Montalban Trilogy V2

Montalban, napaka-ilap ng mga bundok mo sa amin, bakit ka ganyan? Haha. This event was supposed to be two weeks after the Montalban Version 1 event of us, but ECQ, MECQ, and such happened that's why it was cancelled for how many times. 

Pwede namang day hike lang yung event, pero mas pinili namin na mag overnight para may camping at socials before the climb proper, although magkakakilala naman na lahat kami dun sa event since halos kami kami din yung magkakasama na umakyat dun sa version 1 several months ago. 

Nag camp kami sa ES Campsite, malawak yung campsite more than twenty siguro yung kakasya na tent since sa area pa lang namin halos ten tents na yung naka set-up. Basta sobrang malawak yung campsite and may mga kubo na pwedeng tulugan kung hindi naman gagamit ng tent. 

Supposedly mag na-night trek sana kami papuntang Mt. Parawagan to view the city lights but the time doesn't permit since medyo late na kami nakaakyat sa campsite. So ipinagpabukas na lang namin. We were supposed to start our trek at around 4:30 am, pero na-late pa din kami ng alis, we left the campsite around 5:00 am, madilim pa. Pero it took as about an hour to reach the summit, nakikipaghabulan na kami sa liwanag pero we failed to catch the city lights dahil pumutok na yung liwanag. 

Parawagan's ES Campsite

Wala ng sunrise, wala pang city lights. Okay lang din dahil may sea of clouds naman, pampalubag loob. Haha. The thing about Mt. Parawagan summit is 360 yung view, sa east side puro bundok ng Sierra Madre yung makikita, while on the west side was the skyscraper from Metro Manila. Mariveles Mountain as well as the lone mountain, Mt. Arayat can be also seen from the summit of Mt. Parawagan.

View from the summit

Mt. Parawagan Summit marker

Before we started to descent, syempre hindi pwedeng makalimutan ang mandatory group picture with the summit marker. 10/10 kumpleto pa kami dito. 

Group picture with the marker

Bago pa kami tuluyang bumalik sa campsite to have our lunch, dumaan muna kami sa Jet's Viewdeck. Sobrang ganda ng view dito. Kitang-kita yung version 1 mountains, yung sea of clouds sa likod at iba pang Sierra Madre Mountains. 

From left to right: Hapunang Banoi, Mt. Pamitinan, Mt. Binicayan

After namin makabalik ng campsite to have our breakfast we took a quick rest then diretso na papuntang Mt. Lagyo. One of the things I hate the most sa tuwing namumundok ako is yung lakaran, ironic since hiking yung pinnunta ko pero ayaw ko ng lakaran. Ayaw ko nung lakad sa patag at malupa, if I were to choose, mas gugustuhin ko pang gumapang sa mga bato kaysa lumakad ng lumakad. Almost half of its trail from the junction of Parawagan and Lagyo was lupa. Maputik na lupa dahil nadadaanan yung trail ng mga heavy equipment para sa gagawing kalsada to make way para sa gagawing Dam in the near future, 5-10 years from now. 

Dun sa trail na yun ako naubusan ng pasensya dahil sobrang makapit yung putik sa sapatos. Medyo nahimasmasan lang ako nung huminto kami just before we start our ascent papunta mismo sa Lagyo. 

Yung trail naman dun was consist mostly ng rockies na. Kailangan na ng 4x4 (hands and feet) para mag move. May mga gumagalaw na bato kaya kailangan ng doble ingat. Pero mas prefer ko talaga yung ganung klase ng trail. 

Half way papuntang summit when we took a rest. So again, with the mandatory group picture. 

9/10.
Nabawasan na kami dahil sa Parawagan pa lang, na-injured na yung isang joiner.

After the quick rest, we resume our gapang session papuntang summit. I still remember my reaction when I saw the summit, halos hindi ako makapaniwala na yun na yung summit kasi walang mapwestuhan dahil puro bato talaga tapos wala akong makitang view. It was because nasa likod pala ako nung mga bato, nasa harap pa pala yung photo ops area, which nung una ayaw ko sanang pumunta pa dahil pagod na ako sa kakagapang. But since nandun naman na, so gora na. Gapang ulit papuntang photo ops area. At first ayaw ko pang tumungtong sa bato na yan kasi natatakot ako, pero ginawa ko pa din. Minsan kailangan mo lang talagang magtiwala sa sarili mo na kaya mo para magawa mo yung bagay na akala mo imposible. 

Mt. Lagyo summit

Mt. Pamitinan x Hapunang Banoi

March 15, 2020, ito sana yung araw na narating ko yung Montalban V1. Pero yun din yung mismong araw ng pagsisimula ng inakala ng lahat na panandaliang lockdown. 

