Climb 020: Two Peaks on a Stormy Weekend

DESTINATION: Mt. Arayat 1,030 MASL
JUMP-OFF POINT: Brgy. Ayala, Magalang, Pampanga
EXIT POINT: Brgy. Juan Bano, Arayat, Pampanga
SPECS: Major climb, Difficulty 5/9, Trail class 1-4
CLIMB DATES: October 8-9, 2011

Climb 019: Revisiting an Eerie Mountain

DESTINATION: Mt. Cristobal a.k.a. The Devil's Mountain 1,415 MASL

JUMP-OFF POINT: Bangkong Kahoy Valley, Dolores, Quezon

EXIT POINT: Sitio Awas, Brgy. Sta. Elena, San Pablo City, Laguna

SPECS: Major climb, Difficulty 6/9, Trail class 3-4

CLIMB DATES: September 10-11, 2011

It was supposedly a reunion climb with my Apo Team. However, my Apo Team brought newbies and it would be better for them to take the back-trail route. That is why I built a team of six to do the traverse. Since our trek lead, Josh, had a Mandarin class the next day, we have decided to do a dayhike. I had warned my team though to prepare for the worst scenario and assigned people to bring a tent, a stove, and a cooking set. I also informed them to bring a headlamp just incase we had to trek at night time.

Meet-up was at 4am at Jac Liner in Cubao, but because some came from Baguio City, the assembly time stretched to a few minutes before 6am. We arrived in San Pablo around 8:30am and were still waiting for some, so we decided to have breakfast. We headed for Bangkong Kahoy Valley Resort that served as our jump-off point. We started trekking half past 10am and arrived at the Montelibano House just before noontime, so we decided to have lunch there.

We cooked carbonara for lunch and decided to let the first group go ahead of us. We resumed trekking around 2pm and arrived at the crater area just before 6pm. We headed for the summit and arrived there around 6pm. We had some coffee and geared up for the descent half past 6...

The descent was sloped at 85 to 90 degrees. It was very slippery from all the mud and we had the cogon grass to hang on to on the first hour of going down. The most challenging part of it is climbing a big rock that prompted us to use the rope that Elmer brought. It was really dark and our headlamps only allow us to see things clearly at a distance of a few meters ahead of us. After about five hours of downhill descent and I was growing weary because I couldn't find the supposedly landmark of mine that leads to the more familiar banana plantation and grassland, I decided to call everyone to huddle up.

"Guys," I called out after motioning everyone to take a seat in a steady place around the sloped area that we were situated at, "I don't want to cause any alarm but I think that we are lost. We've been going down for 5 hours now and basing on my experience, we would already have been around 800 meters down but judging from the city lights that I can see from here, it seems like we have only gone about 400 meters. I noticed that our altitude have not changed in the last few hours, considering that all we were doing was sliding our butts off in those steep downslopes."

One of them said that she remembered passing through the same spot twice or so! I prompted everyone to ho,d hands so that we could pray together. We then recited our prayers to gain assurance that we would go past through the situation. While praying, one of my crew cried out: "My God... God!!!!" to our horror. We knew that something was happening to her... After praying, I asked her what it was about. She said that she saw a man with shadow-like appearance that was trying to stop us from praying. Goosebumps attacked me, but I prayed for more courage and focus. I told her that I acknowledge what she felt, but I would not be validating the presence of the entity.

I consulted the group who to call among our the people in Metro Manila. I decided to let someone in the city know that we were getting lost in the jungle, but that someone had to be mature enough not to panic. We decided to call Professor Edwin Don Padrilanan of FIMO. He gave us sound advice and even encouraged us that we were near a community of farmers. It was enough to strengthen our faith. I told everyone that we were not leaving that place unless each one of us had regained our emotional strength. When I looked at our buddy who saw the entity, she was looking fiercely at me to my horror! I asked her, "Do you remember where we first met?" And she answered in a cold tone, "I don't know!" And fear in me had built up even more.

I asked the Lord to guide me into doing the right thing, and I had decided to recite yet another prayer just before leaving. "We will pray "Our Father" before we leave," I announced. One in the group claimed not being familiar with the said prayer, so I said, "I will recite it first and you all will follow."

"Our Father in heaven," I started. Everyone in the group, except the one who saw the entity, recited after me! I almost freaked out!!! I commanded her to pray with us, and the next time around, she recited the prayer with everyone else...

