Mount Kinabalu 05: Catching the Sunrise

I set my alarm at 2 am. My friend Charl and I were sharing the room with Jasme, a Muslim man who asked us if he could use the space to pray. His hair-raising chant broke the cold silence. Charl barely slept through the night. The night in the mountain was freezing cold. I had three layers of clothes and my hands and feet could not feel a thing. I was already curling like a freezing madman under the low temperature. This is the reason why I can't live in a temperate country, I could not bear such cold.

Around 2:15 am we were having our breakfast at the Laban Rata Resthouse. I had one toast, some mouthful of noodles, and scrambled eggs. Charl woke up with a bad stomach so she barely ate anything.

The hike started at around 2:35 am traversing through the dark, narrow stair trails going through the summit. There was a long traffic of climbers that every now and then we had to stop to wait for those in the lead to move forward. After an hour or so, we reached the granite massif wherein we had to use a rope to climb a steep, rocky mountain. And because it was still dark, we had to rely on our headlights to lead us and pray to the high spirits not to fall on that deep-mile gulley just below us.

After more than an hour, we reached the alpine zone of Mouth Kinabalu. This part is occupied by various jagged, rocky peak formations. The trail all the way to the summit is elevated making it extra exhausting to climb. And because of the high altitude, breathing and recovering was difficult.

Reaching the 3929 m. marker, Charl was extremely exhausted. Due to the lack of enough sleep the night before and the bad stomach, which she has been enduring since early morning, she could not go on. AMS got her.

Half kilometer away from the Low’s Peak, we rested for awhile and watched as sunrise unfolded before our sullen eyes. Slowly, a bright orange light spread through the vast horizon illuminating the dark portions of the alpine zone. I’ve seen so many sunrise in my life. But this one is special. Everything seems special that Tuesday morning. ^_^

I am literally standing above the clouds and witnessing the streaks of that orange light seeps into the vast horizon.

It was still dusk but behind those granite peaks is the sun making its presence felt.

I patiently watch the color subsides as the sun streaks start to perforate.

Slowly, even the little grasses growing along the gaps and slopes of the rocky mountain become more visible to the naked eyes. Light is spreading faster than I had expected.

The ravine is damp because of the rain the night before. From here, you can see them like a fine white line enhancing the texture of the rocky mountain.

Clouds, mountains and more...

Next stop...the Low's Peak!