The Mountain

Before we all knew it, we were in a lodge right at the base of the mountain packing our bags ready for the 2 day climb. The were two possible routes to take, the most common and shorter Summit trail, or as myself and 3 others opted for, the 8km Mesilau trail. With the two kilometers extra to walk, it wasn't appealing to most but as we would all decend via the Summit trail, I fancied the change of scenary. It was a good walk, but after heading 'up' for 1km, heading straight back down was demoralising, but soon it was back to the uphill struggle again! Actually it was mostly enjoyable, passing waterfalls and over streams (where I momentarily lost Sparticus the walking stick to the water...thank you mountain guide for jumping in a recuing it!). The trail was pretty narrow and consisted of rocks as steps up nearly the entire way, but at more delapidated sections, ladders type structures had been placed. It was a long plod, but it was interesting to see how the scenary varied greatly along the way as our altitude increased.

The final 2km on that first day were the worst. Rain was starting to put in an apperence and the trail got more taxing. I found my energy suddenly just drained completely, concerned it was the altitude doing it's thing, I was relieved to find that a packet of biscuits worked wonders! As a group we'd spread out now, we all just had to get up to the lodge at our own pace, and finally we all did by about 5pm. Here we were all to refuel and rest for some hours before getting up at 2am for the final push to summit in time for sunrise. I was happy to see my insomnia had kicked in as soon as my head hit the pillow. 2 minutes previous I couldn't have kept my eyes open.

When 2am came around I realised this was the earliest I'd awoken for sunrise, and hoped it would be my last for this trip. I think only about 100 people each day are allowed on the trail, so everyone gathered for an early breakfast before, in the cold, a snake of headlamps set off for the summit. Things were instatly tougher with many really had to fight the effects of altitude sickness, a fair few needed to turn back. I was fortunate not get any so just kept making my way onwards and upwards. The route across sheets of granite was marked out by white ropes, some for guidence, some to be used to pull ourselves up. In a few places it looked as if falling would be a bad future plan, but after the worst of it, the gradients calmed down and the main aim was not to get lost as clouds quickly float in obscuring vision of any reasonable distance. Fortunately it was a pretty clear night and all the clouds were a long way below. I counted down each half kilometer to complete the 2k to the summit and was gutted to find when I got there, the final peak was another kilometer yet, damn mountain guides lying to me! Nearing the top I realised I'd lost the group, but looking back I could only see a dotted line of white lights disappearing into the distance, so continued on. The final bit was the most difficult as a scramble needing both hands was required to make it up and over huge boulders to fianlly reach Low's peak at 4095m (13,432ft). Here I found a jaggedy rock to sit precariously on and wrapped up warm whilst I awaited the sun and the rest of the group.

The summit was interesting, nothing there but a signpost, flimsy wire fence intended to encourage people not to fall over the side, and a handful of other climbers. Up there the air was really thin, the temperature had dropped to around zero and most interestingly to me, anything in a packet had bloated to it's maximum and was ready burst.

The descent was easier, maybe because we were all keen to just get this challange over with already, but also because we stopped having to fight gravity and the air continially got more comfortable to breathe in. The sun was bright and hot, and illuminated all that we'd encountered on the way up, some of it quite frightening. My clumsy ways struck and I fell on my way down, but only a meter or so, which was good for my health (excelpt my leg), but bad because it just meant I still had a long way to go the conventional the way.

Back at the hut we got a second breakfast (it's now 9am) before packing up and setting off back down the the base. I think I hated every 6km of it. The rain suddenly just came down (as it often does in these parts) and didn't stop all day. Within about 20mins the trail was more of a stream rushing down hill and no amount of waterproofing could keep me or my stuff dry. Finally reaching the bottom we had lunch and sat dazed waiting for the group to become complete before moving on!