Mt Kinabalu-We Came, We Saw, We Conquered!!!

When my parents booked their trip to come visit, I knew we needed to have some fun adventures with them since they are so 'adventurous and fun!'  We have spent a lot of time hiking and backpacking as a family, so when I heard about this mountain climb, I thought it would be quite an experience for us...and it did not disappoint.  We took our 3 oldest girls, 15, 12, and 9 and my parents who are 62 and 66.  It was tough...but incredible.  

The keys for success on this climb are: 

Training~ by climbing up and down ALOT of stairs

and

"Lahan, Lahan"-going very slowly and drinking a lot of water

to avoid altitude sickness and exhaustion 

Mt Kinabalu is the highest mountain in SouthEast Asia.  It is located on the island of Borneo, in Malaysia.  It stands at 13,435 feet (4,032m).  The actual hiking is just about 11 miles (18 km), round trip, but is very steep.  It is relentless!  We all commented that those were the longest km we had ever hiked!   We flew Air Asia, and we booked our climb through Sutera Sanctuary Lodges.  They included the night stay before the climb, the resthouse prior to summiting, and all of our meals.  But we had to pay for guides when we got there.  It's over a 2 hour drive from the airport and we arrived late the night before our climb.  Our driver's name was Sebastain H.G  6016 811 0280, ian88btc@yahoo.com.  Very friendly, spoke good English and had a nice new large car and he's a member of our church.  After our climb we stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Kota Kinabalu.  It is a very nice hotel and a great location for seeing the city.  Other than our rooms not being ready and few little issues b/c it was a busy weekend,  I would recommend it.

The first night we stayed in a pretty nice cabin.
The next morning, here we are ready to begin our adventure.

we were all a little nervous about what we were getting in too!

breakfast at the Cafe

there's our beast to conquer
It is beautiful

We began our hike about 9:45am

they have races up and down the mountain,
and people have done it in less than 3 hours!
completely insane!!!

depserate times call for desperate measures
no CL to be found

and let the stairs begin!

wow, that was a long kilometer!

these porters would come flying by us with HUGE loads.
All the supplies at the resthouse are carried up on peoples backs
bedding, food, drinks etc...

the trekking poles come in very handy on this climb

Brit is so much fun in the outdoors,
she just comes alive!

you can also pay someone to carry your backpack
This little lady had a full load!

we had 1 tiny little bout of sprinkling rain,
but by the time we got our ponchos on it had stopped
the weather was perfect for us!

It just kept going and going, up and up and up!!!

these are our guides.  They hardly spoke any English and really didn't do much for us.
They just followed behind us smoking???!!
I would request English speaking guides if we went again.

the steeper areas have this rope for you to hold on too

I love to see my prissy, girly little Lisel
in the great outdoors
what a girl!

every little bit they have these little rest huts.  They were a welcome site!

some of them even have a flushing toilet!
I couldn't believe it

Ans was awesome!  She is one tough cookie!!
youngest kid there by far!

there's the summit
wow

this is the Laban Rata resthouse where we stayed prior to our summit
We arrived about 3:15pm
it took us about 5 1/2 hours to get there

and we all bunked together.
They had booked 6 of us in 1 room and 1 of us in another room
so we pushed the bunks together and the 3 girls slept above Spen and I
...actually, none of us really slept more than a couple hours
I would recommend a sleeping pill at about 7pm :)

this is the buffet they feed you for dinner, 2am meal and breakfast after the summit
it was decent, fruits, vegetables etc...

the dining hall was so crowded, we couldn't find a place to sit

these pics are of the sunset that night from the resthouse
truly amazing

rise and shine!!!
We are off to the summit

It was dark and cold, the sun was my hope
I knew once it came up we would have light and warmth again

Spen and Anslie were the 1st to reach the summit...in about 3 hours
when he saw Lisel and Britta about 1/2 hour later all alone
trudging up that mountain, he got teary eyed.
He was so proud of his girls.
They said that they prayed 'alot' to make it.

and they patiently waited, freezing..
.for their nan and pop and mom to arrive

when I arrived with my parents about 30 minutes later
it was emotional to see my girls at the top of that mountain!
Little Ans looked at me and teared right up, and I, of course, did the same.

here's all 7 of us at the summit...hooray!!!

Shadow of the Mountain....

the sun felt heavenly
Little Ans nearly froze sitting up there waiting for the sun!

most of the summit climb is granite slick rock,  so these ropes are there to hold on too.
Gloves are a must!

Looking back up to the summit

my cute mom that I love,
glad I could be there for you after all the times you've been there for me

this the the checkpoint to the summit
They mark off your badge going and coming so no one gets lost

the same day you summit, you hike all the way down
and I mean ALL!
it goes on and on and on
coming down was much harder on the knees!

but these girls just hauled right down
I am so incredibly proud of my girls seeing them do something so hard!

they made it from the resthouse to the bottom in about 2 1/2 hours
and again...desperate times calls for desperate measures
Spen is drinking a Coke!

and the final descent was actually a staircase going up!
Mom, Dad and I came trucking in about 1 1/2 hours later.
60+ year old ankles and knees aren't quite the same
I am amazed at these 2!  
They were the oldest ones on the climb and such troopers.
I will always treasure these hours hiking together.

Kota Kinabalu:  I had been in contact with the couple missionaries there to see what needs there were in the branches of our church.  They sent me a list, and each of the girls earned their own money to buy the supplies we brought.   These sweet people are so humble and kind.  We loved them!

Here's Brit in the nursery, passing out the new toys

Anslie in Primary passing out CTR bracelets and rings Nan and Pop brought from Utah

sorting the clothes and supplies

We had a very special, very unique Easter Sunday
and really felt of the spirit of these sweet saints

We  had a couple days to tour the city:  lunch was at Little Italy...yum!

our sore bodies enjoyed some foot reflexology

walking through the city was hilarious
we were so sore that we all walked like old people
up's and down's about killed us!

We ate at a Chinese Seafood restaraunt along the coast for dinner
but since none of us are big seafood lovers,  it wasn't the best choice

Nan ordered fried tofu and it was nasty
Lisel enjoyed throwing it at all of us and watching it bounce off

swimming at the Hyatt

these girls have the best grandparents

while Nan and Pop played with the kids, I got some r and r

We did it!!!
What an amazing experience to have with my family.