Mt. Apo and me

Friday, June 27th, 2008

 

So i dont look like a girl in the picture. Anyways, this picture was taken summer of 2006. This is actually me 2nd ascent in the majestic mount apo!. We were only 6 in the group, but since this is a summer climb which is actually a climbing season, we met new friends and we had new adventures along the way. Did you know that they sell balot at the peak for 40 pesos, i think. The prices for goods here go way up youd be glad a 1 kilo rice costs 40 pesos. LOLS. but really, so many people ascend mt apo during climbing seasons (holy week and during novembers i think). Anyways the technical details of mt. apo is as follows:

 

Country:Philippines

Subregion: Mindanao
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status: Fumarolic
Summit Elevation: 2938 m 9,639 feet
Latitude: 6.989°N  6°59′20″N
Longitude: 125.269°E 125°16′10″E

So, that was mt. apo. The first time i went there, i was with my new found friends in college. There were about 11 of us and I was the only girl then. So when we got there, 2 of our friends who served as our guide opted to go for the old trail and ignored the new trail established. The idea was, if we go straight up instead of trekking at the side of the mountainwe would get there faster. Yeah, we made our own trail with our own faces and hands. There’s nothing like going through thick tall bushes pushing through unknown areas and wishing for a trail to emerge. But there was none for quite a long time. We pushed through the bushes and got our arms numerous little tattoos from the divine artist. Anyways it was such fun!. not knowing whether you would emerge in a clearing or youd be face by endless bushes trying to ifight it and make way through it.. It was like, we were adventurers, amazons in our own rights, actually i never felt fear because i thought it was how trekking would be. It was my first major climb and so i thought it was normal. Later i discovered that they were actually afraid because we got lost. lols. we actually got lost and were forced to make an emergency camp near a destroyed little house. We stayed there because after minutes of trekking we never seem to stop arriving at that same little place. And so, fighting our own fears and beliefs, and having no choice for it was already beginning to go dark, we set camp there, not knowing were the hell it was. Only knowing that tomoroww we are gonna find our way, when there is enough light and renewed energy. And so we drank our hearts out and enjoyed the night.

NExt story will be continued. lols. that was just the first part.