Climbing Mt. Kinabalu in December Part 2 – Going up to Laban Rata
Day 1 of our climb. I hope this will help you familiarize yourself into what to expect on your Mt. Kinabalu climb.
We’re at Timpohon Gate raring to go. After a bit of stretching to loosen our muscles, we’re off the gates and pumped up.
There's our guide, Ren, tying his adidas Kampung and Tia doing some stretching. Trail looks easy right?
Laban Rata is the resting place for climbers who can’t do the whole climb in one day. It is 3,272.7m above sea level and 6km from Timpohon Gate and average time to get there is 5 to 6 hours. The fastest climb to Lowe’s Peak is 2 hours and if you’re not at Laban Rata by 12 noon, they won’t allow you to climb to the summit on the same day.
Since we’re relatively healthy but first-time climbers, we aimed for that 5 to 6 hours climb on our first day. Actually, I personally want to do it in 4 hours. 6km is an easy run for the both of us so trekking up with a designated trail shouldn’t be that hard right? Wrong.
Carson Falls. One of the landmarks that tells you, you haven't cracked the 500m mark yet.
Both of us carried backpacks with me carrying the pack with water bottles and our winter clothes. When we reached the first marker at 500m, our guide Ren, said our pace was good. A bit winded but still feeling optimistic about our time. We shared an energy bar, drank water and went on our way. The weather was also cool which was nice for a hike.
See the squirrel? You'll see a lot of them running around especially near rest areas.
A monkey-looking vine formation that Ren pointed out
We also met a group of Filipino climbers and had a chat with them to make the climb less tiring. We thought of climbing with them but at the 1km mark, we noticed that they’re really taking their time resting so we just said we’ll meet them at Laban Rata and moved on.
We saw a lot of kids in the first few kilometers of our climb. They say the locals expose their kids to climbing as early as 3 yrs. old.
At the 2.5km mark we’re already tired and hungry. We took a short break and planned on having lunch at the 3km mark. I also told Tia that I would carry her pack while I’ll have Ren carry mine because a 10-lb pack can be really heavy when you’re trekking for hours. Ren also offered to carry my camera so that he can take photos of us and the trail. I think he’s just bored of taking breaks too often.
One of Laban Rata's porters. I think he's carrying a fuel tank on his bank. Way to go!
No more straight path to walk around at this point. Everything’s going up with some steps being too high than the average step. We also got passed by the superhuman porters who bring supplies to Laban Rata every day.
3 kilometers baby! Halfway there.
We, or at least Tia, had lunch at the 3km mark. The lunch pack consists of a sandwich, apple, hard-boiled egg, and banana. I’m not fond of sandwiches and I don’t eat egg so I just munched on another energy bar and ate the banana and apples. Feeling rejuvenated, we pressed on. We wondered how our Pinoy friends are doing because they haven’t caught up yet even if we took a lot of breaks prior to lunch.
Check out the cool-looking trees
During one of our breaks, Ren went away from the trail to get me a picture of a huge pitcher plant. Cool!
At the 4km mark. It was really getting tiring. It must be the high altitude because we’re already above the clouds. Our breaks were getting more frequent. The climbing pole would be handy at this point because of the rocky steps. The fauna has changed as well. Trees are barren, more hard rocks and less soil. Really nice scenery here.
Taking a breather at one of this huge rock in the 5km mark.
Check out the twisted branches on the trees. Must be scary if you ever find yourself in this place during the dark.
The last kilometer was a real pain on the thighs and legs. The steps are really high this time and I think we were taking breaks every 10 meters. I asked Tia (for the nth time) why are we punishing ourselves. Hahaha. Good thing the view was really nice and the cool wind was refreshing.
We finally reached Laban Rata after 6 hours at 3:30 PM. I can’t believe the view. We were up in the clouds! I also saw our target for the following day, Lowe’s Peak. I was proud of Tia for accomplishing this climb because halfway back she was already feeling tired.
After 6 hours, Laban Rata finally. That's the yellow structure at the back. Further up was misty so it will be a more challenging climb to the summit.
The view facing Laban Rata Lodge. We are so high up above the clouds, 3,272.7m above sea level.
I was too tired and hungry but I’m glad that I can get out of my shoes and rest my feet. I also felt the effects of altitude sickness, a slight headache. Ren checked us in and gave us our room key. He told us he’ll meet us again at 2:30AM for the night climb to the summit.
Our simple room.
Our room consists of two double bunk beds. Nothing fancy, just a bed to rest on. We were bunked with a couple from Switzerland who gave me a tablet for my headache.
The cooks busily preparing our dinner. I was so famished that I didn't get to take a photo of the food. Hehehe.
Here's what the dining area of Laban Rata looks like. Not bad.
Here's a view outside the dining area of Laban Rata. Those are the guides with lots of energy left playing volleyball.
Buffet dinner started at 4PM and the food was surprisingly good and freshly cooked. Or maybe because I was just too hungry to care? Anyway, after getting some grub we settled in our room, chatted with our roommates before trying to get some sleep.
We didn’t see our Pinoy friends and we learned the following morning that they arrive at around 6:30 PM. I think last call for dinner is 8PM so better have somebody save some food for you if you’re not going to make it by that time.
Tia said she was too tired to continue the climb the following day and I didn’t push her on. I just told her to just get more rest and wait for me the next morning.
This is what I will face the following day.
The climb the next day was the most physically challenging thing I have ever done and it didn’t go too smoothly. That’s next.
You might also be interested in:
- Climbing Mt. Kinabalu in December Part 1 – The Preparation
- Climbing Mt. Kinabalu in December Part 3 – Conquered!
- How much does it really cost to climb Mt. Kinabalu?
- Bangkok or Mt. Kinabalu? Help us decide
Filed under: Travel
try climbing yellow mountain.. very beautiful place once you’re pass the clouds..
ayaw ko mag camping cmping
Cool! Never seen pictures from KK climb before.
Hmmm… now I might actually consider climbing this kahit hanggang Laban Rata lang tapos baba na the next day. Wahaha.
That photo with the twisted trees is awesome! Gusto ko mag-pictorial dun! Lol.