Mt. Apo (with a proposal)
Where do I start? Well, First Mt. Apo as most of
us know is in Davao, the most livable city in the Philippines. I have to say
that because I really find the city peaceful and the security officers at the
airport made me feel that they are really looking after my safety.
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| Top Load on our way to Sta.Cruz |
On our first day (Thursday) we went water tubing
first before heading to Sta. Cruz jump off point and man was it far? Really
far. We had to change from a jeep to a truck when we reached Sta. Cruz proper
because it really was not hired to take us any further simply because it can’t,
they have trucks that are actually designed to survive the road on our way to
the jump off.
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| Group Chat somewhere along the boulders. |
On our first night we hiked for around 1 hour to
get to the camp site as planned, it was an excellent idea really because at
least we were able to earn a few kilometers.
On our second Day (Friday) we started out early
but there was 20 of us so were a bit slower than our itinerary. The group was
actually sub-divided into… ahhhmmn, I don’t know how many. J Well, I was with Summer, and my climb mates from G2, Kuya Nolie, Erbz,
Paul, Kuya Bernie and Ate Vangie. I remembered the discussion that day was
about love and happiness.
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| Old crater after the boulders |
Is there such a thing as genuine and synthetic
happiness? We didn't come into an agreeable conclusion but I was sure we were
all happy that day anyway as we reached the boulders and beheld the magnificence
of Apo’s boulder face. That side of Apo sure is strong and manly yet
caring at the same time, it soothes your weariness with its view. Stones, “how
can they be beautiful?”, you may ask. As much as strength with honor awes us, large
stones laid down perfectly well by nature showered with bonsai trees and clouds
draping in from the blue skies may just be like a strong father showing her daughter
how much he loved her (I always think of God this way J). We enjoyed it so much we overstayed, it was already dark when we reached
the campsite just below the summit and we were kind of lost on our way to the
saddle camp after reaching the old crater, but not so much, just a little bit.
Our third day was an easy day, early morning the
usual sight of the orange sky above the mountain range welcomed us at the
summit which is 30 minutes away from our camp. Down below we can see the white
fog hovering over our tents justifying the cold. Slowly the orange sky became
clearer and hotter as the sun became more visible as if to make a statement for
a sunny day ahead. Summit clearing-checked, my requirement for a perfect climb.
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| our tents are below the fog and the highest peak at my back |
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| Sunrise behind me |
But wait, there’s more! While we were taking
turns for solo photos at the summit, Ekson, our climb organizer called our
attention to witness a once in a lifetime event, a proposal. I have never felt
so single my whole life, just kidding, I was actually thinking that maybe it
could happen to me too, right? I was grateful to have witnessed that event and
be with the happiest man and woman on earth at that hour (Jennifer and John). Looking
at them makes me think that maybe I haven’t really grasped what true love is,
because they felt so secure with each other and I haven’t felt like that with
anyone. Anyhow, I am learning and I am starting from within. J
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| the proposal |
Before this becomes a blog about love, after the
proposal we went on with our lives as usual, went down back to the camp, had
our breakfast and just went on discussing love again till it rained, showers at
first then it became heavy along with the strong wind. So much for the thought
of a sunny day ahead, good thing we have already prepared our lunch. We decided
to get inside our tents, and what happened after that? I don’t know I was
asleep (even with water flooding our tent) until Ekson woke me up when the rain
stopped because a climb mate, Marlon doing a day-hike (hardcore) that day has
arrived, we just greeted each other and then went on to prepare to go down, them
to the jump off via Kapatagan trail, us just down at Lake Venado 30–45 minutes
below the summit. Easy day.
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| he never runs out of stories, look at the hand |
Early on our fourth day, we took pictures of the
summit from the Lake, you would think that there is nothing to go down to and
that it would be an even surface from there on because of the wide flat land
you can see, no ridges, and if you look up you can only see the summit like you
have already gone down from the mountain, very deceiving.
After everything was packed and prayers have been
said we started the day to end our three-day hike (first day excluded), but
instead of a downhill trail what I saw behind the trees around the lake was an
uphill one, and I was like, seriously? We had a couple of ups and downs before
reaching the same jump off, Sta. Cruz, from a different trail this time, the
Century trail. It’s where you see century old trees and tree bridges, I
actually think they were cut down on purpose just to serve as bridges for the
small rivers. This idea of going on the same jump off from two different trails
was genius, we got to enjoy the all the best that Apo had to offer!
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| along one of the campsite - century trail |
Long story short, all 20 of us got down safely,
just a little late from our itinerary but safe. We left Sta. Cruz (jump off) around
17:30 that day and arrived at the City proper (Davao) at around 21:00, thankful
and blessed.
After the climb I saw this campaign from Always (a feminist group I think) about changing how people think about the phrase, "like a girl", and from this climb I borrowed
their tagline. Don’t get me wrong, I highly respect men and I
marvel at their strength, I am a believer that real gentlemen still exist and
the world is so much better with them in it. Men and women are created equal
but the design is different, that doesn't mean however that a woman can’t climb
a mountain, ride a bike and sky dive, it just means that we approach things differently. Now, here’s to the ladies out there who love the outdoors as much as I
do, “What if climbing like girl means reaching the summit and going down safe?”.
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| Waving the flag on top made me feel something. |
Till the next mountains.
If you want to contact our guide, see his number
below.
09212863859
– Kuya Tata
