Mount Kinabalu

So I'm a bit behind on the posting, but we just got back from Kinabalu.  It was great!  It's the fourth highest peak in SE Asia, and you don't need anything more than some determination to get to the top of Low's Peak (the main one).  There's tons of granite there, so if you'd like something more challenging I don't thing think that would be a problem.  

Mt Kinabalu hosts an impressive botanical display, there are between 5,000 and 6,000 species on the mountain!  There are over 800 orchid species, over 600 fern species, and is famous for its pitcher plants.  

Our first day we hiked up to a rest house at around 3,200 meters.  The trail was super, about 8km long and through tons of interesting stuff.  Here are a few pics from along the way.  Once you got out of the montane forest, there was some really neat vegetation.  The bright green trees are podocarps (southern hemisphere conifers).

They're pretty neat, they have that stunted, almost bonsai look.

A little further along and you get into the mossy forest, where trees have thick moss layers and lots of vines.

After about 6hrs of hiking, birdwatching, snacking, and general enjoyment, Kim and I reached the rest house at ~3,200m.

And there was a nice view of where we were headed the next day!  ok, so I can't actually find the pic of Kinabalu, but here are a few adjacent peaks.

The next day, we left pretty early to see sunrise from the top of Kinabalu.   It was great - lots of granite slab to walk up and a super-good time.  There were a ton of people... but I'm not sure there's any way to avoid that?  You're only allowed to head up w. guides, and you can only summit pretty early in the morning (you have to pass a checkpoint by 4:30am).  We got there early enough to shiver for an hour or so and watch stars before the sun came up.  I got to see the southern cross!  Here's a shot of some of us at the top: Kim, Ed, myself, Stephanie, Nathan, and Peggy in the front.

A neat place, Kinabalu was recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  If you get the chance to go, I definitely recommend it!