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Summit
Trail
is
the trail that you will be using to climb to the Mount
Kinabalu
peak.
After having a nice rest overnight at Kinabalu
Park HQ chalet, you
should wake up before 6.30am and get ready with all your climbing gear.
Have a breakfast and go to the Kinabalu Park HQ office to get your
climbing permit, a name tag, your guide and maybe porter (if
necessary). You will be taken to the Timpohon
Gate,
the entrance to the
summit trail where you will start climbing. Buses are provided by the
park for climbers and it will cost about RM5 per person. It is a 15
minutes drive along the 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) winding and a steep
uphill road leads to directly to the gate.
Most climbers will start
their climbing at 8.00am from Timpohon Gate. After a short registration
at the gate, you will be surprised that the short first section of the
rough gravel and sand track leads down, not up, across small gully to
join the main flank of the mountain, and past the little trickle of
Carson's falls, named after the first Park Warden.
Timpohon Gate. This is where you
will start your climb.
From here the
trail
rises steadily as a series of rough, uneven steps, right up to the
overnight huts at Laban Rata (3,272 meters/10,735 feet).
Along the
way there will be 7
shelters (pondok), where each shelter have toilets and untreated
mountain water source. The shelters afford the weary some well earned
rest at intervals and the water tanks will make it easy for you as you
do not have to carry heavy water bottles with you. The average time
taken to reach Laban Rata is about four or five hours.
Get
your FREE Mount Kinabalu
Summit Trail Map here.
The PDF
version of the map is actually the route for Mount Kinabalu Climbathon.
If you like to downoad the PDF version, bear in mind that there will be
no stops for first aid.
Pondok
Kandis
The first trail shelter,
Pondok Kandis, is reached at 1,981 meters (6,499 feet), where excellent
views are to be had looking down to the coast (southwest). It is a
steep 30 minutes climb to the shelter.
My climbing
partners. You can
see that we are all exhausted!
Pondok
Ubah
Continuing along
the Summit Trail for another 20 minutes, you will arrive at Pondok
Ubah, 2095 meters (6874 feet). It is a shelter just below a well known
site for what must be one of Borneo's most unusual pitcher plants,
Nephentes sp. It might be slightly off the trail, but you could ask
your guide to point out it to you.
Pondok
Lowii
Soon after, an
overgrown track leads off left to the radio station, but the main trail
continues to the right contouring around the ridge. The forest becomes
thicker and mossy, tree ferns are abundant and everywhere the long
spiky shoots of climbing bamboo pierce the mist. You will arrive in
Pondok Lowii (2286 meters, 7500 feet) after 30 minutes of climbing. The
air is damp and green moss and ferns carpet the ground and stunted
trees. The trail splits soon afterwards, leading to Sabah Radio and
Television Station, a restricted area on the left, and the continuation
of the Summit Trail on the right. The trail winds through the dwarf
forest. Clouds often envelop the trees which festooned with ferns and
orchids.
Pondok
Mempening
After 40 minutes
you will arrive at Pondok Mempening (2518 meters, 8262 feet) with wild
begonias growing nearby. Stops at these shelters give you time to
observe the squirrels, tree-shrews and birds that seems so unafraid and
come looking for discarded food on the ground.
Ultramafic
soil-
distinguished by its
orange-cinnamon colour, with the shorter forest, dominated by Leptospermum tree.
Another species of Leptospermum tree.
Layang-Layang
(previously known as Carson's Camp)
Soon you will
emerge onto an open exposed ridge at Layang-Layang 2,702 meters (8865
feet), where a small tin hut provides a welcome resting place (though
not an overnight stop) for weary climbers. It was a 30 minutes journey.
Here wild raspberries and a view to the East make a rest or lunch stop
enjoyable. At this point a band of ultramafic
soil, distinguished by
its orange-cinnamon colour, crosses the trail and the vegetation
changes dramatically. The forest becomes shorter and much more open and
is dominated by the second species of Leptospermum that grows on
Kinabalu,
L. recurvum, with its tiny
grey leaves. This is also the zone
of insect-eating pitcher plants which Kinabalu is famous.
Pondok
Villosa
After about 45
minutes and at about 2,690 meters (8,825 feet), you will arrive at
Pondok Villosa. It is situated at the top of an open rocky patch and
soon the forest becomes more stunted. Superb vistas can be had of the
mountain towering above you as you follow the path upwards. At the top
of this open area at about 3,050 meters (10,000 feet), a
small
track leads off to a helipad on the right and it is worth making this
five minutes side trip for the dramatic view of the towering peaks from
the helipad on a clear day. Shortly after the helipad junction, you
suddenly leave the ultramafic
soils. The forest again changes back to
taller trees draped thickly in mosses, and orchids cover the ground in
between tumble granite boulders.
