After five
months of mountain climbing hiatus, my come-back climb was set at Mt.
Malipunyo―one of the three peaks from the Malarayat
range along with Manabu Peak and Susong Dalaga in Batangas.
Despite
the high precipitation probability and other indications that a bad weather was
up that day, my adventurous spirits’ love for outdoors has swung full stretch
again that I did not let a pinch of doubt take the slightest part of my thirst to put that particular climb into reality. However, due to the fact that
we were illicitly unprepared with that climb, it turned out to be one of the
toughest climbs we had thus far. There were lots of write-ups and
stories about the mountain to fish online but we barely had the time to check
them out, spontaneously planning and finalizing to push through just
hours before the hike.
That
desire for a climb after the absence of such in months drove us towards this mountain. Yet unsure of where we’re actually
heading as soon as the tricycle dropped us off along that residential area from
where the locals instructed us with the directions, we took the risk of not
seeking the help of a tour guide for this climb. Unfortunately, this was the
worst decision we have made so far.
Upon taking our way towards the base of
the mountain, it was drizzling all around much to our disappointment. Little
did we know that more adversities were yet to come. It was
quite like the typical hike, unfazed by the familiar encounter of dirt road,
horses hurtling, locals gaping at us, as we walked the muddy trail. The feels
were somewhat all too weary maybe due to the uninviting weather that day.
Nevertheless, we continued with our quest not really paying attention with how
sure are we of the path we’re trekking.
We passed by a certain citrus
plantation after around an hour, and then further went on with the slightly
narrowed path dumped with wide and wild array of flora across. Minutes later
while we were taking a pause, a tour guide appeared from nowhere and told us that the trail we were walking was bound for a
San Pablo traverse. Upon learning that we were going the wrong trail, we asked
him the directions on how to get back to the right one.
From
there, we immediately turned around and looked for the alternate route. Due to that
mistake, we have wasted ~45 minutes of our time which was such a waste given that Mt. Malipunyo requires long hours of uphill tramp. After few more turns and strides, we found ourselves in a
consistently steep ascent as we took the alternate route referred to by the guide we met earlier. The trail was
definitely not as easy as what we thought it would be. The continuous steep
slope was a real test of pliability and endurance.
After
roughly four hours, we were caught on nothingness in the middle of that foggy forest. There was a blunder of heavy roar from the thunder almost deafening
my ears concurrent with a series of lightning bolts sketching at the background.
Right then, we knew something we’re scare about might be up. It was past noon
already when heavy raindrops hopelessly fell right upon us, tandem-ed with strong
blows of wind that followed shortly after. Soon enough, it rained hard escorted
with even stronger winds. We knew we were officially doomed, trapped in a
stormy situation, literally. Unfortunately, we’re not on the peak yet. And we
had no other option but to abort the mission right away. It was
almost 1pm we decided to eat our then rain-soaked Jollibee burger meal before turning away and going
down. We briefly consumed our lunch keeping in mind that we had to go down as
soon as possible.
The idea of possibly being stranded up there was
not welcomed at all. From there, real action took place as we descended―we were
like apes swinging from a tree to another, embracing the chill with arms wide
open while literally skating down the muddy trail. At those desperate times,
stress and adrenaline took a toll on us. We were running, descending at a
pace and manner we’ve never did before. We were synchronizely taking our way
down under a seemingly organized chaos. The temperature dropped unnoticeably
and it really felt extremely freezing. The catastrophe went on for more than an
hour. Weird, it felt good.
Time
passed with utter swiftness. we reached a safer place, as the rain has ceased, the trails had brightened
up, and the sun was finally partially up. That gave us the hint to rest a
little after that nerve wrecking descent. Despite all the tension and all, we
were eager to take these few shots as an intangible reminder of how we survived
such raging storm.
We
walked a few minutes more before we finally got back to the jump-off point. As
we took our ride back to Los Baños, I can’t help but wonder what the hell did
just happen. I let the wind silently blow that bitter farewell I bid that
sophisticated mountain from such failure. I wasn’t sure but I think this
exceptionally epic fail climb, including all the drama in it wasn’t
totally a failure at all. It actually changed me and my take on resilience and views in life in general, in a lot of ways in one fvcking day.
