Climbing Again

It's been years since my last training climb, hmmm too long I can't remember the exact date. So after years of postponing this activity I finally made up my mind to join a training climb last weekend.


Putik hehe

My journey to the top started way before taking that first step up Mt. Tangisan, actually I spent 3 days looking for my gear, preparing food and packing. It took me 3 days what usually took just hours a few years back, back when I was still actively climbing. Maybe I've become slower this time around, more flimsy in choosing what to bring up the mountain etc. I'd pack and repack again, each time adding more gear and trying hard to anticipate anything that might happen during the climb. I was sick and was trying my best not to get any sicker since I know that Jen would get worried (syempre game pa din kahit sick hehe). In my mind there was no turning back. I had to know if the mountains have changed, but even more so if I had changed with the times.


Applicants 2008

I was up and about an hour before we were scheduled to leave at 4am, I packed the food that I had prepared the day before (Korean Beer Stew c/o Chef Eugene) and loaded some last minute supplies. I carried my pack to the car. Crap, parang ang bigat ata hahaha...memories of my first climb was rushing in mind. Some mental computation on the contents -- 6 liters + 2 liters of food + 2 liters of trail + Cook Set + my personal stuff = hehe never mind. I wanted to ditch some items like the sleeping bag I bought on impulse the day before, but in the end I got lazy and just went ahead with whatever was there. Bahala na, I was just too excited to do anything more.


Bus Station

I woke up Jen and we went to the bus station in Cubao (Dagupan Bus Lines, sosyal!). I was there early so I had time to kill. It hit me instantly, I did not know anybody -- both members and applicants. Patawa, after years of climbing with my usual crew mendyo ibang experience to, I was in a different time zone and a different generation. I just stayed in one corner, quietly scanning for some familiar faces, I saw some applicants that I met during the pre-climb and spoke with them, small talk really just asked if they had completed the required gear etc. After a few minutes Dennis arrived, siya lang talaga ang kilala ko being the UPM president. I discreetly asked him to point out the members among the sea of people, which he did and syempre I quickly forgot. Stupid old man, I should have given them name tags hehe. Anyway, It's 5:30am. Time to ride the bus. Even the bus was a different for a training climb - aircon siya. Gone are the days of the BLTB bus in Pasay, walang aircon and was packed to the brim with noisy applicants and members. Time to relax and enjoy the ride.

After 2 hours we transfered to rented jeep and elf truck. We rode the jeep, this was a lot more comfortable since the sun was out, walang cover yung truck. Midway, Dennis began playing his ipod - from 90s glam rock to TVJ classics. I looked at the applicants across and realized some looked a bit young to appreciate his music. Some as I would know were just 16 years old, hahaha...kakapanganak lang nila nung nag apply ako sa UPM nung 91. I always get that look when they would ask me what batch I belonged to. "Sir, ano hong bacth kayo po" (Hmmm, nagsawa na ako kaka-correct, wala pumayag nako sa tawag na Sir, Kuya, Tito etc). Sagot ko "Batch 91". They would compute and some would say "ah di pa ako nag aral nun a". Hahahaha how I wish kasama ko sina Bunny, Mike, Jun etc. I'm sure matatawa lang sila dun sa mga bagets.



We hit the jump off area and after a quick stop at the local barangay hall to register proceeded to start our trek. Eto na yun, it's show time. The first 30 mins was uneventful, we crossed a river to an area where we had our lecture and ate lunch. Lunch was equally uneventful since I just had Skyflakes and dried tapa hehe. I just sat there and listened as the UPM members conducted their training on Knot Tying and Ropemanship (?).


Knots ni Dennis

Some terms I was very familiar with since I was part of the training poll for a number of years, but some items were new. It was good I was moving around and it's good to note that the training pool is still the same, mahirap pa din pumasok sa UPM hahaha. Just before we left a group of farmers went for a break and had a chat with us, most were women dressed in work clothes. All spoke in Ilocano, so did not understand fully what they said, one asked to try to carry one of the packs that we had and I could translate what she said -- "Ang bigat!". With all the crisis we have on fuel and food, the average Filipino will still find humor in anything :)


Got Rice?

We had to cross a patch of rice fields before reaching the base of the mountain, this requires a lot of concentration since one slip could mean disaster for you and the newly planted rice. Rice fields quickly became forest cover and the flat land started to gradually increase in slope. The trail was a bit muddy since as I understood was used by the locals to transport local cattle. Crap was literally everywhere hehe. Good thing I had a good pair of boots on me, but true to all Level 1 climbs I was sure na may bibigay na shoes along the way,and our first casualty was Carina's tennis shoes. Dead on the spot na agad yung left and the right one was in the ICU. Good thing we had some duct tape and zip ties to repair her shoes on the spot. After a fews minutes she was back on the road, not good but good enough for the trek up I hope.


