My Experience - Climbing Mt Kinabalu 1.0
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Hi all,
First off, I did plenty of research when I was planning my trip. There are lots of ways to do the climb - make sure you find out about the different options. The other really important things you need to do before you go is some sort of training, and get some good gear. It doesn't matter how fit you are, or how far you can run, unless you get your legs used to going uphill, it's going to be harder than it needs to be. You don't need an intense training regime, you just need something.
The other thing is gear. Here's what i took :
• Good Shoes
• Lightweight quick - dry hiking tshirt
• Lightweight Merino Fleece
• Lightweight raincoat
• Spare tshirt and comfy pants 9double as dry relaxing clothes and pyjamas)
• headlight
• Gloves (makesure you bring extra glove just incase you need extra)
• Nuts,juice and chocolate.
• Standby 2L of water and bring 1 smaller bottle.
• Medicines
• Tissues
• Lightweight Towel (mine is anti-bacteria one i bought from Decathlon)
• Tissues
• Lightweight Towel (mine is anti-bacteria one i bought from Decathlon)
• Vitamin
• Skincare especially Cleanser , Serum & Moisturize (i bring my Youth Skincare travel kit the weight is about 0.8g only)
I can say The climb itself is really beautiful. The trees are gorgeous, you can see wild orchids and pitcher plants, and the landscape changes dramatically as you climb. The first two km are easy, after that it gets quite steep. Richard 53 years old has more than 20 years experience being a guide. he started at 12 years old in 1978. We bowed to his experience. Another great thing about having a guide all to myself was that I could ask him plenty of questions about the mountain. He was great. I had my lunch at the 3.5km mark (most do) at around 11:30 or 12:00. The 4th and 6th km are harder - steeper yet again, slipperier, and it's here where the altitude started getting to me. I just couldn't catch my breath, and needed lots of breaks.(im lucky enough because my fiancé always give me positive support) My muscles felt fine, I wasn't physically tired, I just couldn't get enough air into my lungs. Even at the very end of the 6th km when I could actually see Panalaban I still needed another break - just not enough air. Richard and my Fiancé encouraged me to keep going - he wanted us to get there before the rain started or before 4:30pm - and we did! The weather is good no raining.. untill we get our dorm 11 and he remind to us “be prepared for next challenge tomorrow” haha i was like 😅😅 and seeing the mountain infront me. Haha.
Dinner was at Panalaban guesthouse, and I was in be at 6:30 or 7pm, ready to rise at 1.30am.This was when I really started to notice symptoms of altitude sickness. My heart was racing and no matter how I tried to relax I couldn't get it to quiet. I have an app on my phone that reads my pulse - my normal resting heart rate is 62-73,but at Panalaban , lying down, it was up to 97 haha .
The next km was almost the hardest part of the whole climb. I couldn't catch my breath at all, and I was really scared about altitude sickness, because apparently it's hard to tell the difference between the feeling of physical exertion and being actually very sick. I told My Fiancé again that I was scared and he again questioned me about nausea and a headache. He said that because I didn't have those, I could keep going, that it was normal to have trouble breathing, to take it slowly but surely and I'd be fine huh !
After that, it got easier/harder. The track itself changed from stairs to actual climbing, using a rope to pull yourself up, balancing next to a sheer drop off, which was technically more difficult, but also much more fun, and it forced me to go slower, so it was much easier for me, and I felt more physically up to the challenge. My Fiancé was really helpful for the climbing parts too. (Urgh that time i can say “god help me!” Haha) We made it to the final checkpoint. I love you bhu (my fiance')
The absolute hardest part is the final stagger to low's peak. From the 8.5km marker it's just 220m to go - and my fiance says it took be around 20 minutes. There's no path any more, you just climb the rocks and somehow get to the top .
So, my top tips is
✔ listen to your guide. They know waht they're doing.
✔ Get good gear.
✔ Savour the scenery. Slow and steady is your best bet.
✔ And don't eat to much at panalaban!
My next target to climb back there on April'2020 next year ..
FIGHTINGGGGGGGGGGGG
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