 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.  |
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