Traversing Mt. Maculot to the Rockies

This is the 2nd time I went out with friends for a mountain trek. This time, it's in Batangas. Very near. As far as experienced mountaineers are concerned, this is a very light trek up and down again. But NO! By GOD, NO! That wasn't the case. We spent the night at the Grotto and by daytime, we were on our way up to the peak. This trek took me by surprise. We had to climb an almost vertical set of rocks yet again with a singular blue rope to help us up. We apparently had no plans for lunch so we went straight ahead to the ROCKIES. (That by the way is Ces, cool as ever, waiting for her turn for a solo shot by the ridge.)







And may I now introduce you to the Anbu series. You will be seeing this jacket profiled many times in FB. As per Anbu (Zarah to most of us), we were not even cool until Sky came along. The easy slopes became tougher. Know why? Sky has a habit of looking for new trails and redefining the mountaineer's experience. This new trail for Maculot, we had to grasp grass left and right. Mind you, we were on our way down and it was very steep. The soil was so dry it was dusty. When we started the trek, my feet looked normal. Halfway down, with several falls on my behind, my feet and my new Tribu sandals looked like it was several treks old. I could smell myself. That was bad!

And there was a point where there was nothing we could hold on to. Super steep land with inch thick trees several feet apart was the scenario. I was super pissed when Sky announced that we had to go back up because the trail was proving to be hard on all of us. I had the honor of taking a couple of black bruises home. On the rest stop at the bottom of the mountain, Sky explained that there should have been more blue ropes to help us rappel down the cliff. When I learned that, I was ashamed for being pissed at Sky in the first place. He would have to report it to the Airforce for replacement. The airforce has been using the area for military training so they have to be informed.


A new friend also came along in the person of Annalyn Aguila. Cousin to my childhood friend, Joy and colleague Leo. Ministry acquaintance under Media. Office jokes are wafting at the Charlie-Annalyn love team! Good thing, Charlie is a great sport at this sort of jokes. And inside secret, Jonah has this excessive "laugh trip" when she has a bit too much of soju. She was laughing uncontrollably with absolutely nothing. Kakaiba. I had to be the Tough Ate to make her stop.

So there. I tried to sum up our trip. We had merienda at Annalyn's lola's house along the highway. We were served boiled corn and mango shake, not the combination you might order from the mall but we were grateful. It was free after all and we were in the company of fellow believers.

Next stop would be Melkas Ridge. By God, I have to find a job to finance the next trip. (A little help here, God!) It's gonna be a bone-breaker!