Mt kk

I had the pleasure of climbing Mt kk, the tallest mountain in South East Asia on 19th April 2007 with Brian, 2 of Brian's friend from Singapore, Penghulu Lim, and about 10+ hashers from padawan. It was my first ever attempt on a mountain of this height. I remembered a few years ago when Richard ask me to climb Mt Santubong I have to always excuse myself, citing reasons of time, fitness, family, etc etc.

This trip was not really a "planned" one as I only confirm with CV penghulu Lim about 2 months before the actual climb and there was a mix up that in the end 5 of us end up without a bed to sleep on at the base camp.

We fly into kk by AA on 16th April morning. We took a van up to the mountain and checked into Rose Cabin Lodge. It was simple accommodation with basic amenities but we do enjoy the veg garden and flowers around the lodge. We tried to hitch a hike to a town further down the hills with some of the guys trying to show their thigh to would be good Samaritans to entice them to take us but without success. In the end we just hired another van. Along the way we were captivated by the imposing peaks of the mountain. I went to bed early after drinking a bottle of Guinness.

Woke up early Tuesday to enjoy the sunrise and manage to take some very nice pictures. For those who have not climb mt kk before, there are 2 tracks up to Laban Rata, Masilau and Timperhon. We took the longer Masilau tracks, starting off at 8.45am. I decided not to try to take my backpack (weighing 8kg) myself but pass it to a porter. I think he carried around 25kgs. Some of our fellow climber tried carying their packs up themselves only to pass it to the porter after struggling half way thru, but penghulu did carry his all the way up.

The view going up Masilau track was fantastic as the vegetation change from tall rain forest trees to "bonsai" with hair growing on the branches. We pass thru suspension bridges, creeks, up and down hills with temperature getting cooler and clouds appearing and disappearing very fast. Luckily we were blessed as there was no rain. I walk at my own pace, only resting for very short period of time. When I feel tired I just walk in smaller steps and slower pace, others were rushing as if they are doing their weekly hash. I managed to reach LR, the base camp at 2:15pm. With legs very tired, hungry and thirsty after five and half a hour climb. Rushed into cafe to order some food Aaaaaaa.

I was feeling very tired and was looking and waiting for a place to rest. As I do not have a bed available, I have to sleep on the floor with sleeping bag. Meanwhile trying to get myself a shower only to find out that they have run out of hot water. So only wash my face and wipe myself with freezing water. %$#^&@. Luckily I found a good spot to sleep, rather than sleeping in between 10 guys on bunk beds, all sweaty and tired cramp into rooms with boots after the climb.

Crash out early that night and woke up around 2am the next day. Hashers were a noisy early bunch. I had some light breakfast, pop in 2 panadols (for altitude sickness) and off we went to tackle the summit at 2.45am. There were so many climbers that there was jam at the initial climb, with lights illuminated by the torches it looked interesting. Again climb slowly but consistently in small steps while breathing deeply. I managed to get to the top at around 5:40am, just in time to see the sunrise. Ye Ha ................... I finally made it.

The view of the sunrise was just amazing. The orange and yellow of the sunrise was as usual, but the blue's was just awesome. With the colours changing rapidly, I managed to take some good shots.

The first person to reach the top was a monk from China Fuzian province, and he even carry his back pack up the summit, weighing 20 over kg. I had the pleasure getting him to pose for me for a photos on top of mt kk.

For those of you who could never imagine climbing it, an advice from me, "you can if you set your mind onto it". I am already thinking of climbing it again soon.

The trip down the mountain was not as smooth for me as my right thigh starts to stiffen up. I managed to reach the bottom via Timperhon trail the last (among my group). Exhausted, we go directly to kk after checking out the lodge.

Surprisingly my legs was ok, not like some previous climber's description of pain and sufferings after the climb. We took a flight the next day back to Kuching and was really glad that I have done my 1st climb of Mt. Kota Kinabalu, the highest peak in SEA.