After praying, I found her staring at me, this time, with tamer eyes. I asked her if she could remember my name, and to my relief, she did... We then resumed trekking. It was amazing how, after the said episode, just about a few meters ahead--was the spot that I had been desperately looking for! It was the spot that led us to the banana plantation, and a little later to the grassland! It was like a miracle!!!

After a few more hours, I had decided to call for an e-camp. We couldn't push more. We were dead-tired from all the commotion after getting lost in the wilderness.

We woke up the next day (a few hours after) feeling invigorated and ready to resume the descent. After another 4-5 hours of walking, we finally saw some houses and a concrete road! We found out that we reached Brgy. Sta. Elena... We were aiming at exiting in Rizal, Laguna. It didn't matter, though. As long as we were back in civilization, we couldn't ask for more. We had lunch, took a bath, and left for San Pablo.

We took the bus back to Manila and decided to have out post-climb socials in a public utility vehicle.

Climb 018: Dayhike cum Caving

DESTINATION: Mt. Manalmon 196 MASL
JUMP-OFF POINT: Sitio Madlum, Brgy. Sibul, San Miguel
SPECS: Minor climb, Difficulty 2/9, Trail class 1-2
CLIMB DATE: August 28, 2011

The four-day long weekend went in vain as the typhoon ruined all sorts of plan for eco-trip enthusiasts. Many mountaineers got stranded and were not able to climb their planned destinations because of road blocks caused by landslides and flooding. It was not the same thing for me. I had long organized a climb to Manalmon because I thought that I will be reunited with my Chuck Norris Team. As the date neared, however, many of them canceled their attendance and only Lloydie, whose birthday fell on the climb date, confirmed. Technically, it was his birthday climb as well. Some were still decided to join despite the weather and even though I was downhearted myself, I decided to push through with it should the rain stop. I have asked the guide, Tatay Carling if it was safe to continue with our plans and he assured me that it was.

Saturday night and I was still halfhearted, I gave the rain an ultimatum... I informed all who were attending that we would abort the planned climb if the rain didn't stop at 12mn. Luck was on our side, perhaps, because the rain stopped just 15 minutes before midnight and I was happy to inform everyone that we were pushing through with it.

We met up at Cubao bus station and boarded a bus to San Miguel, Bulacan at 4am. We arrived at the Brgy. Sibul a few minutes before 6am. We had breakfast at Burger Machine. We then rented two tricycles that charged us 60 per head and brought us to the jump-off point. When we arrived the place, I noticed that my globe number couldn't get any signal. We also noticed that the water at the river was cafe latte brown...

After putting down our bags in a store near Tatay Carling's kubo (nipa hut), we headed for Mt. Manalmon with Felix, the guide that Tatay Carling assigned to us. The way to the mountain was a short trek, a little river crossing, and a short uphill. We passed through some rock formation that formed like caves and took pictures of ourselves in them. The way up and down on the path that first had concrete stairway then later became a muddy pathway was dangerously slippery that I had to remind everyone to be extra careful with their steps. In less than an hour, we were already on top of Mt. Manalmon. After enjoying the scene from above, we decided to go down, have lunch at the jumped and ready ourselves for yet another adventure: caving!

There was a wire that served as a hanging bridge for the locals to get across the river. I first attempted it with my sandals on but when it seemed too slippery for me to handle, I decided to take my sandals off and walked through it barefooted. The wire was hurting my feet, I was only able to cross halfway and went back to the base. After lunch, I again tried on the monkey wire and was able to get to the other side. It was so much fun that I found myself going back and forth.

We went caving after. The cave was super muddy due to the rain the night before. It made it harder for us. Mumai wanted to go back at the entry point. I didn't allow her to. I encouraged her into continuing on. And she did. Around 4:30pm, we were back at the base, washed up and left the place around 6:30pm.

Look Ma, I Planted Some Trees

with Dahong Palay Mountaineers (DPM)
DESTINATION: Ipo Dam, Norzagaray, Bulacan
ACTIVITY: Tree-planting
ACTIVITY DATE: August 21, 2011

20 Major Climbs I Wanna Conquer

Having mentioned in my confessions that I will semi-retire after having climbed 20 major destinations and at age 35, I have decided to list down the mountains that I wanna conquer before I lay low. Here's the list:

1. Mt. Apo (Davao)- done
2. Mt. Arayat Traverse (Pampanga)- done
3. Mt. Cristobal Traverse (Quezon) -done
4. Mt. Banahaw (Quezon)- done
5. Tirad Pass Traverse (Sagada)
6. Mt. Sicapoo (Ilocos Norte)
7. Tarak Ridge (Mariveles, Bataan) -done
8. Cinco Picos (Subic, Zambales)
9. Mt. Guiting-Guiting (Romblon)
10. Mt. Kanlaon (Negros Occidental)
11. Mt. Makiling Traverse (Laguna-Batangas) -done
12. Mt. Pulag (Benguet)- done
13. Mt. Kitanglad and Dulang Dulang
14. Mt. Tapulao (Iba, Zambales) -done
15. Mt. Mayon (Albay)
16. Mt. Kinabalu (Malaysia)
17. White Peak (Compostela Valley)
18. Mt. Mantalingajan (Palawan)
19. Mt. Natib (Orani, Bataan)- done
20. Mt. Halcon (Oriental Mindoro)

I Survived Nomads Awards Night!

When I accepted the job of presenting an award for the much controversial freedom climb and be introduced as a freedom climb supporter, I was expecting to get booed at by fellow mountaineers who had been very vocal on FB that they objurgate the said event. These people that I look up in the field of mountaineering, these people that were not merely throwing tantrums and have a valid reason to be against the said event are going to be there as main awardees themselves in the recently concluded NOMADS Peak 30,000 Feet ASL: Who is first to summit?

I was halfhearted to go up to the last minute but the fact that I gave my word to Sir NOMADS (Ka Romy) himself, I knew that I had to show up. A few hours before the said event, I also learned that the people who have threatened on my life in an FB message are going to be there. There were 10 or more of them. The familiar faces whom I identified to be with the group were Jonah/Jayel Cruz, Tommy/Mot Mot Cruz, Wilson Labrador, Janeth Labrador, Hyago Kert, Mark Ilejay, Jay-bee Laurel and his gf, Jan Ann Aledro/Summer Solstice, and Rommel/Kislap/Indigo Zatarra. They are the ones who created the AntiFreedom Climb FB account. I used to climb together with most of them, four of which I brought to the mountains on their first time. Anyways, they had made some very offensive statements, spread some foul rumors against me, lambasted me on their status posts, created a fake account that highlighted malicious statements against me, and even posted a video calling me "baliw"--some were responded with rantings on my wall and note posts, while some were ignored.

When Kish (my fellow presentor) and I were called to be on stage, they started booing me. It was a good thing that they were just a few compared to the more educated people who cheered in true gestures of camaraderie and welcome. I heard Jonah say, "Eh, bakit andyan 'yan? Hoy!!! Ang kapal ng mukha mong mag-present ng award! Yadda yadda yadda..." I chose to ignore the rest. When I'm onstage, I try as hard to make the stage fright go away by thinking of happy thoughts.

When the presentation of the award was over, I was relieved as Kish and I earned more claps than boo's. I had witnessed how well-bred the Filipino mountaineers are. Even the FIMO acting president, Prof. Edwin, who received the award was greeted with cheers and applause. As the event went on, I saw people who openly lambasted each other and each other's cause on FB kiss and make up. It was such a moving scene for me.

On the other hand, the people I have a rift with had been drinking too much on the right side of the stage, and knowing them, I had already anticipated a chaos in the making.

I limited myself to one bottle of beer. I wanted to be sober and alert the whole time. I told my guardian angel, Alex Strong to be vigilant, but only to prevent any untoward incident to happen. I was assured that I shall be protected from harm. If ever I got mobbed by these ten people, I wouldn't actually mind. My only problem there is that I don't want to cause a scene and destroy an event as great as that just to throw tantrums...

I wasn't wrong. Jan Ann came from nowhere and suddenly put a strong grip on my arm and was forcing me to go outside and talk to them. I could smell drunkenness in her breath and her eyes didn't show sobriety, so I said, "This isn't the time to talk." A few minutes later, she again approached me, this time, she was with Rommel. She said, "Please!!!" And again put on that heavy grip on my arm. I told her, "You aren't even sober enough to talk to." And she talked to Rommel, "Akala ko ba matalino 'to, bhe?" And then she turned to me, "Nagpi-please naman ako, ah?" And she cupped my head from the nape and put her face so close to mine, we were cheek to cheek. I told her, "Hey, you don't know me, so please don't act like we're close. I don't like your face on my face." She was already shouting in the previous times, but this time she was going hysterical. "What you say?" (sic) she said, "You don't like me? I don't like you, too." (sic)

"See? You can't even hear me well. There's no point of talking to you right now. Not when you're this drunk." I tried to keep my composure. Being harassed like that in the middle of a crowd was already humiliating. We were already catching the attention of some people there. I let go of my hand. And she had the one to be angry. I kept in mind that it wasn't the proper venue, really. I have so much respect for Sir Romy and Sir Jessie...

