DESTINATION: Mt. Palay-palay a.k.a. Pico de Loro 644 MASL
JUMP-OFF POINT: Magnetic Hill, Ternate, Cavite
SPECS: Minor climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail class 1-3
CLIMB DATES: February 13-14, 2010
PLAN: 6:00-6:30am Assembly at Metropoint Mall in Pasay Taft... Meeting Place: Dunkin Donut stall
Actual scenario: There was no Dunkin Donut stall at the mall. It was replaced by Pixies. The nearest Dunkin Donut stall was found at the staircase leading to the MRT Station. Assembly time extended up until 8:00am
PLAN: Take a bus to Maragondon.
Actual Scenario: Took a bus to Trece Martires.
PLAN: Take a tricycle ride to the Magnetic Hill
Actual Scenario: Hired a public utility jeepney for one grand to take us to the Magnetic Hill
REGISTRATION
At the Magnetic Hill, a bogus collected P20 from each one of us. It turned out that we were supposed to pay P20 only at the base camp 1. We were excited at first, we tried to stretch some muscles before leaving the jump-off point.
ASCENT
The first few minutes of the ascending trek was agonizing that I thought I wouldn't make it to the base camp 1. What a shame it might have been! I blamed it on the lack of sleep. Little Ms. Workaholic me had to finish some tasks a few hours before the assembly time. Argh!
The weight of my backpack was nagging at my frail shoulders. I know I was reminded to pack light... But dang! That's the lightest I could pack.
We wanted to have lunch near the falls and maybe take a dip before leaving for the summit. However, we were welcomed by a drip that was weaker than a faucet's. We were disappointed to find out that the falls had dried up. I brought along a pair of swimwear and had been anticipating to swim in its river.
Our guide loved to leave us without a trail, and we called him the assault summit boy. It's like he had an unfinished love affair with the summit and he couldn't wait to get there. I will never forget his motto: "Every man for himself." Nevertheless, he was able to redeem himself when he came back for us a few minutes after (was it a few hours after?) he reached the summit, to warn us that we were headed for the dangerous trail. I was throwing tantrums when I learned that I had to climb down and follow a different path. I was only appeased when I finally reached base camp 2 and saw the view from there. I was so overwhelmed by the magnificent view and I could smell pride on my very own sweat.
We took some rest while the boys pitched our tents. A few hours later, we were headed for the BEAK. Only Melle, Francis, Eli and I were able to make it to the grassland. Haha! I saw Vae and Noella tailing us but somewhere in the middle of their climb, they decided to engage in another adventure that left them with muddy feet.
Melle and Francis tried their luck in climbing the rock formation. When I heard rappelling and all, I just decided to stay at the BEAK'S peak. We saw Melle emerge from the back of the giant rock a few minutes after they left us. Dang, was he fast! We waited for Francis to do the same. Maybe it was taking him longer. No Francis showed up at the peak of the giant rock. He decided not to push through with it while he was waiting for his turn to use the rope.
When they came back, Melle was telling us the story on how he got to the top. He said that he didn't use the rope on his way down. It was an easy climb, according to him. I regret not finding the courage to climb the rock formation. Melle was telling me that I could've easily made it to the peak.
SOCIALS
Melle prepared a concoction of gin, extra joss powder, and mango juice powder. I never liked the taste of gin nor its after- (hang-over) effect. But since I was left with no choice, I took more than a few shots. It tasted good and it helped me drown the exhaustion which had been trying to pull me down ever since we reached the summit.
Lights out a few minutes after midnight... I wasn't able to sleep well though. The angry wind kept waking me up. What made it scarier is that it would send a signal (an aura) before it would smash the outside of our tents.
The next day was okay, better than I thought it would turn out to be. Assault summit boy left our tent early to enjoy the sunrise at the peak. When he came back to where our tents were, it was time to put them down.
DESCENT
We weren't able to wash up the night before, as we didn't even have enough water supplies to brush our teeth. Wet wipes were very helpful. We started to descend from Pico as soon as we're done cleaning up our campsite.
The descent was much easier and it took us a shorter time. We didn't have breakfast and our water supply was very limited that a few meters away from the base camp 1, our water jugs were already empty.
At the base camp 1, we met the same people we met at the summit. We had our lunch there. We took a nap and then, washed ourselves up. We didn't want to reach the civilized world all too dirty and smelly.
