Mt. Kinabalu towers over this Island of Borneo, daunting, as if to say “Climb Me If You DARE!”

Why I dared to I’m still pondering. The hype of majestic views of the landscape below me, or the chance of seeing as far as the Philippines on a clear day, maybe. All you hear about is getting to the top and watching the sun rise from the 4th tallest mountain in the Malay Archipelago, breathtaking.

 First the facts. Mt. Kinabalu stands 4095m to the top, that is equivalent to almost 4x Grouse Mountain, which stands at 1127m to the top of the “Grind”. (For those of you that don’t know what the “grind” is, it’s a hiking trail up Grouse Mt. that is known for it’s leg and lung burning ability.) In total the trail is about 8.7km long, starting at 1866m and finishing at 4095m (vertical rise of 2229). For tourists wanting to try their hand at it, on average it’s a two day event. You hike 6km up to base camp sitting at 3080m, usually taking 4-7 hours depending on your fitness. Spend the night at base camp only to wake up at 2am to hike the remaining 2.7km to the top. This takes another 3ish hours so you make it just in time to watch the sunrise.

 The downside. It is a HUGE cash cow for this place. In order to climb the mountain you MUST have a night stay at the lodge booked. If your lucky enough to be able to book it yourself, because books say to reserve a bed up to 6 months in advance, then you need to pay for your entrance fee, climbing permit, climbing insurance, transport to the starting gate, guide fee, of course your paying for your lodging, and don’t forget to bring money for the your meals. By far the easiest is booking with a tour, which book up most of the beds resulting in your personal hassle of trying to book a bed yourself. That will run you 800-1200rm, equivalent to $250-$350cnd. I was lucky enough to book it myself and ONLY paid around 600rm, around $200cnd, SIGH.

 The hike was rough, and when I say rough I mean like, chew your own arm off to free yourself rough. Took me about 4 hours to complete the first 6km, though the last 1km of the trail I had to finish in torrential rain….YIPPY. Even to this day my shoes are still drying out. Don’t eat too much for lunch or dinner because my stomach just can’t handle trying to feed blood to my dying muscles and stomach to digest. Glad I didn’t get altitude sickness which prevents about 20% of people climbing the mountain from doing the summit trek. I’m in bed by 7:30pm after taking a 1 min shower due to “electrical problems” and not having hot or even warm water. The next day I got up at 2am to climb what is now no longer a path in the “woods” and is just all rock cliff, lighted by only my headlamp that you need to supply yourself. Reached the summit just around 5:30am drenched in sweat, which turns real cold in 7deg temp when you stop moving. Saw the sunrise, took my photos and just wanted to jump off the side of the mountain, just so I didn’t have to climb down. The view, I do say is cool. Worth everything? Still haven’t decided, but am leaning toward no. And as they say “what goes up, must come down.” To do damage on my body, more was caused on the way down. My knees now have roughly 4 years less in them.

 So enjoy these pictures because: Climbing fee $15RM, Guide $85RM, Accomodation $490RM, laying motionless, in pain, and unable to walk for the next week….. Priceless.

[Show as slideshow]