Sira na siya hehe


Dead Shoes

A few hours trek led us to grassy area, nice view of the field below and the trail above. The trail was no joke at this point since it was steep and rugged. We had to hurdle several rock formations single file to reach the top. No contouring here, this will be a direct line going up, as the last person on the team I know the trail will be a bit wasted when It was my turn to cross. Good thing there were some cogon grass that we can hold on to, and good thing my good old climbing stick was there to give me support - Go Mountain Goat!


Trail up!


Tarik nito

On the way up, one applicant got wasted. Kulang daw sa siya sa tulog so he felt tired going up. We rested a bit waiting for him to recover.


T-Rex

It was raining hard at this point, it may have been a blessing since we were quite exposed, if the sun was out and nahilo ka, mas mahirap yun. Mainit sa cogon.


Trail going up


Dark clouds

At around 4:30pm we were at the campsite. Not as big as I expected but big enough to host the entire team. Tama yung ibang members, cow dung was everywhere hehe. Good thing we had a nice spot to pitch our tent, near by a tree that was good spot for cooking. I had first meal for dinner - Korean Beef Stew was on the menu, Kimchi and well Chocolate Mallows hehehe.


Kitchen

I had to cook rice first, after the first boil I adjusted the flame to simmer. Hmmm medyo kinakabahan ako, parang di maluluto ng maayos, I kept opening the pot to check (actually a no-no in cooking rice hehe). In the end naayos naman, wasn't perfect but was literally seconds from disaster hehe. The Beef Stew was great, good thing I had 2 containers so we had the chance to share the food. After dinner was the next step --- hilata (a qucik nap). Had a chance to clean up and change to dry clothing.

At around 8:30 we started the usual socials. Aside from climbing this is another activity that I have not been doing for a long time. I was curious how things would go, I did not know the group that well so bahala na. The group was composed of mostly students from UP, some working while some were outsiders. Things got out of hand quickly and soon it became an all out "alaskahan" session. It was fun, I hope no one got offended, I guess the best thing you can do na walang alak hehe.

We interviewed all of the applicants, gave nicknames to most of them. There was Glock 9, Fish and Co, Harvard Jeans, Wonder Twins aka Anak ni Nap 90, Chin Chen Tsu (?) aka Rez Cortez, Japanese Businessman, Princess aka alay na birhen ni Apocalipto (Si Boy Tinik, utol ni 3k!)and may more hehe. The things you do when you're an applicant hehe.









Woke up early, I was coughing hard so I woke up. Some of the team went to the peak for a quick look, Dennis and I stayed inside the tent, tamad pa bumangon. It was raining outside.


Dirty Omelet ni PJ hehe

PJ was getting ready to cook, on the menu was hotdog and eggs! Pucha kung andun si Nap alaskado yun hehehe. This was fine by me since I rarely ate hotdogs so ang sarap, sana tinapay nalang para talagang classic. He cooked the eggs in the same pan where he cooked the hotdogs thus -- the dirty omelet hehe. Pero ang classic yung Near Death rice hehe, nasunog man ng konti naubos pa din namin nung hapon.

After breakfast, we quickly broke up camp. It stared raining really hard. Carina (our customer sa Mr.Quickie) was wearing sandals aka flip slops. The shoes she wore was hopeless, hindi na umabot ng umaga. We had to find an alternative so she could go down from the mountain safely. Good for her we borrowed Mona's sandals and quickly put her knot tying skills into action hehe. After a few minutes she was good to go, I lent her my climbing stick for support on the way down, haha sana pala 2 dinala ko :)


Lakas ng ulan



Mag ekrersays tayo tuwing umaga


Rez Cortez Jr


Anak ni Nap 90!

The way down was not as steep, it had a nice view of the dam below. It was raining hard and visibility was poor. Water was everywhere. The trail was slippery in some areas so it was a good thing that no one got injured going down.


Smile lang


Basura Kids


Flower


Group ni Fish!

After bout an hour we reached the road going to the pick up area, it took us around 30 minutes to reach the junction where the jeep and truck would pick us up. This time around we where riding the truck, swapping places with the other applicants who rode the truck on the way to the jump off area. We reached the river area to wash up and eat lunch. Lunch was sisig and fried chicken (kulang nalang San Miguel Beer hehe). We finished the left over kimchi and rice. Sarap pala ng Kimchi and Sisig hehe. The trip going to the station was a bit tricky since we where all riding the truck, it started raining again, again it was our lucky day we had an extra tarp handy to keep us dry during the trip. At the station, we had a taste of the classic 20 peso chicken mami hehe, ang init tuloy. This time we were riding ordinary, ok lang since it was cooler because of the rains.

We reached Manila at around dinner time, ate dinner at KNL and had a few drinks at Sarahs. Same routine as before I thought of my previous climbs but this time with new friends and a different perspective of climbing. I'm happy na madaming students ngayong 2008, a good mix of young and old.


Why so serious?

The mountains did not change, ganun pa din sila -- beautiful, unpredictable and unforgiving at times. As for me, ganun pa din pero this time around ok na ako na tawaging Kuya hehehe...

Tara, climb naman para maiba hehe

*some pics kuha ni Dennis, ninakaw ko sa Multiply nya haha