Beyond Carson's Falls the trail starts to climb, and those who move quietly and are lucky may come across the occasional snake sunning itself on the path. The harmless RED-NECKED KEELBACK (Natrix subminiata) is one of the commonest, though other species may also be seen. Soon the path climbs steeply up a series of steps formed out of tree-roots to reach the ridge at 1,951 m (6,400ft). Here is the First Summit Trail Shelter where one can stop. This is a good place to rest, and look back down the road that links the Park with the town of Kota Kinabalu on the West Coast.
The Mossy or Cloud Forest Zone starts around this altitude. Tree-trunks are gnarled and twisted and their branches loaded down with mosses, epiphytic ferns and orchids. Though orchids are common on the trail the flowers of many are small and inconspicuous and can easily be overlooked. The main flowering season is from October to January. Species of the Rhododendron family are also common here. They usually flower above eye- level so you must look up into the trees to see them. The COPPER-LEAVED RHODODENDRON (Rhododendron fallacinum), with orange flowers is one of the most conspicuous. Its leaves are very distinctive, being covered with coppery- golden scales on the underside. A few plants usually flower throughout the year, but in February to April they are in full bloom and at their best.
At about 2,134m (7,000ft), the Second Shelter is passed, after which the path climbs a steep narrow ridge, and, for a shorttime, comes out above the tree canopy, before the ridge broadens again and the path widens as it dips back into mossy forest. This is the zone of LOW'S PlTCHER-PLANT (Nepenthes lowii), named after Sir Hugh Low, a British Colonial Officer who, In 1851, became the first person to record his ascent of the mountaln. Pitcher-plants are oddities of the plant world; so-called because the end of each leaf is modified into a 'pitcher' - a container of liquid which attracts unwary insects. These drown and as they dissolve, their nutrients are absorbed by the plant.
Most species grow in areas where the soil is poor, lacking in nutrients, and this ingenious method of obtaining nourishment has evolved to allow them to thrive in such places. This species has a graceful, flared pitcher, 20-23 cms (8-9 ins) in length, and is probably one of Kinabalu's most well-known plants. Though formerly common here, picking of the pitchers and uprooting of the plants themselves in the past, has sadly reduced the population.
The mossy forest continues on past Kamborongoh (the Sabah Telecoms Station) at 2,225m (7,300ft), where a narrow track leads Up to the transmitters on the left. The name is derived from a plant locally called 'kamborongoh', in the Dusun language. that is used to ward off evil spirits. The site is a restricted entrance area. On the right the Summit Trail continues along the side of the ridge past an old landslide and up onto the ridge itself to the Third Trail Shelter, at more or less the same elevation as the Telecoms Station. A few yards further on the path divides. The left is a steep staircase leading up to the Sabah Radio and Television Stations at Layang-Layang, at 2,591 (8,500ft). This is another restricted entrance area.'Layang-Layang" in the Dusun tongue means 'Place of Swallows'.
he Summit Trail continues on the right, through the bamboo forest where Miss Gibbs's Bamboo (Bambusa gibbsiae), a tall- climbing, delicate plant, drapes the trees like moss. Miss Lilian Gibbs was a botanist attached to the British Museum. She visited Sabah in 1910 and became the first woman to make the ascent. Many of the plants she collected were new to science, and several are named after her.
Tree-ferns of several species are common. Look out here for little birds flitting or creeping through the bamboos and ferns. Perhaps two of the easiest to identify are the YELLOW- BREASTED WARBLER (Seicercus montis), a small bird, yellow with a chestnut head, up to 1 cm (4') in size and the MOUNTAlN BUSH WARBLER (Cettia montanus). 12 1/3 cm (5") in size. brown with a distinctive pale eye-stripe. A well-known but rather inconspicuous species ss the KlNABALU FRIENDLY WARBLER (Bradypterus accentor), so-called because of its habit of hopping about at the feet of the early climbers. It is a reddish-brown bird, 15cm (6') in size, with a spotted breast that is found only on Sabah's three highest mountains - Kinabalu, Tambuyukon to the north, and Trus-Madi to the south-east. Sadly it is now rather uncommon and not nearly so friendly. In 1970 it was reported as "Not seen so often as in the past. The great number of climbers now walking the mountain trail have probably driven the birds to quieter areas". Another birth that can be seen here is the PALE-FACED BULBUL(Pycnonotus flavescensl, a brown bird about 17 1/2 cm (7') in size with a distinctive white face and a deep-yellow vent. Many of the birds around the Park Headquarters can also be seen here.
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