After 17 months, bago ko tuluyang narating 'tong Mt. Pamitinan, matapos ang labing-pitong buwan ng pag-iisip kung paano nagagawa ng mga taong nagpapapicture doon ang tumayo sa pamosong photo ops area, nasagot na din yung tanong ko. Kung gusto niyong malaman kung paano, akyatin niyo din. Haha.

Posing now, sermon later.

We started our hike around 5 o'clock in the morning, based on the itinerary, it would take us four hours to reach the summit, pero wala pang dalawang oras nung makarating kami sa photo ops area. 

Mt. Pamitinan

The first part of the hike was crossing a river, pero sa hanging bridge ang daan. The second part was the kabahayan kung saan may mga hagdan pa paakyat. Pagkatapos nung hagdan portion doon na nagsimula yung trail. It took us less than an hour bago namin narating yung junction kung saan naghiwalay yung daan papuntang Mt. Pamitinan at Hapunang Banoi. Panandalian kaming nagpahinga sa junction bago kami nagsimulang gumapang paakyat ng Pamitinan. 

Alam kong mabato yung daan papuntang Pamitinan, pero hindi ko inakalang sobrang mabato. I was literally crawling from one rock to another habang yung guide namin pa-chill chill lang. I heard him say pa na "Challenge talaga ma'am 'no?" nag expect ako ng aakyat sa bato, pero hindi ko inexpect na yung dadaanan halos parang hindi na madadaanan dahil naglalakihang bato yung kailangan akyatin at gapangin. Matutulis, matatalim at naglalakihan. I was wearing a gloves that time, pero ramdam ko pa din yung sakit sa tuwing kumakapit ako sa mga bato. One wrong move, kung hindi pants ang butas, baka yung mismong kamay ang mabutas. 

GPS at UPS lang para sure makauwi ng buo.

Ito yung trail na hindi ka pahihirapan-- basta hindi uulan. Kaso during our climb, umulan, luckily nung pababa na kami galing ng Banoi, we're literally walking through the rain habang pababa ng junction dahil mas mahirap ang daan pag tumigil na yung ulan dahil mas madulas na yung lupa pag natuyuan na ng putik.

Shot before and padulasan moments.

Mt. Arayat

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Mt. Arayat, aside from Mt. Daraitan I've been avoiding this mountain for who knows how many times already. Just by looking at it from a far every time we pass by the expressway I can already see myself catching my breathe while I'm crawling on it's way to the summit. Kita naman mula sa malayo kung gaano katindi ang assault ng bundok na yun, halos mukhang sa summit ka na lang makakatikim ng patag once you started the hike. 

This hike was unplanned it was already Friday when I decided to hike dahil sobrang overwhelmed na ako sa mga nangyayari, I needed to breath. 

We started the trek around 3:00 am, almost 45 minutes bago kami nagpahinga. Hindi pa ako nagtatagal sa trail pero gusto ko ng umatras dahil puro assault pala talaga. Bago pa man ako nagdecide na umakyat that day, nagtanong na ako sa mga kakilala ko about sa trail puro assault nga daw. Galing ako sa hike ng Maltrav last month before this event pero parang beginner na naman ako. Umaayaw na ako simula pa lang ng bakbakan. 

On the way to Pinnacle.

6:00 am we arrived at the Pinnacle Peak. So far okay yung trail, hindi masyadong technical, puro lakad lang naman papuntang Pinnacle, nakakaumay lang talaga dahil puro assault. Ito yung lakad na hindi mo na lang gugustuhing tumingin sa harap o tumingala kasi mauumay ka lang sa makikita mo. 

South Peak view from Pinnacle

We stayed for almost an hour at Pinnacle Peak waiting for our turn sa rope segment at monkey trail patawid ng South Peak. Bukod sa aware akong unli-assault yung trail ng Arayat, yung monkey trail nito yung iniiwasan ko. Side by side bangin, one wrong move pwede kang malaglag. 

The 70 meters rope segment was the longest 70 meters of my life. Tanggal lahat ng stress na iniisip ko during that time na nasa rope segment ako. All I could ever think was paano ako makakababa ng buhay dahil isang maliit na pagkakamali lang pwedeng ikapahamak. 

Hindi ko alam paano ko pa nagawang magbiro habang nasa rope segment ako because I have a video footage of me messing around habang panandaliang nagpapahinga. 

Monkey Trail. Ito na yung isa sa dahilan ng pag-iwas ko sa bundok na yun. I was already standing sa bungad ng monkey trail pero naisip ko pang mag umatras dahil nalula ako sa nakita ko. Left and right, bangin, sobrang nipis ng daan. May mga loose soil pa, may sinabi pa yung guide na wag tatapakan dahil malambot, tapos hindi ko pa nakita saan yung part na yun. 

