All geared up, we are now ready for the big challenge. Oh, before that, we did unload some of our luggage for the guide to bring up (being the lazy people we are :P). It cost us RM 8:00 per Kg but the rates are between RM6:00 to RM 7:00 usually. Maybe inflation caught up with porter services also huh? :P. What I have in my bag after that was just my raincoat, medicine, my packed lunch and two bottles of water. Ok let’s climb the mountain. Local time: 9.30am. The first kilometer was a breeze and we cleared it within 45 minutes or so. Then, we took a brief rest at one of the rest stops there; I think it’s called the “Bambu Shelter”. After drinking some water, we continue our journey and it’s descend from here all the way down. This one kilometer or so downhill was the easiest trail for our upward journey. Soon we were thinking of reaching Laban Rata by 3:00pm, little did we know what’s in store for us later :D. After crossing a bridge (Jambatan Gantung Kipuyut), the trail suddenly turned to ascend.
This is where our nightmare starts. The trail going upwards was steps and rocks all the way. It was taxing to our body and somehow or other, the weather is getting colder now. We reached somewhere at kilometer 4 before we decided to take a break and regain our energy with chocolates bars and salted water. After a much needed rest, we continue upward with a slower pace. Somehow like nearer to the eye of Sauron, the harder it gets, the sky started to rain. Thank god we have our raincoat with us. Without wasting time, we put on our disposable raincoat and continue to push upwards until we reach “Lompoyou Shelter” where we took another break. Local Time around 12.45pm.
After taking a short break around 10 minutes, we continue climbing again until we reached “Layang-Layang” intersection. This intersection was the joining of the Timpohon trail and the Mesilau trail (Mesilau trail was the one we took. It was longer then the Timpohon trail by 2.2 kilometers or so but it’s easier to ascend and the scenery is much more beautiful compared to Timpohon trail). Reaching here around 2.30pm, we realized our dream of reaching Laban Rata before 3pm was far from happening.
From Layang-Layang to Laban Rata was only two kilometers but boy, these two kilometers are killers. The air is getting thinner as we ascend and it’s all big rocks to climb from here not to mention the freezing temperature and strong wind blowing at us. It was a torture. We’re making very slow progress from here, almost taking an hour plus to cover a kilometer or so. We practically walk 10 to 15 steps before resting for a minute to catch our breath. If the coldness doesn’t kill you, the wind will. Actually the wind is worst then the cold. I can still bear with the freezing temperature but as the cold wind blows on you, you’ll feel like you’re being frostbite to death. Local time 5:00pm.
“Are we there yet Mr Frodo, I can’t take it anymore”. The rain never stops and my hand has lost almost all it feels because I’m not wearing any gloves. Not to mention, I’m only wearing a T-shirt and a short pants. If not for my raincoat, I’ll be frozen in my tracks especially when the wind blows. “Another half a kilometers to go” as we practically dragged ourselves up the mountain. “Are we there yet?” “No, we’re not”. Another 20 minutes, “Are we there yet?” “No we are still not”. An hour passes, and we finally saw the first sign of Laban Rata rest station. It was like heaven, after our long climb for we finally reached our rest stop.
Moving inside the rest house, the temperature immediately rises back to a bearable degree. Ahhhh, finally I can rest my aching body. We reached Laban Rata at 6:00pm and after dumping all my luggage at the nearest empty table we can find, I went to the counter to settle our check-in for the stay at Gunting Lagadan Hut later tonight. After that’s done with, it’s time to hit the dining area while we waited for the rest of our friends to arrive (three of us reached Laban Rata while 7 more of our friends were separated into small groups). Our dinner there is a buffet style as there is a selection of two meats, two vegetables, some jellies and tea and coffee for drinks. Not exactly a 5 star buffet but more like an all you can eat canteen food. Even when we reached there, some of the dish is almost finished up. After filling my stomach, I drink a few cups of tea while waiting for the arrival of our friends. The first sign of them was at 7:00pm as they walk in to the rest station obviously fatigued. After taking their rest and dinner, it’s almost 8:00pm and the Laban Rata rest stops closes at 8:30pm. We have to depart to our overnight dorm soon. The hike up to Gunting Lagadan Hut was in pure darkness and we have only our torchlight to guide us on our way. It was just a 300 meters hike up but none a less, it’s a taxing one.
Reaching Gunting Lagadan at around 8:45pm, it’s almost time for the place to close down again for the night. All huts and dorm will silent out, as they put it at 9:30pm. What this means is all lights will be out at 9:30 and we are all required to be silent after that time. This is so all the people can get enough rest for the hike early next day at 2:00am. After taking a super fast shower (the heaters for the showers are supposed to auto shutdown at 9:00pm also), we all went to our room to rest for the night, or at least tried to rest. My room consisted of a two double decker bed and all the rooms here are fashioned in the same style. Seven of my friends sleep at another small room with four double decker bed as two of us sleep at a separate room. It’s like sleeping at a bunk dorm. There are comforters at the bed but trust me, with the coldness; you won’t be getting any sleep if you’re not wearing two sweaters, a glove and socks. It is the best if you have a sleeping bag as that will be able to provide you with some comfort from the cold.
Turning and restless for the whole night, I honestly didn’t get any sleep at all. Partly it was due to the cold and partly it was the anxiety for the hike tomorrow. Local time 10:00pm. It was around 12:30am the next day when the first sound of rain begins. It was a heavy one from the sound of it. The rain continues to fall and it never stops. We were suppose to wake at 1:00am for the hike to the submit but as the rains continues, so was our hope destroyed. The rangers has closed up the submit trail due to the bad weather as the water build up from the submit has cause a path of water to run downward the trail like a waterfall. Any climbing attempt now will be a suicide as you would probably be rushed away with the water from the submit. Local time 3:00am. All hope of making our attempt to the submit wasted, we went back to bed but as usual, I only managed a 30 minutes nap until 7:00am.
Waking up in a very very cold morning and with a disappointed look at our face, we packed and prepare our descend to Timpohon Gate. The irony is that it’s still raining heavily at this time. Our descend was another adventure by itself but I’ll leave that tale for another time. To be continued……or maybe not :D.
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