Pondok
Paka
Another 45 minutes of
journey, you will arrive at the seventh shelter, Pondok Paka at 3,080
meters (10,105 feet), named after the Paka Cave nearby, famous as the
place where Low, Whitehead and others slept before making the final
assault on the summit. The Paka cave, on the edge of a small stream, is
really nothing more than a large overhanging rock. It can be reached
along a rather overgrown track to the left, which continues above the
cave to join the main trail higher up. This detour is fairly steep but
takes only a little longer than the standard route.
At last... Laban Rata
Resthouse.
Laban
Rata
The thinning air makes
it harder to breathe, but the accomodation complex of Laban Rata lies
about another 40 minutes ahead. The Laban Rata Resthouse is equipped
with running water, electricity, a restaurant and indor showers and
toilets. Electric heaters are provided in the rooms
(in Laban Rata
resthouse) as well as blankets. This is the resting place for most
climbers. You can have your meal, wash yourself up and just have a nice
rest with your travel
guidebook to read.
I am going to climb Mt KK on 3.10.08 on my own,wants to join forces to split the cost?
poohoo kl
Posted at 11:18am on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
if you are going to climb mt kk around this time, i would reckon to invest in very good raincoat/ponchos. it rained a lot when we climb last week and it was really cold. we were wearing rm2.50 disposable raincoat and you can imagine the rain was sipping through the multiple holes in our cheap raincoat.
TINKU NEW DELHI
Posted at 8:40pm on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT POLAND K&K COMAPNY
Kenneth Yapp Tawau, Malaysia
Posted at 3:38pm on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
The climbing experience was truly awesome. Can't believe that I made it to the sumit despite of my multiple sport injuries. Before to the climb, start ahead 3 days with GINSANA Ginseng extract produced by Swiss- 4 times a day that can be easily purchased over the local pharmacy in Kota Kinabalu,fyi marathon runners normally used this drug, 1 dozen of energy bar & instant power liquid and dont forget LEKI trekking poles, believe me it was a life saver from fall and stabilizer. Also ORS ( Oral Rehydration Salt )on the way up on the endless journey. Good luck and happy climbing !!! P.S 2gb MP3 with you favourite selection of songs will boost and keep you pumping, lastly your will and determination to reach the TOP , ...
Maria Hong Kong
Posted at 3:55pm on Friday, June 27th, 2008
Must I be escorted by a local guide if I walk up the Mesilau Trail? And what if I just take a leisurely trail at the Park HQ, can I walk on my own without a local guide? (my problem is the local tours up the peak in mid August are all full,but I want to hike a bit on Mt Kinabalu very very much!)
Brian Selangor
Posted at 11:48pm on Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Just came back last week. Timpohon or Mesilau ???
Well...def Mesilau for me..the view is much better..the climb more challenging and varies...the amount of steps @Timpohon is crazy..anyway, go slow, enjoy the view n the company of other climbers. We met a group of Koreans and there were very friendly...haha. Group of men aged 50++. Hats off to them. Panadol is essential. It rained along the summit trail for us. 1 piece of advice, dun dry ur shoes near the heater!! Most prob ur shoes will no longer be wearable after that.:p. The heat will melt the glue of ur shoe base. Just dry ur gardener gloves will do. The walking stick helps and bring extra rain coat (in case of tear, like mine..:p). And dun carry too many things in ur backpack. Just ur camera, drinking water, enery bar, energy drink, bread (optional). Cheers and good luck!!
Haidy Kuala Lumpur
Posted at 5:46pm on Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Me, my wife and our friends (6 of us) will climb on 27 Jun 2008. Tomorrow we fly to KK by Air Asia. We did a lot of exercise n fitness. I hope we will be tough enough. Information from this website really helpful. We prepare all the equipment according to the information given. Well, wish us all the best..
Azrin paya lebar
Posted at 7:36pm on Friday, April 18th, 2008
Last time i brought my girlfriend along and believe me i managed to make love with her at the summit. Hv to hide from the others laa but so nice wooo..i used my thick sweather to cover her afterward
shila tawau,sabah
Posted at 6:02pm on Monday, March 17th, 2008
i advice 2 Drai take the mesilau trail..that true that trial quite hard..but that have a very2 good view.that trail is more beautiful than timpohon trail.that not just beautiful but very2 beautiful.believe me.u won't regret..also more waterfall there than timpohon only have one..peace!!
Drai Melaka
Posted at 2:09am on Thursday, February 7th, 2008
Thanks for the very informative write up on Mt. Kinabalu climbing. Myself and 20 of my staff are planning to climb on the 27th,Feb 2008. All the bookings and reservations have been made. We choose the Mesilau trail, because we are adviced that it is a 'easier' trail. We are very excited, but after reading your write-up and others, I have the feeling that Mesilau is a tougher trail for the climb. We are novices on mountain climbing. Please us advice which summit trail to use. Thank you
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