(Inside story: So i just had my 1st climb last Sunday, you may have gone mountaineering many times but i found it challenging though because it tested my faith. It had been raining hard the night before in our area(quezon city.)I am almost halfhearted to go since my parents discouraged me. They thought I’m just putting myself in danger with the activities that i choose to do. But this is adventure. Nevertheless, I couldn’t blame them. They are my parents. I am also confused whether to go or not because i did not sleep the whole day and night. I got the answer when we attended Saturday’s anticipated mass and the message is about the faith in the storm: That the disciples are on a boat but they are very troubled with the strong wind and rain. Terrified they were , they woke up Jesus who was just sleeping.But Jesus said, be still, do not be afraid! )
Despite the rain i still went to my friend’s house with full confidence that the rain would stop until the next day. Also, it does not mean that if it rains in QC, it will also rain in pasay or batangas.
The organizer,Sir Ger, told us to prepare because we would be pushing through the event rain or shine unless there would be a storm. We’d decide if we are to hike when we reach the jump off.
So to speed up the story, i got safely to my friend’s house to prepare my gears and things. We got to go safely at the meeting place in alabang starmall by a taxi cab booked via Grab-a-taxi. We were so early that we arrived at around quarter to 2.
We waited. The other climbers also came.We barely talk but we smiled at each other knowing that probably we belong on the same group.We rode a van and arrived the DENR jump off point at 6am,we had our registration and breakfast prepared by the organizer.
Read this first:)
Registration area with Papa Bear(Kuya Nathaniel)
We also have ID’s.Very cool.
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Before the hiking,make sure to empty your bladder for your comfort.
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There is a little briefing with our organizer. At around 6:45, we started to hike.There is this new trail where you can pass through a stream of water at first. The trail was muddy,just like what we expected, adding up to the challenge.
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I really hoped I would not slide or get wounded or injured.I just did my best with all the stuff that I had. Ionly got my red umbrella as my trekking pole. Others bought bamboo sticks or woodsticks which we called “pang-ermitanyo”
There are parts where the trail was really slimy that we really had to help each other to climb up. There are lots of trees and different plants that I couldn’t name. I love how it feels to be surrounded by the trees. It seems i want to breathe 100 cycles per minute just to compensate the times of inhaling toxins in the city. One thing i noticed there is i did not see any animals nor insects in the area. I do not know if they hid far away from the people.
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If you think you are slow, it is okay as long as you make sure that you did not join a race so you can finish it at
your own pace. There are also times that you will get ahead or others will get ahead of you. Of course, you have to have couple of minutes to rest and gather your endurance for another bunch of km hikes. It was father’s day so i really did my best not to prolong it. There was a little rainshower so i had no prob cause all i have to do is use my umbrella.
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There is also a halo-halo stop somewhere along the mountain trail.So imagine how they get to bring the ingredients and the ice and how serious their business is. They had to literally “mamundok” every weekend just to quench our thirst for something cold in the middle of our trip.
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We reached the campsite and of course, it felt so refreshing to see everyethereal thing that lies below. The view is not something you usually see in the metro on a daily basis. You won’t also feel the rush of answering the bombarding calls because there is no signal until you reach the campsite. It was really windy. i got a little scared that my cellphone might be blown into the cliff.
After series of team pictures, selfies,groupies,etc,we trekked to the summit. We are cautioned by locals there to be careful because it is slippery. Well, thank God I’m still alive,alive enough to document the experience. We enjoyed the view up there. Aside from the picturesque view of other green mountains,we got to see the cove and the monolith.
Ready to jump, Master!
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There is a sense of achievement at that moment, especially it was the first time i climbed a mountain, it was slippery and i had no sleep the previous day. (You might think it is easy,but i feel really proud of myself ) Later on, we could no longer see view as it was hidden by fog. there was zero visibility that time and too unfortunate for us because we couldn’t climb the monolith. (You know,nature has its own way of making you come back to them) well,we just ate our prepacked lunch baon on top. It was really fun.
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We started to descend after that.and i find it more challenging cause it showered a little.and im like, ” uh-oh, it got a more slippery” so i was determined to bring my whole body uninjured and woundless. Thank God i did it. Of course,there are minor slips.
I think our group was one of the firsts to reach the foot of the mountain that day so we took advantage of the vacant bathrooms to at least clean ourselves and get dressed. You have to pay 10php for that.
We rested and chat while we wait.
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After that, we ate sopas as merienda. We left the place at about 3. Well, the whole experience went well. Thank God nothing bad happened plus it didnt rain. Moreover, We enjoy the trip and appreciate the beautiful mt. Pico de loro/mt.palay palay. We also got to befriend several adventure enthusiasts and mountain climbers from various areas. There are also soloists.
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Well, it is my first time to climb and definitely it will not be the last. Now,i am thinking the next mountain i will climb.:)
Thanks to my dad and movill cycle shop for my trekking necessities.
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Thanks to sir Ger corvera,the organizer; Thanks to the PH ultimate adventure club.
And most of all,Thanks to you Lord God.