Why am  I even doing this? Tanong ko sa sarili ko bago ako tuluyang humakbang patungo sa monkey trail, lakas ng loob, matinding concentration at panalangin yung baon ko nung mga oras na yun. Nininerybos man ako pero wala na akong choice dahil nasa gitna na ako.

Akala ko pagkatapos ng monkey trail wala na ng ridge part na dadaanan. Pero I was wrong, the whole trail from pinnacle to south peak ay puro left and right na bangin. Pero kahit papaano hindi na ganun kahirap unlike nung sa rope segment at monkey trail. 

The last assault before the famous photo ops area sa south peak was one of the memorable experience for me, it was a 90 degree assault, may rope din dahil you really have to use your upper body para makaakyat. I had to use my head, para maikalang ko sa sanga dahil the moment that I gave all my weight to the rope, it become shaky. Nawala yung balance ko, akala ko katapusan ko na. Buti na lang matigas yung ulo ko at nasuportahan niya yung katawan ko. HAHA 

Mt. Marami

 "Never underestimate a mountain because of its elevation." 

Mt. Marami taught me this.

It has become a habit of me to do a background check regarding the mountain that I have to climb, but I never did that when I am about to climb Mt. Marami in Cavite. Maybe because it was the mother mountain of a friend of mine and she was able to summit it. I thought to myself that climbing this mountain would be easy for me since I've already climb a few mountain before. As well as its elevation is not that high, compared to the last mountain I have been into which is Mt. Daraitan. I thought that climbing this mountain would be easy since I was able to survive Daraitan's elevation and trail, but this mountain taught me a lot of things.

The weather was nice, there are a lot of stars and the moon's shining brightly when we left our house going to the meet-up point. But things have started to change when we reached the Greenfield, the rain starts to pour, but the event pushed through. From Mandaluyong to Cavite, wala kaming nadaanan na walang ulan, umuulan talaga, umuulan ng malakas. Somewhere in Cavite where we pick up one of the joiner, tsaka ko pa lang nalaman na may bagyo at signal number 1 na sa Cavite that time dahil sinabi niya sa amin. Iniisip ko kung dapat pa ba kaming tumuloy, that the organizer should already cancel the event since bumabagyo na pala, but then again the van started rolling again on its way to Mt. Marami's jump-off point.

It was still dark when we arrived at the jump-off point, the rain is pouring non-stop, We are told to wait for the rain to stop or until 6:00 am before we start the trek. The rain as expected didn't stop and so we started our trek at 6:00 am.

Hindi pa kami nakakalayo sa jump-off nung batiin kami ng putik, malalambot na putik. I was wearing my sandals that time because we were told that there would be a river crossing, and since that day I promised myself not to wear a trekking sandals when hiking, never again. Hirap talaga akong maglakad sa putikan pag naka-sandals ako, una dahil nadudulas yung paa ko sa sandals at nawawala yung sense of balance ko, pangalawa masakit sa paa yung straps. 

Dumaan kami sa trail kung saan puro putik yung daan, putik everywhere. Kaya pala Mt. Marami kasi maraming putik sabi ko pa sa sarili ko.

River crossing, it was my first river crossing ever. Umaambon na lang nung nadaan kami doon pero mataas yung tubig, 5'3" yung height ko pero umabot sa hips ko yung tubig. Doble ingat kami sa paglalakad dahil malabo yung tubig dahil sa ulan. The river crossings went well. Nag-enjoy naman ako. 

Matapos yung river crossing, the real battle started. Sobrang lala na nung putik, mabigat ng ilakad dahil nadadala na ng sandals yung putik. May time na malulubog sa putik pag na swertehan at nadaan sa malambot na lupa, meron namang dudulas na lang dahil halos wala ng bato sa lupang dadaanan. 

By that time I was already thinking to myself na hindi na ako mamumundok ulit, next event namin was supposedly Mt. Irid, pero during that time sinasabi ko na sa kasama ko na hindi na ako tutuloy sa next event, and Mt. Marami would be my last mountain to climb. Sagad na yung pasensya ko sa putik. We were walking non-stop, non-stop din yung ulan, unli pa yung putik.

Nakarating kami sa ikatlong pahingahan bago pa makarating sa summit, saglit naming nasulyapan yung summit dahil saglit lang nawala yung ulap. 

"Ano pang sense ng pagtuloy sa summit, wala namang clearing." yun na lang yung iniisip ko para hindi masyadong nakakapanghinayang na hindi kami nakatuloy pa-summit. 

