Day 2 - Monday (March 17, 2008) - Trapped By The Raging River
On our second day, we woke up early, prepared the breakfast, took some photos and packed our things for the next adventure of the day. Water source was not a problem for our Day 2 as we were 3 meters away from the Mabo river. We continued the trek at around 8am with another exciting river trekking. This time the trail was a refreshing one -- flat, mossy and shady. Such perfect scenery!!! After 4 hours of gradual walk, we took our lunch at one of the mossy old trees along the trail. As we sped up, I accidentally tripped off an unnoticed root protruding on the right side. It was so excruciating I cried in so much pain. Kuya had to put some bandage on it. As we moved ahead, we were refreshed by a slight drizzle which for an hour turned into heavy rain. The walkpaths were slowly turned into miniponds.
Everywhere water was coming from the upper end and finding its way to the trails. It was more than 2 hours of continuous pouring. Slowly, the water along the trails grew bigger and deeper. There was one part which was higher than us so Bong (our guide) who was on the lead now, had to find logs to step on. He himself was even carried away by the current. It was a bit scary crossing the logs as any wrong move we will be swimming on deep muddy waters. One by one we got through that floody trail. As we continued descending, we passed through small flood waters flowing and slowly finding its way towards the Mabo river. At that time, we can hear the raging current coming from the river. It was ferocious, and its powerful & raging current sent another chill to us. We knew we were trapped. All six of us --- Nehl, Ronnie, Melai, Jeff, Kuya and me (with Bong and 3 of his mountaineering buddies) were separated from the rest of the group. Mang Pao who was on the middle group came back and told us its impossible for us to cross as the current was so strong. No need to question him as we saw in our very own eyes how alarming the river was. There was a sudden recollection for York. We made an e-camp near the river which can only accomodate 2-3 tents. Though raining, Kuya, Jeff and I have to immediately pitch the tent as we were all freezing in cold. My tent can only accomodate 3 people but all 6 of us have somehow managed to fit in my tent. Jeff wore his poncho and slept on one of the 2 vestibules. The couple Nehl and Ronnie were on the upper portion of the tent, while Melai and I were on the bottom part (hirap pala, para kaming fetus). Kuya managed to squeezed himself inside. Thank God that the rain stopped in the middle of the night. As we prepared and finished off with our dinner, we heard other mountaineers descending towards the campsite. But when they learned that there was no space available they headed back and camped out on the upper bank. We had an early lights out. None of us slept much as we were all assessing the river & we knew that any sudden change in the weather or a sudden pour of the rain, we were all be in great danger. An hour of continuous rain would immediately overflow the river & engulfed us all --- not to mention the small river on the right side finding its way towards the river. So we were in the center of two "scary" flowing waters ---- a raging and fierce Mabo river on the left & a mini-river slowly building its trail towards our camps. We have to content ourselves with short and shallow naps, silently praying for rain not to pour again.
Day 3 - Tuesday (March 18, 2008) - The Refreshing Trail
We woke up early and prepared our breakfast & packed lunch. We kind of regained our spirits as we saw the rocks on the river, an indication that the water level went down tremendously. We then left the Mabo river at around 6am and headed for Camp Dalag. The Camp was huge with few houses which at that time have no inhabitants. As we reached the Camp at around 10am, we dried our wet stuffs as the first group were still there and were not ready to go. We had breakfast and decided to shift the sweepers and trail leads. We left the camp at around 11:30am and took our lunch along the open and cogonal trail. Surprisingly, there were sugarcanes along the flat and open area. After taking our lunch, it was "rat-rat" time again. I was beginning to hate this "rat-rat" principle & with people pushing you to go faster was one of the most unpleasant things I don't want to pursue after this expedition. Despite feeling pissed off, I tried my best to push and level with the group's pacing. After 2 more hours, we were greeted with an amazing array of red shrubs that we can't help but take pictures with. After the initial awe with the red shrubs, we were then greeted with a refreshing splash of mountain water. A few meters from the water source, we reached Camp Cabacan at around 3pm and stayed for the rest of the night.
Day 4 - Wednesday (March 19, 2008) - The Long and Winding Trail
As early as 7:30am we left the camp and headed for the steep assault. There were some of us who were injured and the pacing kept at a slow pace. We reached the upper portion of the trail & took our lunch. We needed to reach Lake Venado before the sun sets so we tried to improve our pacing. Good thing, we were rewarded with a gradual and easy trail after that gruelling steep assault. Passing through diverse & densely forested paths made me utter "Thank you I finally got the trail that I liked" for the first time since the start of the expedition. The trails were good, very similar to Mt. Kanlaon, with towering, century-old trees, unique grasses, exquisite moss formation and mushroom hanging on trees. For the first time since Day 1, I appreciated this part of Tamayong trail. It was the kind of trail that brings about hope and a sense of serenity to any nature lover like me. I occasionally stop and look above me & let myself be amazed by tall powerful trees towering over me. Amidst these beautiful scenery, I can't help but be worried because I have run out of water. My other groupmate Glen had run out of water too. My survival instinct taught me to use the droplets on the leaves for temporary hydration. And it did work, though I have to be cautious because some leaves are poisonous. Moving on with the trek, there were many stray signs ahead of us and before we knew it, we were lost. Glen and I backtracked after we met Mam Nera and the rest of the sweepers. We then requested our guide Bong to lead us on the right way. After going through obstacle trails, we finally got a glimpse of the famed Lake Venado. I rushed to take my supply of water and it was the first time I savoured every ounce of the liquid passing through my throat. It was sweet and divine. Water is really life!!!!
When we finally reached Lake Venado, we decided to camp out here instead of the summit. The sight of Lake Venado did not impress me much. It was more than I expected. It was a huge (can even accomodate a thousand tents) piece of land, with a long stretch of lake in the middle. Though campers, DENR people & soldiers compose the vast campsite, I cannot help but be glad though that there were many sari-sari stores around. We learned that they were only present during Holy Week where they expect many climbers camping on Venado. Though available, these stores sell their goods at sky-rocketing prices (kasing taas ng Apo :) ). Just imagine a 1.5L of Coke would cost around P150 (grabe...) Never mind the prices as there were also vendors selling sweetened banana and camote. Whoahhh.. Only in Mt Apo... Standing in the vast Lake Venado, Mt. Apo stood before our eyes like a small hill erected on top of the lake. "Ok, so that was Mt. Apo", I mumbled. After 4 gruelling days, we came to get a look of the King(or Queen) of Philippine mountains. Covered by a heap of thick clouds, her view did not impress me. Or maybe I just had too much expectations.
No comments:
Post a Comment