Hello everyone!
Welcome to the last but most exciting part of this Mt. Pangasugan ordeal! I envisioned this to be at most three parts based on the story's progression, but I might have underestimated the level of detail I'm willing to share. If you've been following this story, you might have noticed that things are getting darker, literally and figuratively, as more parts are added. It all started with my enthusiasm to try sleeping in a hammock for the first time. You can read about that in my post below:
Then on the first day of the climb, it was all about river trekking. It was all fun and games at first, crossing the river multiple times was fun, but it became boulder hopping. It was a solid six hours of river trek.
The second day was all about the steep assault and the start of the real agony. I thought I would be able to end that part at the summit, but because I share too much information, I ended it at the old campsite.
The third part was about the other river trek which took us three hours to traverse before the final assault to the summit. We reached the summit at 5:00 PM instead of the expected 1:00 PM. But as they say, it's better than not being able to reach the summit.
I don't have many photos to share anymore, so let's just say it's all about the story. So, let's continue with this madness.
We were in the summit range, but it turned out it was just the view deck. So the photo in the previous part was still not at the summit. The guide would just let some climbers reach that part and say it's the summit because it's where good photos are taken. On a clear day, the whole of Baybay City can be seen in that part. But because we reached there at 5:00 PM, there was nothing to see except the fog and the silhouette of the South Peak. We still had to walk a few meters to reach the North Peak.
We reached the North Peak, but it was already getting darker and the area has been enveloped by the fog. I think the photo below was the only decent photo we had. We wanted to have a shout-out video taken there, but no one wanted to do it anymore. It was getting darker and colder. After resting for a few moments, we immediately head back to the view deck.
I would have wanted to immediately head back down while we could still see the trail, but they wanted to stay at the view deck to eat. Remember in the third part that I had eaten all my food? So, I was just looking at them while they were eating half portion of their lunch. I was offered to have some, but it was their allocation, so I respectfully declined. I instead gorged on the remaining trail food I had. Sixth mistake: I ate all my trail food and even gave some to my friends. I should have saved something even just the raisins. I was thinking that we would be able to reach our campsite even if it would take until dawn. That was my gravest mistake.
While they were eating, Shiela started to look dazed. She was just there staring at her food. I jokingly told her that we would just leave her there if she won't immediately finish eating. It was so funny seeing her looking so tired, but I was more worried that we won't be able to reach the river before dark. It was just wishful thinking considering that we were still at the summit at 5:00 PM.
When we finally decided to go down, it was already difficult to see the trail. We had our headlamps ready, but I didn't turn it on yet. I tried to save as much battery as I can because I knew it would be a long night going to the campsite. We haven't reached that landslide area yet, but it was already very dark that we needed our headlamps on. I also noticed that we were much slower. Maybe because of the darkness or we were just so tired to keep up our pace. It took us around 2.5 hours to reach the river.
River trekking at moss-laden rocks in complete darkness was another feat on my list of madness. It was so difficult to navigate and we were not sure if our headlamps would last us the whole night. We were so slow that they finally decided to spend the night somewhere along the river because their headlamps were getting dimmer and dimmer. We initially stayed under a big boulder where the guide said they slept one time. We were protected from the rain there, but not from the wind. It was getting colder since we didn't bring any jackets.
We were almost at the end of the river, but we cannot stay under that boulder. We were too exposed. We initially wanted to continue and stay somewhere near the old campsite, but Shiela and Alton could not go on with their dim headlamps. The guide went ahead to find a safe place for us to stay in the night. He went back and said he found a small cave where we would be protected from the wind and rain. We decided to have an emergency camp there.
Upon reaching the cave, we immediately checked the crevices for any snakes or critters. We also tried to look for the best position to sleep. Both the guide and porter gathered some leaves. I thought they would give the two girls some leaves for them to sleep on, but they just kept them for themselves. I was not expecting them to give me some leaves because I was planning on not sleeping at all. I knew the ground would be very cold no matter how many layers of leaves you'll put in them. But I was at least expecting that they would give Shiela and Marj something to sleep on. I guess what we signed in the waiver that we are on our own was true to the smallest detail. It was around 11:00 PM and we planned to continue the trek in the morning the next day. I still had six hours to kill while they were already lying to sleep. I was playing some silly games on my phone just to keep myself occupied.
The cave reeked of bat poop. My sling bag and my hands were already smelling nasty, but it was the least of my concern. I was getting hungry because the last proper meal I had was lunch earlier at the old campsite. The three guys were already in a good position, Shiela was at a slope above Marj, while Marj and I were sitting beside each other. Alton was already snoring very loudly. I was amazed by how they were able to sleep in that environment.
At around 2:00 AM, it was starting to get cold that Marj and I started to huddle. Shiela also said she couldn't bear the cold that she sat beside me. The three of us preserved whatever heat that was left in our bodies. Shiela rested her head on my thigh and she was able to sleep. It didn't take long before my thigh started to numb. I tried to endure it because I didn't want to wake her up, but I had to eventually move my thigh because I couldn't take it anymore. I had to move my legs from time to time. I was also holding Marj's hands because she was really cold.
