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 Introduction
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Covering 754
square kilometers, the Kinabalu National Park is one of the greatest
attractions of Sabah. Within its boundaries are found lowland
rainforest of the tropical zone at its lower level, the montane oaks
and fig trees, the rhododendron shrubs and wild berries of the
temperate zone at its medium level, and the conifers an other alpine-like
associations of the summit zone at its upper level. Where else
in the world can you find a complete ecological system such as this,
compacted in one small area?
Mt. Kinabalu,
at 4,095 m is South East Asia's highest peak, and the focal point of
Sabah's oldest park. 90 km and two hours drive from Kota Kinabalu,
along good sealed roads, lie the Park Headquarters, at an elevation
of 1500m on the southern boundary. The mountain itself was
formed less than 1 million years ago, when a hard granite plug
(a plutonic rock) forced its way upwards through the overlying sandstone rocks and shales of the Crocker Range. Gale-force winds and torrential rains
eroded away the softer sedimentary rocks before the coming of the
Ice-Age that carved the jagged granite peaks and precipices above
the smoothed Summit Plateau.
The Ice melted
less than 10,000 years ago and evidence of glaciation is still
visible in the form of scratches and striations in the rocks, and
weathering by heat and cold, wind and rain, continues flaking and moulding the vast granite slabs. Today, Mt. Kinabalu, the
youngest non-volcanic mountain in the world, is still growing at the
rate of 5mm per year.
Climate:
The best time
to visit the park, especially for climbers, is during the March and
April dry season. The average rainfall is over 400cm
per year, with average temperature of 20 degrees Celsius at the Park
Headquarters, while at the Laban Rata Resthouse at 3,273 m, and on
the peak, the nightly
temperatures can drop below the freezing point.
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