Today's photo shows a fellow trekker descending Mount Kinabalu on a section of the trail above Laban Rata. It's the last photo I took on the Mountain.
By now the sun was pretty high in the sky removing any character from the views over the Crocker Range. The next photo I took was on the beach later that afternoon so I guess I stuffed my camera into my backpack and yomped down the mountain. The photo preceding this one is of me, wearing a T-shirt and sweat pants. I'm still wearing the green socks seen on my hands in the photo of me at the summit to protect me from rope burns. Part of my oilfield safety training from many years before had been to always have a hand on a stair rail when ascending or descending stairs and force of habit led me to keep a hand on the ropes when they were available. No sense in taking unnecessary risks.
This photo shows the ropes that were fixed in place i=on certain sections in 1989. They were more useful for the descent than the ascent, helping steady oneself on the slippery rock. Like this guy, I also descended some sections in reverse as it was just easier and less risky. The trail of the thousands of trekkers who'd passed this way before us is plain to see and easily visible in the satellite images in Google Earth.
I've no present memory of most of the descent. I remember filling water bottles at Laban Rata and as I yomped down the jungle staircase I remember passing those slowly making their way up ready for their assault in the summit the following day. I do remember walking out past the Park HQ to the road and getting in a blue minibus there that took me to a stop in Kota Kinabalu and then getting a taxi to the Tanjung Aru Resort for a welcome hot shower, shave and cold beer.
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