At around 4:00 AM, I was really hungry that I asked if Marj had some food. She offered me a Cloud 9 chocolate bar earlier that night, but I declined and said she should save it for the day after. I asked for at least half of the chocolate bar and that was the tastiest Cloud 9 I've had. I don't really like Cloud 9 that much because of the gooey caramel and chewy nougat, but that was different. I munched everything and even licked the remaining chocolate bits in my hands. Remember the bat poop earlier? Yeah, I didn't care. I licked all that Covid and other coronaviruses for all I care. After drinking water, I felt so relieved.
When we could clearly see the ground, we started to head to the old campsite. I think they were all able to at least have some sleep. I had no sleep because I was confident I was nocturnal. My usual sleeping time is around 7:00 AM. We even joked that the bats were already going back to their cave to sleep while we were still very far from our campsite.
We reached the old campsite at around 6:00 AM. While refilling our water bottles at the stream because that would be our last water source, I took the only photo I had that day.
Our usual formation throughout the climb was that the guide would be ahead while Marj and I would closely follow him. Shiela, Alton, and the porter would be the sweepers. I was enthusiastic at first, but lack of sleep and skipping of two meals eventually caught up with me. We were initially far ahead of the three. I thought we would reach the campsite by 11:00 AM.
Before reaching the junction where everything would be downhill until the campsite at the river, we would have to traverse the newly created trail the day before and everything's mostly uphill. Coupled with the slight rain in the early afternoon the day before, the trail became so taxing that I felt I have been depleted. I couldn't move as swiftly as before. My breathing became long and drawn out. It felt like I was always catching my breath. My body was signaling that it was already my schedule to sleep. My eyes would close on their own and I started to stumble. My hands started to feel numb and I had this tingling sensation in both of my feet. I knew I couldn't go on. I felt that if I would continue walking, I would faint along the trail. Do you know what I did? I slept along the trail.
I think it was 9:00 AM when I told Marj to go on ahead with the guide. I said I would just wait for Alton and Shiela. The photo at the right was taken by Shiela. It looked like I was contemplating my next chess move, but I was really sleeping while sitting along the trail. That's just one of the photos. The others were unflattering. In one of the photos, I was really lying along the trail while mosquitoes and leeches were all over me. I didn't mind. My body needed to shut down for me to continue walking. It was the lack of sleep and proper meals that made me shut down.
That pattern of sleeping along the trail continued until we reached the junction. I would just walk faster and then sleep somewhere while waiting for them. They would just wake me up if they pass by. We reached the junction, but I felt I couldn't continue walking because I was really hungry. Sheila and Alton felt the same. We requested the porter to go on ahead and tell Marj and the guide to cook something for us. He would then bring the food to us and then we can continue the downhill trek before reaching the campsite. The porter was reluctant at first, but he eventually gave in to the idea upon seeing our pale faces.
When we were at the steepest part of the trail, Alton decided to go on ahead so Shiela and I were left for ourselves. It was more like walking for five minutes and then resting for thirty. I continued the pattern of sleeping while waiting for Shiela and then walking faster when she caught up with me.
It was already 11:00 AM, but the campsite was still too far. We were delighted to see the porter sprinting towards us. Having skipped almost three meals was devastating for me. He then gave us the rice and sauteed sardines with egg. I almost cried when I felt that my energy finally came back to me. I would say that sauteed sardines with egg is now my favorite dish because of that experience.
When I finally had the energy to walk faster, I decided to go on ahead. I left Shiela and the porter to try to catch up with Alton. I was not able to catch up with him, but I reached the campsite at around 12:30 PM. I initially promised myself not to walk on a trail on my own, but I broke that promise. There were some paranormal experiences in my previous hikes that I was afraid might get lost along the way. But I didn't mind at that time. With renewed strength, I couldn't afford to wait for Shiela. I was so delighted to finally see the orange flysheets of the campsite.
I immediately took a dip in the river. It was so cold, but it was so refreshing that I felt my blood pumping again. Alton said I finally had my glow back because so lifeless earlier. When Shiela arrived, we had to start breaking camp because we were already delayed in our schedule to reach the jump-off before dark. We were not able to fully recover, but we still have another five hours of river trekking.
I got so sad looking at my hammock considering I was able to sleep on it just once. Marj had to go on ahead again because she already booked a ticket for a boat back to Cebu at 8:00 PM. They left at 1:30 PM while we were still packing our things. We started to trek the river going down at 2:30 PM.
I was already at my usual speed during the river trek, but Shiela was still very slow. She said river trekking is really her weakness and boulder hopping was really difficult for her. Turned out, we had another river trekking in the dark. Good thing their headlamps were charged earlier so we didn't have problems with light. Shiela said she saw a lot of snakes, but I really didn't mind anymore. I just want to reach the jump-off and end my agony. The guide came back and met us slightly before the flat area.
What was a short river trek two days prior became a long and dark river crossing when we came down. It's weird how perception is changed at night. We were all relieved when we reached the jump-off at 8:00 PM.
I guess that's all for this post. I hope you get something from this experience because this had been an eye-opening moment for me. I learned so much about myself and my limitations. I hope that you won't commit the same mistakes we did. Also, whenever you're trekking, always bring an emergency blanket with you. As they say, better to have it when you don't need it than to need it and not have it. See you in the next post!
Kim Ybañez
Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits remote destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines). He's also a trying-hard photographer so stay tuned as he shares his photos and his thought process while creating them.
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