February started out remarkably because of this hiking adventure. Since my climb at Pico de Loro last year, I felt very inspired to be more adventurous. There are a lot adventurous activities but there is this overwhelming fulfillment I found in the mountains. It is frightening, physically risky and dangerous, hence, one must be fully fit, unafraid and prepared for the uncertain. So, if you are able to do it - you deserve huge kudos!
The long hours of hiking is made even more difficult by your heavy bag, steep and slippery slopes, and heat. Then, your reach the highest peak to stay for only an hour or less, then go back down again for the same long, difficult hike. One will ask: is it worth it? For me, absolutely.
First, you get to see the beauty of God's creation that only few can. It is both a privilege and a blessing to be physically capable to do such thing. It is true that the view from the top is better - on the context of seeing nature unexploited. Second, you feel nothing but proud about yourself. After all the struggles, even if you thought about quitting countless of times, but you never really did stop. The motivation and extra hand from your friends was a big help, but you get the major credit for all of it. Without your determination mixed with personal strength, it would not be possible for you to finish it. The thought of accomplishing something difficult is really fulfilling.
I felt the same thing on my 2nd climb experience at Mt. Batulao. The trail was completely different from Pico de Loro - Mt. Batulao's is open, narrow and a lot of going up and down. I find it more challenging because aside from scary high abyss on both sides, you have to fight through the strong winds and soil dust hitting you. There time you don't have anything to hold on to, so you have to keep a strong ground. It was a first for me to do rope rappelling.
Though, for me, no adventures are the same. We organized the climb on our own instead of paying a travel group. I highly recommend to do it that way because it is WAY CHEAPER - I spent less than Php 500 on this. Luckily, we knew a pro mountaineer, Karl Serrano, who was our climb hero. I went with my high school best friends Tin and Mikka, then invited a college friend, Kandis; also, Karl invited his officemates to join, making us a huge group. As much as I enjoyed my solo trip two weeks before, it is more wonderful to share an adventure with close friends. You get to replace the struggles with humor and you feel totally safe.
But there was one thing I learned about myself on this one, it is that I have trust issues! A little on myself but more on others. This kind of adventure made me believe in myself more, however, there are still instances, even if I see others doing it so easily, when fear strikes, it takes a lot of self-convincing before I take the jump. More so, trusting my life to others. I found it hard to be dependent when someone says "give me both your hands." I never give it on the first persuasion. So, I start to think that this rooted from the previous betrayal done to me. But actually, I don't find anything wrong with it. It just proves that I have learned my lesson to be more cautious on people and their motives. I proved that I am becoming more independent, not introvert, and faithful to noone but the Higher Being alone.
It is just the second month of the year yet I have achieved pretty much a handful meaningful goals. 2015 has been treating me nicely. I am even more excited to unravel what's next. Though I told myself that I am taking this year a day at a time. I am now looking at life on the perspective of living in the moment and letting the daily current take you away.
Next up?