The army came in the way, asking them what the problem was. Jan Ann went shouting, "Takot ka lang sa mga kasalanan mo!!!" and Rommel pulled her away, shutting her mouth with his hand. I went to stand near Ken, another good friend and fellow mountaineer, and I was shocked when Rommel told him and Alex, "May asawa't anak 'yan, alam nyo ba?" I was so shocked and I couldn't believe that at one point in my life I learned to love and look up to this man who turned out to be, well, you can use your own words in this case...

Never have I tried to hide it, I even think that I had been too open to my public, both outdoorsmen and otherwise, that I had been married, physically abused, separated, and have a son. Never have I tried to deny nor hide those facts from anybody. It is just pathetic for him to be using that lame of an attempt. And he himself even knew about it from the start. Does he think I am trying to smitten anyone from the group that night? Very pathetic. [You have gone worse from being bad, Rommel...]

I was informed that there had been commotion outside while I stayed listening to the band and jamming with fellow mountaineers, but I had strict instructions to the marines to keep it low and never to create any scene.

The following day, I wanted to experience what I had missed the day before. I lined up for the rappeling activity. Their troop was waiting at the wall climbing area, which was adjacent to our venue of activity. When it was time for us to climb up to do rappeling, Jonah murmured, "Dito pa talaga sa harap ko dadaan. Nananadya talaga. Papa-cute pa. Kikendeng kendeng. Tse! Yadda yadda yadda." Again, I had to keep my composure. It was a big event for the mountaineering society and I didn't want to become notorious at making ugly scenes. She didn't stop ranting and people from below would ask who she was referring to, would take a look at me and then later ignored her.

While waiting for my turn at the rappel, my friend Theen, was waiting downstairs to take photos of me going down. She heard Janeth whom she described as the one in pink, say nasty things against me. The group was intending to go up and fall in line for the rappeling activity as well. "Wag nyong pigilan (si Jonah) para makaganti naman," she was heard saying.

After rappeling, we met one of the event hosts, Sir Jessie, on the street on our way to the zipline. He said, "Bilib din ako sa tolerance mo, Ma'am." I was touched. Napansin din pala nila ang simpleng pagrespeto ko.

I haven't been in the venue 24 hours long, but the experience was a total blast, even with the minor glitches on my personal life. It was the toughest and most fun outdoor adventure I had ever experienced in my one year and five months of outdoorsy life. I survived it! God is good!

Climb 017: Pikoy Traverse cum Clean-Up Climb with Elle Viajera

DESTINATION: Mt. Palay-palay a.k.a. Pico de Loro 644 MASL
JUMP-OFF POINT: Magnetic Hill, Ternate, Cavite
EXIT POINT: Sitio Hamilo, Nasugbu, Batangas
SPECS: Minor climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail class 1-3
CLIMB DATES: July 16-17, 2011

Climb 016: At the Country's Highest Peak

DESTINATION: Mt. Apo 2,956 MASL

JUMP-OFF POINT: Brgy. Mainit, Digos, Davao del Sur

EXIT POINT: Brgy. Ilomavis, Kidapawan City, North Cotabato

SPECS: Major Climb, Difficulty 7/9, Trail class 2-4

CLIMB DATES: June 23-27, 2011

We arrived late at base camp in Sta. Cruz at Day 1, so we decided to sleep the night away.

Day 2 was crucial that our call time was at 5am. We started on the trail at 7:45am. We trekked to camps 1 and 2, climbed the boulders, assaulted the 87 degrees slope, reached the summit 2 and went straight to the camp site in full packs. All in a day... Whew!

The following day, we scaled the summits for sunrise appreciation. It was petiks day. We deserved the rest. We climbed down to Lake Venado past 2pm and stayed there for the night. We had a decent socials this time. It wasn't as cold as the temperature at the summit campsite. 

The fourth day was another crucial one. It was the day to descend Mt. Apo. The descent was long and seemed endless. River trekking was our only solace.

The exit at Kidapawan brought us to a sense of relief. We survived Mt. Apo. Four days of hermitic way of life was awesome.. You get to miss civilization.