Rocky Mountain high?

Well, it's official. I've climbed a mountain. Her name is Mount Kinabalu, and I have amazing photographs, as well as slightly sore legs and feet, to prove that I did, indeed, make it to the top.

As a whole, I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with my endurance, being I haven't exactly been one to practice "daily exercise" since my trip commenced. The closest I've come to "daily exercise" in the past 3 1/2 months is flexing all bodily muscles as I cringe immediately prior to jumping into my daily, cold Asian shower. But otherwise, this body hasn't seen many physical tests as of late. That was until the 13,450 ft mountain called my name this past weekend....

I set off on the climb on Friday with two others, Arjen (representing the Netherlands) and Marjut (representing Finland). The trek starts with a 4-5 hour climb that stretches 6 kilometers in an upward direction. All upward. The destination of day one is Laban Rata, a lodge-style accomdation where climbers rest for a few hours before making the early-morning ascent the following day to the summit. Luckily, to prevent erosion, the National Park has done a great job of creating a rock- or natural-stepped path that leads to Laban Rata. So while it is a difficult, uphill hike....at least the path is well developed and easily recognized.

Day 1 (Friday) started off nice, fairly cool, and overcast....great hiking weather in just a short-sleeved shirt and shorts. Soon, however, the weather turned a bit nasty, and the rain gods let loose. Luckily the full-body rain coat I had just purchased was a quality one, and for the most part, I managed to stay dry and continue the surge up the mountain.

After just 3 1/2 hours at a rapid click, we made it to our cozy accommodation. The hike took many others 4 or 5 hours, but we managed to keep pushing forward even when our legs disagreed. I can't lie, though, I was beat. I nearly could keep my eyes open for 6pm dinner....

After an early bedtime of about 8:30pm, we caught a quick night's sleep and arose just after 2am to get the day rolling. A cup of coffee and a bowl of cornflakes was the morning fuel, but it certainly wouldn't end up going too far! We started the ascent around 3am, equipped with headlamps, trail snacks, and clothes sufficient to guard against below-freezing temperatures. Day two's (Saturday's) climb involved a little more caution and our guide's supervision--much of the 2.7 kilometers to the summit consisted of slippery rock and the usage of ropes to pull ourselves up. Again, we must have kept the end goal in mind with each step because it wasn't long and we were finding our way up the final climb to the top. We arrived at the summit at 5:15am. It was cold, dark, and windy.....a far cry from the balmy, tropical conditions we experienced at sea level just 24 hours prior. Talk about going from one extreme to another!

The sun started showing its face just before 6am, and we were ready for it. Numb hands and sweaty (now cold and sweaty) backs quickly warmed up when the sun came around. The view was amazing--fairly cloudless skies allowed us to see for ages. We managed 1 1/2 hours at the top before slowly making our way back down to Laban Rata, our overnight stop. After a well-deserved, hearty breakfast there, we continued our descent down to the park headquarters and reached the base of our climb just after 12 Noon. Let's just say coming down certainly moved quicker than going up--it was certainly a nice change of pace!

After arriving at the base, we were again fed (just some 3 hours after having a huge breakfast) and offered up a huge, buffet-style lunch. Oh, it felt so American it was heavenly. I think I probably went back for third or fourth helpings.....it's pretty hard feeling guilty about what you're stuffing your face with after you just tackled a mountain.

Sunday, well, Sunday was a day of rest. We managed to take a 30-minute ferry from Kota Kinabalu to one of the small islands that helps to comprise the marine park surrounding the city. A lazy, sunny day on the beach was openly welcomed after the activities of the previous two days......

....and that takes us to today, Monday. I arrived on an early morning flight today to the island of Bali, Indonesia. I've exited Malaysia and will spend the last 10 or so days of my trip in and around Bali. I'm looking forward to some more diving, more hiking, and inevitably some more beach time in the next week and a half....

Enjoy the pics, all! I am a bit frustrated...I just spent a couple hours uploading even more for y'all to see, but I just lost half of them. So before I throw this monitor out the pretty little window in front of me, I'm going to sign off and let you enjoy the ones that did make it to the blog anyhow! Can't wait to see everyone in less than two weeks.

1) Day one, are we there yet?
2) A misty afternoon in the hills....
3) Glad to finally find our overnight stop!
4) Day two begins...bring on the ropes.
5) 0.7 km to go until the summit, feeling good about things!
6) Done and done. 5:15 am.
7) First glimpse of what is about to unfold in front of us...
8) The crowd awaits the sun
9-11) The view unfolds....
12) A shot from the top once again!
13) Beginning to make our way down...checking out the scenery we couldn't see on the way up!
14) Local porters who carried food/goods/lumber/anything up the trail to Laban Rata....these guys are animals!