Umabante na yung mga kasama namin at naiwan kami doon sa ikatlong pahingahan, isang oras at kalahati kaming naghintay sa mga kasama namin na makababa hanggang sa may isang grupo na galing na sa summit ang bumaba, at doon na kami sumabay pababa. 

Sukong-suko na yung binti at paa ko, halos ayaw ng humakbang sa sobrang pagod. Kung pupwede nga lang magpadulas na lang mula taas hanggang sa jump-off baka ginawa ko na dahil ayaw ko na talagang lumakad pa. 

Safe kaming nakabalik ng jump-off, salamat sa guide na nahatak namin sa ibang grupo which is si Sir Joel. Salamat din doon sa tatlong babae na pax ni sir Joel kasi pinaubaya niyo siya sa amin. Hahaha. 

Revenge hike: Mt. Marami 2.0

Mt. Batolusong

Mt. Marami 2.0

 After not being able to summit Mt. Marami last November, I ought to myself to never attempt to climb it again. No revenge hike for this mountain! 

It was not until friend of mine who happens to be a tour coordinator added me to a group chat of that event. I immediately told him that I am not interested on going to that event but a few days before the day of the event, I said yes and it was a decision that I didn't regret. 

We started our trek at 3:00 am. Hindi katulad noong unang akyat ko, walang ulan nung araw na yun. Summer na din kaya tuyo ang lupa at walang putik sa daan. Banayad lang yung lakad namin. 

The thing about Mt. Marami is, pababa yung first part nung trail, which is yun yung mahirap pagpabalik na sa jump-off dahil the last stretch would be puro assault. Pababa ka na bundok pero may assault pa din. 

Familiar pa ako sa unang part nung trail na nadadaanan namin, natatandaan ko pa kung paano kami nakipagpatintero noon sa putikan noong unang daan ko dito. Confident na akong makakasummit ako dahil maganda yung panahon, tuyo ang daan at most especially I was wearing a hiking shoes. Natuto na ako.

Almost an hour and a half na kaming naglalakad pero wala pa kaming nadadaanan na ilog, that's when I asked the guide. Ibang daan daw yung may ilog. 

I've been wondering how my coor friend and his joiner last January was able to reach the summit in just three hours when during our time we were walking endlessly, five hours of walking but still we weren't in the summit yet. Mas maikling daan pala yun. It was on the left side of the summit, and the trail that we used last November was on the right side of it.

A few minutes ago we were the only group that was on the trail, little did we know may nauna na palang group and we were able to catch up with them.  Doon na din nagsimula yung paghihirap ko sa paglalakad. Kaya pala naabutan na namin sila dahil assault na yung daan sa bungad. Isa sa pinakamahirap para sa akin pag pa-assault at maya't-maya tumitigil dahil nandun na yung momentum pero mawawala dahil nagtatraffic kaya mas minamabuti kong mawala muna sa paningin ko yung mga nasa unahan ko bago ako lumakad paakyat lalo pag assault na yung trail. 

Matapos yung assault na yun nakarating kami sa bukohan, kahit papaano nakabawi ako ng hininga. Nagsimula na ding umangat yung sikmura ko which is naging problema ko na din noon sa mga previous hikes ko. Nakailang hinto at pahinga ako ma-contain ko lang yung feeling na nasusuka ako.

 

Taken nung pababa na kami

Nagsimula na din lumiwanag, halos natatanaw na din mula sa kinaroroonan namin yung summit pero aabutin pa daw kami isang oras bago makarating sa summit. Dun ko din nakita yung lugar kung saan kami nag surrender sa nakaraan at naunang akyat namin dito. Kaunti na lang pala talaga malapit na, pero hindi ko na pinanghinayangan pa dahil nakabalik naman na ako. Mas maayos yung panahon, mas maayos yung kondisyon, higit sa lahat may clearing!

Summit plus the malaking mushroom daw

While on our way to the summit, madami kaming nadaanang redberry, which is inalok nung guide pero hindi ko sinubukan dahil hindi ako familiar. Pag hindi ako familiar sa pagkain, ayaw kong kainin. Pero sabi nung mga kasama ko, masarap naman daw. They were able to finish a handful of redberries. 

Redberry

Yung fulfillment to reach the summit on the second attempt was superb. The moment na nakarating kami sa summit nag flashback yung paghihirap na dinanas namin nung unang punta namin doon. Ibang-iba yung experience that time kumpara doon sa nauna. Sobrang worth it.

Pagod yan? Na-summit ka din naman, finally! 

Lakas maka Siargao vibes ng bukohan. Summit at the background.

                            

Our first attempt to summit Mt. Marami