Trekking in Mountain Kinabalu


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tomshen

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Feb 20, 2002
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As swift-monkey asked me about some questions of trekking in mountain kinabalu. I think instead of replying him alone, better write something for public, in case anyone else might be interested in the future.

Transportation: For those who are more adventurous, you can plan your own journey. It's quite safe IMO. After getting to KK, you can take/share a Mini bus or taxi (normally RM15 if sharing) to the reception office at the foot of Mt Kinabalu (1.8km altitude). I am not sure if there are direct transportation from airport. In KK there are quite many minibuses around. It take 2 hours on the way. Make sure arriving before 9pm (or 8pm safer). During busy seasons, better book your bed earlier.

Cost: Not sure about the package price, you may want to check it from your local agent. For self backpackers, one night in youth hotel costs RM12. RM100 for permit. RM60 for renting a guide (but can share, the more the cheaper). RM25~30 for two way transportation between office and the entrance (also can share). RM10 for certificate.

Routing: I only have experience on 2-day routing. First day, start from 8~9am, reach Laban rata (about 3.2km altitude) at 3~5pm. Stay overnight and depart at 2am. Reach the top (4km altitude) before 6am to witness the sunrise. Later go down all the way. Check out at Laban rata before 11am and reach the foot of mountain around 4~5pm or earlier.

For those of you arriving KK late, better stay in the city for one night and go around in the next morining, then depart to Mt. Kinabalu in the afternoon.

Some of my sabah photos can be access at: http://www.tomshenstudio.com/gallery/travel_kk_001_050.htm
 

Tom,

Can you advise on what to bring onto the peak ? Like what bag would you recommend ? A minitrekker or a rover ? Heard that you can leave your big bags at the base camp and bring only a light bag with essential clothing up. But I was thinking that the waist belt and good harness of the rover might provide better support. Thanks ! :)

tomshen said:
As swift-monkey asked me about some questions of trekking in mountain kinabalu. I think instead of replying him alone, better write something for public, in case anyone else might be interested in the future.

Transportation: For those who are more adventurous, you can plan your own journey. It's quite safe IMO. After getting to KK, you can take/share a Mini bus or taxi (normally RM15 if sharing) to the reception office at the foot of Mt Kinabalu (1.8km altitude). I am not sure if there are direct transportation from airport. In KK there are quite many minibuses around. It take 2 hours on the way. Make sure arriving before 9pm (or 8pm safer). During busy seasons, better book your bed earlier.

Cost: Not sure about the package price, you may want to check it from your local agent. For self backpackers, one night in youth hotel costs RM12. RM100 for permit. RM60 for renting a guide (but can share, the more the cheaper). RM25~30 for two way transportation between office and the entrance (also can share). RM10 for certificate.

Routing: I only have experience on 2-day routing. First day, start from 8~9am, reach Laban rata (about 3.2km altitude) at 3~5pm. Stay overnight and depart at 2am. Reach the top (4km altitude) before 6am to witness the sunrise. Later go down all the way. Check out at Laban rata before 11am and reach the foot of mountain around 4~5pm or earlier.

For those of you arriving KK late, better stay in the city for one night and go around in the next morining, then depart to Mt. Kinabalu in the afternoon.

Some of my sabah photos can be access at: http://www.openlens.com/~tomshen/gallery/theme_index.htm#kk
 

Acieed said:
Tom,

Can you advise on what to bring onto the peak ? Like what bag would you recommend ? A minitrekker or a rover ? Heard that you can leave your big bags at the base camp and bring only a light bag with essential clothing up. But I was thinking that the waist belt and good harness of the rover might provide better support. Thanks ! :)
hehe, so surprised to see this old thread pop up again. :)

Bring as light as possible. Bring only 1 lens and don't change lens if it's humid. Be careful when you take pictures!! Watch your steps. Other than that, I think most fit people can make it. I brought my minitrekker up, a rover is also ok. You can leave your heavy stuff at the base camp.

Wish you could take a better sunrise (I didnt get any interesting sunrise shots, too cloudy...).
 

tomshen said:
hehe, so surprised to see this old thread pop up again. :)

Bring as light as possible. Bring only 1 lens and don't change lens if it's humid. Be careful when you take pictures!! Watch your steps. Other than that, I think most fit people can make it. I brought my minitrekker up, a rover is also ok. You can leave your heavy stuff at the base camp.

Wish you could take a better sunrise (I didnt get any interesting sunrise shots, too cloudy...).

Hey Tom, if you are game for another trek up Mt Kin, I'm game too! Looks fun :D Maybe can organise .
 

I went up there once on a school trip long ago... route is exactly what tomshen described. The route isn't tough, just be prepared to break out into a light sweat, and it's a lot of fun... progressing from tropical rainforest to alpine type landscape to bare rock. My only regret was that when I made it to the summit, the batteries in my old Nikon point and shoot froze up on me :( (this was way before I took photography seriously and know nuts about lithiums...).....
 

remember to bring lots of choco bars! keke..i brought 2 snickers for the final 3km..and was damn hungry 2/3 up.. ;p
 

SniperD said:
Hey Tom, if you are game for another trek up Mt Kin, I'm game too! Looks fun :D Maybe can organise .
Yeah, I'd love to but seems unlikely due to limited leaves and many other wonderful places in Asia wait for me to explore. I do wish I could have more time and money to travel. :D
 

tomshen said:
Other than that, I think most fit people can make it.

erm... do you think Larry or Suhaimig can make it or not har??? :D

About to plan a trip, upon request, in the coming months. Kinabalu lingers in my mind... so I probably need to assess who can and who cannot make it, hahaha. :bsmilie:

Think I also need to beef up abit ...
 

jasphotography said:
erm... do you think Larry or Suhaimig can make it or not har??? :D

About to plan a trip, upon request, in the coming months. Kinabalu lingers in my mind... so I probably need to assess who can and who cannot make it, hahaha. :bsmilie:

Think I also need to beef up abit ...


