I almost did not make it. Trekking to the Northern Ridge and back, that is.

Alex Foong called for a briefing after dinner on the next three days trekking. The briefing, however, left some of us with a few unanswered questions: where were we going to get our drinking water from for days 2 and 3? And what if some of us could not make it to the ultimate destination? Such logistics problems made some of us feel uneasy.

The 13 of us had flown from KL to Sandakan on the east coast of Sabah early in the morning, and from there we were taken in four 4WD vehicles to Imbak Canyon Conservation Area.

Imbak Canyon Conservation Area is a sweeping swathe of unspoilt forest, located almost right in the centre of Sabah, just north of the famous Maliau Basin. The Canyon is actually a 25km long valley, hemmed in on three sides by impressive sandstone ridges, the highest peak of which soars abruptly to 1,120m above sea level.

With a total area of about 30,000 hectares, Imbak plays an integral role as part of the vital wildlife corridor connecting Danum Valley Conservation Area and Maliau Basin Conservation Area for major mammals like Asian elephant, Sumatran rhino, orang-utan, tembadau and clouded leopard. Due to its shape and location, the Canyon also serves as the catchment area for the Imbak River that discharges into Melian River which in turn feeds into Kinabatangan, Sabahs longest river.

All the 3 conservation areas are part of Yayasan Sabahs Forest Management Area.

After spending some 4 hours on the road, including one and a half hours on loggers track, we had to turn back! The Imbak River was swollen and our vehicles could not ford through it. There was a plan to build a bridge over the river, but nobody knew when that would materialize. Facing us was a dilemma: put up a night in the nearest village and wait for the water to subside, or take an alternative route to the Canyon? Jimmy Omar, ICCA manager, made the decision to go for the alternative route via Tawau.

That decision saw us driving back to Sandakan to put up a night in Yayasan Sabahs hostel.

On the following day, we left Sandakan at about 5am, had breakfast at Lahad Datu, and reached Tawau at about 11am. From then on, little hiccups cropped up now and then to delay our journey. First, one of our drivers carelessly pumped in some petrol into the tank of his diesel vehicle, and had to engage a mechanic to drain out the tank. All our 4 vehicles were supposed to travel in a convoy, but they soon became separated and time was wasted waiting or looking for each other. About half an hour after we turned off the main road into a logger track, our progress was interrupted by a grossly overloaded timber lorry that had bogged down at a muddy stretch of the track. Luckily in just about 10 minutes the lorry was freed and we were able to continue our journey. But alas! when we were about 2.3km from Tampoi Base Camp, we were halted again. A fallen tree had blocked the track completely. It was then 5:30pm and the sky had begun to get dark. Ismail, my vehicle driver, decided to walk to the Base Camp to seek help.

One hour and 15 minutes later, Ismail came back with a gang of rangers and a chain-saw. In no time the obstacle was cleared and we were happily back on track again.

The last 2.3km stretch of the track was soft and muddy. Fortunately our vehicles made it to the Base Camp without any further mishaps. It was 7:30 pm. Bernie, Seng Aun, Beng Eng and Mee Hong went to work almost immediately and we had our delicious hot dinner 2 hours later.

The high-pitched shrill of cicadas heralded in a new day, but the beautiful morning did not see some of us in high spirit. Mee Hong was down with flu and decided to stay back in the camp. See Ming and So Sim were somewhat intimidated by the long hours of trekking that the rangers had promised, and they too decided to give the trekking a pass. Mike, Lian Lian, Beng Eng and I still had some misgivings about our drinking water supply, but we decided to go for the trekking anyway. Kok Sun, Chee Weng and Nor were extremely eager to go.

So we all geared up, and with the rangers helping to carry some of our luggage, we set off for the northern ridge.

We soon came to the Imbak River and had to wade through it. The water level only reached our waist, but the many boulders on the river bed made it difficult to walk. This being a photographic expedition, many of us had expensive cameras and lenses with us and the last thing we wanted was for any of these to drop into the river. Luckily the rangers, being young and experienced, were much more sure-footed than us and they carried all our belongings to the other side of the river safely.

Another misfortune soon befell us. Going up a steep slope, Mike slipped and twisted one of his feet and could hardly get up after that. He had to abandon the rest of the trekking and turn back. He was helped by Lian Lian and one of the rangers. Back at the Base Camp, Mike suffered another stroke of bad luck. He poked his walking stick through a slit in the boardwalk, fell and hurt his eyes. Ismail drove him to see a doctor in Sandakan and he soon flew back to KL with Lian Lian.

The remaining 8 of us pushed on. The trekking turned out to be much easier than what the rangers had promised. The trekking on the first day took us only about 4 hours, and on the second day we reached Bukit Beruang in just about two and a half hours. The downsized group required less drinking water than expected and so the anticipated water supply problem did not materialize.

For our effort, we were rewarded with a spectacular sunrise from the helipad next to our campsite on Bukit Beruang. The mossy forest we passed through was teeming with beautiful orchids, pitcher plants and rhododendrons. As usual, animals were rather shy except for a few bearded pigs that ventured close to the ridge.

We enjoyed the camping tremendously. It was a brand new experience sleeping in a hammock slung between two trees with just a flysheet over it, though some of us had to bear with the harassment of insects throughout the night.

Another round of trekking took us to the beautiful Imbak Waterfall some 3 hours from the Base Camp. This time all of us (except Mike and Lian Lian) participated. We camped next to the waterfall. We had a good time enjoying the cool, clear and refreshing water.

The Almighty decided that we were not to conclude our expedition without another challenging episode. On the way out from Tampoi Base Camp, two of our three vehicles got stuck in mud and the vehicle that got through had to race to the nearest logging camp some 30 minutes away to seek help. It was about 7:30pm before all 3 vehicles met up beside Imbak River to ford across to the other side. Shortly after that it began to rain cats and dogs. Whew!