level and since there is no acclimation time, it is high enough for some altitude sickness—and there was no shortage of people wheezing like they were dying and throwing up one of Laban Rata’s 28 meals. I felt it for sure—headache, a bit of nausea, heart racing—but it was nothing traumatic. Three steps. Rest. Three steps. Rest. Sally and I did indeed shoot up in decent time getting to the summit a little too early because it was real cold (just about 32, but we haven’t seen anything like that in a long time) and windy.
The summit was pretty cool. The trees gave out about 2km below the summit so the place looked weirdly like my old Sierra Nevada stomping grounds. Kinabalu is a massive cone of a mountain although it was formed by uplift, not a volcano. It just sits alone and atop the known world around it, overlooking the entire northern part of Borneo. On a clear morning, one can see the Philippines from there. Because of that it is a lone needle sticking up into the jet stream. The wind is fierce and Kinabalu makes its own daily weather pattern. Rain. Every afternoon. As soon as the sun rises, the mist rolls in with jet-like patterns arcing over the ridges. So beautiful against the sunrise. And fast! So, we snapped a few photos and headed down.



























That is where the age kicked in. Going up, no problem. Going down. Problem. Mostly of the knee and leg-muscle variety. From the 3am summit start, we started heading back down around 6am from the summit. It took us almost as long to get down as it did up. If you think going up 6km of stairs is hard, try going down them. Those were muscles that hadn’t been used in a long time, I guess, because with about 2-3km to go, my legs stopped working like they were supposed to. Basically, if I didn’t lock my knee when I put my leg in front of me my quad was not going to keep me up.The next day I could barely walk and I walked funny for about a week, no exaggeration.

About 5 minutes after we got to the bottom of the hike, Kinabalu once again sent the rain in a deluge. It rained each afternoon of our little adventure and each time it started just as we arrived someplace with a roof. Pretty darn lucky. Do I want to do it again? Not yet. Was it worth it? You bet.
Now we are off to Vietnam!
(Editor’s note: We’ve have been in Vietnam for almost three weeks; it’s just that we are a little behind on the blog.)