Been there twice, nice place to relax..... :)
 

Went up there twice but that was more than 10 years ago....
Was a very nice place then...heard that the price of most things had increased alot since. Climbing permit was only RM 25 then.

I would recommend bringing a tripod up with you if you can. It's cold & windy up there & by the time I reached the top, I'm already shack out, so the tripod helped alot.

Some of the other things that you can shoot up there even before the sunrise....
1. Star trail...the sky is clear up there once you reach the bare rock area near the top. Set your cam on a long exp & you'll get a beautiful shot of all the stars trail. I've never seem such a beautiful night sky ...no chance in Singapore.
2. Most ppl will be walking with torch light & at some point (on the bare rock but not too near the summit) you can actually see a trail of these lights going up toward the summit. (of cause that means that you must not be the first few to climb / actually you'll be quite far behind the crowd in order to see the long trail of lights).

One more thing....don't be garang & reach the summit too early to catch the sunrise. On my 2nd trip, I reached the top at about 5:30am & the sunrise was about 6am+. I was shivering there for almost half & hour due to the strong wind & cold.
 

This talk abt Mt Kinabalu brings back happy memories for me..went up in 1997, just before my 2nd daughter was born.

Took a 7 day package trip with 4 other colleagues - if I remember correctly, it costs us abt S$700, which besides the 3 days at Mt K also included a 1 day white water rafting trip at Padas River and 1 day trip to an Island at the TAR Marine Park.

The hike up itself wasn't too difficult, easier than Gunang Tahan as it's much cooler and essentially your climbing up a series of steps. It does however pay to be fit so that you'll enjoy the climb more and be less affected by shortness of breath due to the lower O2 levels - I remember at the higher altitudes approaching the peak, having to pause at every 20 steps to catch my breath. Some however may be more prone to altitude sickness, one guy from the group had it quite bad - giddy and bad headache, rest of us were ok. I think not rushing the climb is the way to go.

As for eqpt, I carried a Lowepro Orion around my waist which was very convenient - for the trip I was using an EOS-5 w/ a 20-25mm most of the time, I think given that you'll be on the move, a waist pack and 1 -2 zoom lenses will do the job, to keep changing lenses while hiking can be quite challenging esp when you're cold and trying to catch your breath.

For my group, we didn't head down to base camp right after the ascent to Low's Peak but stayed on an extra day at Laban Rata which allowed us to recuperate from the previous day hike up and also made the final descent the next day much faster - I remember doing like a slow jog down most of the way since it felt less strainous on the kness as compared to walking.

one final word of advice to those planning a trip to Mt K - be sure to get hold of a good cold weather jacket, as the temp up on Low's Peak is very cold and windy. The tour agency we went with included the use of a down jacket as part of the package and it came in very useful indeed.

cheers and happy hiking.
 

Wow...the rock-climbing part looks scary...did anyone go weak in the knees?
 

Thanks Tom. Will be trekking it next month =) Did you strap your tripod to your minitrekker ?

tomshen said:
hehe, so surprised to see this old thread pop up again. :)

Bring as light as possible. Bring only 1 lens and don't change lens if it's humid. Be careful when you take pictures!! Watch your steps. Other than that, I think most fit people can make it. I brought my minitrekker up, a rover is also ok. You can leave your heavy stuff at the base camp.

Wish you could take a better sunrise (I didnt get any interesting sunrise shots, too cloudy...).
 

Acieed said:
Thanks Tom. Will be trekking it next month =) Did you strap your tripod to your minitrekker ?
I did not bring up my tripod :dunno:
 

Acieed, when are u going? u joining travel agent? how much u pay har?


i was doing my sum.. i thnk a 4d/3n can be done at S$350, or less if you have more people..

this is the details:

Transport
1. air asia return tix from Senai S$150 (RM137 one way, tax Rm19)
2. MRT/ SBS170 to Larkin, from Larkin to Senai - $15?
3. from Kinabalu Airport to Kinabalu Park 2 ways $20?

Accomodation:
1. Kinabalu Park - Bishop Head's resthouse $15 (RM30) per pax per nite.
2. Laban Rata - $17 (RM34) per pax per nite.
3. Last nite at Kota Kinabalu hotel ranges from $40 onwards for a decent 3 star room.

Others:
1. Trekking permit fee $50 (RM100)
2. Guide $35 (RM70)
3. Insurance $1.50 (RM3.50)
4. Certificate $5 (RM10)

Food/meals fill in the blank.. varies for diff people.

the cost would be cheaper eg. hotel in KK & guide fee if u have more pax.. well to me its very much cheaper than paying $550-$600 to travel agents..

well the last time i went i paid $599.
 

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