I've been up this famous mountain once before, way back in early 2011. Not really that high, being just 870m/2900ft above sea level. Of course, that's the vertical distance, that you'd have to traverse if Gunung Datuk resembled a wall. The hike from the base to summit was roughly 2 to 3 kilometers (for lack of accurate measuring equipment that could trace my ascent in 3D). The journey starts at the office at the foot of the mountain trail, located at N2 32.598 E102 10.148.
Since my last visit, the climbing fee had increased by RM2 to RM5. Still a fair fare, in my humble opinion. It was a public holiday, on the occasion of the birthday of the Agong. There were many fellow hikers that day, thus forcing me to park my car somewhere along the road that led to the parking area. Which was where, unfortunately, that I found myself stuck in the mud.
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| Trapped in mud - can't go back, can't go forward.... |
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| Using wood didn't help |
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| The other side of the car was looking pretty bad |
Turns out that it had rained the night before, which turned the grassy earth by the side of the asphalt road into a tractionless dirt surface. Which I found out after some 2 seconds, while trying to correct my parking position. My car was on a slight incline, so with practically no traction, trying to go forward only resulted in wheels spinning in the mud. Going backwards was possible, but there was a car behind me so there was no space to back out. After some attempts at extraction (all ending in failure), final strategy was to wait for the mud to dry and the car behind me to get out of the way. Incidentally, disabling VSA (vehicle stability assist) at least enabled my wheels to move, but did not get me free. As spinning the wheels appeared to be getting me no where but deeper into the mud, decided to stop before sinking until my car bottom touched the ground. First time bring trapped this way - Honda Civic being a FWD, was most unsuitable for this kind of terrain. Wonder if I had been driving a 4x4, probably would have been laughing. Should leave it to Jackson and the guys at the Puma 4x4 Club.
Anyway, since I was "trapped", decided to make a quick climb up the mountain and come back down. I'm not sure how long I took when I was here two years ago, but it seems to take a longer time that I remembered. Got up to the top in roughly 3 hours. Not right to the top - just to where the big rock and steel ladders are. Getting there was the plan, as beyond that required some climbing up ladders. After all, my main aim was to get some exercise and to gauge if I can still make it up to this point.
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| As far as I planned to go - target met! |
Coming back down was faster, around 1 to 2 hours. Yes, I'm sure there are many of you out there who can do this in half the time. Well, for me, personal goal has been achieved, and I don't have to climb up like Gollum (from Lord of the Rings) to be happy with myself.
Once back down, after recovery and re-hydration, and waiting for mud to dry, I went to check on my car. I found the front of my car covered in mud - apparently the car in front of me had also gotten stuck, and had covered my car in mud in the process of breaking free. Looks like I have some car-washing to do when I get home....
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| Mud bath by the car in front - fortunately, no dents or collisions |
Unfortunately, that was not all - the mud was still, um, muddy. But, at least the car behind me was gone. So, taking a risk of getting stuck deeper off the asphalt road, I turned my tires away from the road and reversed until one of my front tires was on the road. Once that was done, I shifted to "D" and gently stepped on the accelerator. The tires were still slippery with mud and slipped a lot, but as I persisted it somehow managed to grip the road and started to inch forward. I pulsed the throttle to get the tire spinning fast briefly to throw off some mud to get better grip. Finally, when the other tire reached the road, with both tires, I finally managed to pull free of the muddy trap!
There was no place to wash my car, so I just used the wipers to clear the windscreen. Looking like I just came out of a dirt rally, I drove back slowly (as my tires were still muddy, didn't want to risk loosing traction) and eventually arrived home safe and sound - albeit much later than expected. On this adventure, my car was for once more involved than myself....
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| On terra firma - free at last! |
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| Not so bad, just have to drive home like this and spend some time washing car |
Overall, I'm happy with myself, still being able to make it up and down without collapsing halfway from sheer exhaustion. I had originally planned to try climbing Gunung Kinabalu (again) this year. Something that I've never succeeded in doing before, in spite of numerous attempts - one of which resulted in me fracturing my left ankle. Unfortunately, cannot find any of my friends to join yet, so as of today, this plan remains just a dream. Hope that one day I will get another shot at it, and for once, succeed. Until then....
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