Climb Every Mountain - New Hobby for the New Year

Omigosh I am such a delinquent blogger! I didn't write last November and December. Grrr my 2010 bloggacious whatevs are incomplete.

But nonetheless let's start this year with marvelous adventures, new experiences and astounding journeys. True enough, I kicked-off the year in high territories.

Last weekend (January 15, 2011), it was my first time to do mountain climbing. I never thought I can do such activity but I just did and I am just so proud of myself. Give me a wootwoot! Hahahaha! Together with my friend, we joined a group of mountaineers and climbed at Mt. Marami in Maragondon, Cavite. Another moment of getting deceived at the website, it was said that the mountain is an easy climb. But we were wrong. Hahahahaha!

The troops ready to rock the mountain

Take 10! Chillax muna by the Batis

It was actually a major and moderately difficult climb. Major because the trails had so many assaults (meaning numerous steep upward trails) and the mud was like major clay soil to the highest level!

Some mud huh? Talk about clay soil much. It felt like quick sand, I couldn't remove my foot from the mud and so I had no choice but remove my shoe from the stuck shoe.

So much for my first time to climb because we encountered the challenging events in mountain climbing.

• Night Trek - Quite scary because there was a ravine on the left side of the trail and the pathway was pretty narrow.
• Got lost going towards the summit - We were so close but we got lost. Although we had a really good view of the boulders

Look at those boulders! So near yet so far. We might to a revenge climb someday. Hehe!

Ack I was almost close!

• Emergency camp aka e-camp - Since we didn't reach the summit and we were in the middle of nowhere, we had to setup our tent at the flattest plains we encountered during the night trek. Although our tent was a little bit tilted so we slept in an inclined position. Oh yeah and it got even worse....
  
• Rainy rainy rain rain - This was pretty dreadful because it was muddy and we couldn't do much. Although thanks to the surrounding trees, rain didn't pour that much but we got close to hypothermia because it got really cold that night. At the same time, water entered our tent so we had to think of ways to do preventive measures from flooding. Hehehe!

But given these challenges, overall I really had a great time. This was a truly fascinating outdoor adventure. This was a great opportunity to be thankful to God to His wonderful creation. Seeing the panoramic view of the mountain was just breathtaking. We also got to see scenes that have certain characters.

It's bath time kids!

Lola's a lifeguard? Nah! Hahaha!

3-layered stones represent that we're on the right track

Chill carabao

He's such a poor soul I swear! Hahaha!

Interestingly looking stuffies. Looks like rambutan or something.

This trip served as an excellent way to challenge myself physically and mentally. I look forward to more climbs this year.