Day 3 -- Wednesday, 20 May 2009 (Part 1)

1 a.m.: I gowned myself in 1 t-shirt, 1 long sleeve, 1 hooded jacket, 1 windbreaker, 1 thermal pants, 2 track pants, 1 beanie, 2 gloves, 2 socks and my weathered asics shoes.

Just as I was wearing my shoes, Joyce walked-in in her ‘layered clothing’ – she was only wearing 2 long sleeves and a pull over for her top! Lynn was no better off – she had only1 knitted long sleeve, 1 t-shirt, 1 windbreaker and 1 jacket.

Looking at their pathetic attire for the bitter weather, we decided to donate some of our clothing to them.

Ping was down with altitude sickness. She vomited a few times in the night and she decided to opt-out for the summit climb. Joyce inherited her winter jacket and scarf while I decided to grace Lynn with my hooded jacket. I then slip-on my back-up down jacket. Yes I was that well-prepared. =p

Putting on the headlight; we were all ready to set off

Outside, the rain was still pattering hard and the wind never stopped howling. We met Nani at the dining area and were told that orders had been passed down to delay set-off till further notice. Despite feeling disappointed, we were glad to have the extra time for breakfast.

Then, on Nani’s cue, we set off into the dark. Its pitch dark the moment we get out of Laban Rata. Even with the help of our 21 LED headlight, we could not further than 1 meter away.

The rain made our way through the slabs of granite stones more challenging. The terrain on the way up consists mostly of large slabs of stones compared to the smaller ones we encountered on the way up to Laban Rata. We had to take extra care so as not to slip on these stones slabs – this slowed us down a lot.

After what seems like ages, we reached Gunding Lagadan Hut, where we were stopped – the rangers at Sayat Sayat Hut said it is too dangerous to proceed to the summit in this weather.

Outside Gunding Lagandan Hut

We were ushered into Gunding Lagadan Hut to wait for further notice.

Disappointed Climbers!

Half hour later, the rain and wind still did not subside. Finally, we were told that the climb to summit had to be aborted!

Disappointed, we hit the road leading back to Laban Rata. The way back was even more daunting. I couldn’t walk more than 10 steps without slipping – I inched forward ever more slowly for the sake of my dear life. When we are nearing Laban Rata, I slipped and fell on my butt. Luckily, my butt is cushioning enough to break the fall. ^_^

My shoes soles had lost all its traction! Moral of the story – Never wear an old pair of shoes during mountain climbing.

At last, we reached Laban Rata.

It’s 3.30am. The 2nd round of breakfast won’t start till 7am, so we decided to go back to bed and catch up on some sleep.

Lynn requested to bunk in with me as she felt too lazy to climb up to her bed. The uncles were still snoring away! Lynn soon fell asleep with the help of her mp3 player.

Lying on the bed and listening to the rainstorm , I couldn’t help feeling relief (despite being disappointed) that we do not need to conquer the last 2.7km in this weather. My shoes would not be able to take the challenge and I am bound to fall more if I carry on.

With a stirred mind, I drifted to sleep.

The sky was cleared by the time we woke up. The views from the windows were breath-taking! It’s a pity that we did not catch the sunrise.

Morning View from Laban Rata

I bought another postcard to document our feelings at this point of time.

Click for a larger view - The Low Peak which we never reached

Making use of resources =p

Postcard to be posted

Mailbox at the souvenier counter

We were sure we will come back again for the summit climb!

After breakfast, it was time to hit the road again.

In Dorm 11

SouthPark! - Joyce is soo cute!

Bye, Dorm 11

We stopped by the Helipad for photo-taking. The views from the Helipad are even more stunning and it was super windy there. There was a volleyball net set up in the middle of the Helipad – though it doesn't seem wise to play volleyball beside a cliff!

View from Helipad

View from Helipad with Laban Rata behind us

Paranoma View

Paranoma View of Laban Rata

Nice View from Mt. Kinabalu

TO BE CONTINUED .......... Day 3 (Part 2)