we started around 9.00 am for the days trekking as we ascended to the guest house at Laban Rata (3,300m).

the trail is very well-defined with
regular huts, toilets, and
water taps every kilometer

the walking time for this first day
is around five hours

the views along the trail were good and improved as we gained height

a good number of plants and trees were encountered along the way, including various species of insect-eating pitcher plants, orchids.

Jan 5 th

our ascent to the summit began at 3.07 and took 2 1/2 hours. It started slowly due to congestion but after 40 minutes we had overtaken all the slower people in front as we started on the smooth rock section. This was covered in fixed ropes and was a lot easier than expected. After this the ground stipends for the final hundred meters of ascent that was easy scrambling over good quality dry rock.

we arrived at the summit in twilight
some 45 minutes before sunrise.
It was dark when we begin our walk,
and along with the high altitude,
meant we wore long trousers
for the only time of the holiday
during the day time hours.

it was cold by Borneo standards (dropping to a few degrees above freezing) but by Alpine & British standards still very acceptable mountaineering temperatures.

we reached the summit at Low's Peak,
the view was good but there was still about 30% cloud cover.
despite this cloud we had a
reasonable view across Sabah,
and a limited view out
to the South China Sea.

we returned to Laban Rata in a
couple of hours for breakfast
at 8.00 before continuing on down
to park headquarters in another
2 1/2 hours.

after lunch and waiting for stragglers
on the mountain then drove the 40 km
to relax in Poring Hot Springs.

interestingly the summit of Mt. Kinabalu was measured back in the early years
of last century and put at 4101 Meters above sea level.