Re-Conquering Mt. Apo, Final Part

April 11 (Day 4: Last Day)

Whoever said that climbing down a mountain is much easier than climbing up probably hasn’t done some serious mountaineering or a traverse.

It was raining when we broke camp that morning, hence it was a bit difficult to pack our gear (we had to wipe dry the raincovers of our tents so that we don’t unnecessarily bring some ‘water weight’ with us). After breakfast, packing and doing our morning rituals (yes, it still involves the use of a spade), we set forth for the last day of our Mount Apo adventure.

The mist was thick when we left the camp at Lake Vinado, really eerie. The scenery reminded me of the Silent Hill video game (arguably the scariest game I’ve ever played). It took us about a half-hour to find our way through the mist to get to the forest trail going to Kidapawan.

Photo (R): Searching for the Kidapawan trail in the heavy morning mist.

The trail going down Mount Apo via Kidapawan is very challenging: we had to contend with loose soil, muddy trails, slippery tree roots, wide tree trunks that needs climbing over, makeshift ladders and rope bridges. The trail is also steep for more than 70% of the way at angles ranging from 45 degrees to near-vertical (this is where we had to rely on tree roots as our only handholds). You can imagine how stressful to our knees the whole descent was.

The descent is usually the most dangerous part of a mountaineering expedition. We got reminded of it when we were held up for almost two hours at the trail, not progressing, because of a long line of climbers which could not advance further. Ahead of the line, a female climber broke her ankle earlier. As the trail can only accommodate one person abreast, everyone else could not advance until the victim was rescued by Red Cross volunteers.

When the victim was finally rescued and taken to a safe place, we resumed our descent. We had to quicken our pace to make up for the lost time. Marlon and I blazed through the rainforest, scouting ahead of Kat and Ren in order to mark the easier routes for the climb down. The two of us took turns between coaching the others on where to step or place their hands or which branch to swing from and do some scouting. I can feel the tension on my knees that our pace is causing --- my legs/knees would feel rubbery on a couple of instances when we stopped to rest.

On one of those rest stops, we had lunch (rice, chorizo and fruit jelly) beside a stream. It was there when both Ren and Kat acknowledged that Marlon’s and my trail skills are superior – ‘talagang veterans kayong dalawa sa mountaineering’, they quipped – because we were so sure of our footing despite the sharp angles and slippery trails. Well, we’d both find ourselves slipping on our butts every now and then, but those instances were really unavoidable.

We exited the forest area by three in the afternoon and entered the Marble River. The last leg of the trek would be river-trekking.

At Marble River, we criss-crossed among the big boulders (the big boulders scattered along the river bed provided Marble River’s its name) to cross the river back-and-forth, depending on where the trail is. The river trek is the perfect ending for our adventure. The sound of the water crashing among the rocks had a calming effect, and I got to see an eagle soaring across the open skies.

At one particular river crossing, I almost fell into the water because I lost my balance --- in a split second I decided to fall flat instead on the boulder where I was standing. I bruised my ribs with that, but at least I was still dry.

We arrived at the exit point sometime after five that afternoon. Our last day was really tiring (the last 10 minutes of the whole trek was another steep uphill climb!), and I shouted happily when I first heard the sound of vehicles from the highway. We deposited our trash at the Kidapawan exit station, paid the corresponding exit fees and hopped aboard dirt bikes to get to Kidapawan City’s bus station for our trip back to Davao.

Photo (L): Group photo at final exit at Marble River.

Onboard the bus, we felt how really tired our bodies were. All of us were suffering from muscle pains throughout our lower bodies. It was an effort to sit down, stand up, or even walk! Hahahaha. Our adrenaline reserves must have been 100% depleted by then.


Oh, and even before we boarded the bus, we didn’t have time to clean ourselves or change our shirts. So we took the seats at the back because we realized how dirty and smelly we were. Hahahaha.

The Mount Apo adventure was great.
I was in my element.
I was with great company.
It was full of challenges. It’s been my hardest climb so far.

The fact that we’ve done everything on our own (no porters, no guides, no tour groups) for the whole four days makes our conquest of Mount Apo a hundred percent official.

And we were so damn proud of it.



Photos (top left, clockwise): (1) Our respective fullpacks and initials in stone; (2) Me; (3) Marlon in [photography] action (4) Kat celebrating her summit conquest

(Re)-Conquering Mount Apo, Part 2

Apr 10 (Day 3)

On this day, I celebrated the 10th year anniversary of my first Mount Apo climb.

I and Marlon planned on waking up at four thirty that morning to climb back to the peak and catch a sunrise shot. Unfortunately, the fog was too thick (visibility of less than 20 feet!) so we snuck back to our respective sleeping bags for another hour of sleep. The temperature outside our tent was a really low 4 degrees Celsius.

At six in the morning, I was up to cook rice and boil some water for Milo drinks. Mount Apo’s peak was still covered in fog, and dawn hasn’t really arrived at peak camp yet. Handling the burner and cooksets with my fleece-gloved hands, I prepared breakfast and lunch alongside Kat.

We finished cooking and eating by seven-thirty that morning (danggit, sinangag, hot cups of coffee and Milo). The sun’s risen by then (though with the fog rolling in occasionally), so I and Marlon climbed back to the peak to get some photos.



Photo (L): Altitude check at Mount Apo's peak.

And the results are amazing. This is what mountaineers look forward to in each of their expeditions: breathtaking sceneries from the highest point in the area.




Photos, clockwise from top left. (1) Two lower peaks of Mount Apo, taken from the official peak location. (2) Marlon and Stip on 'conquer' mode at the peak. (3) "A walk in the clouds".


After getting our shots, we quickly made our way back to peak camp to re-pack our gear and get back on the trail to descend to the third camp area: Lake Vinado. From peak camp to Lake Vinado, it’s a 4-5 hour trek descending from Mt Apo via its Kidapawan side. We left peak camp at nine-thirty that morning.

The trek going down to Lake Vinado was at a relatively leisurely pace --- the only difficult aspects of this trek is that “descents” (going down) are usually the portion of the trek which causes most of the injuries. I sprained my ankle once when I tripped over a stone, fell on my bum countless times and got me worrying on the strain that the descent is putting on my knees (my 20-kilo fullpack is now only about 16 kilos, but I’m also now lugging about 2 kilos of our trash).

We stopped along the trail for lunch, just before re-entering the tropical forest area of Kidapawan. We had a good view of Lake Vinado from our lunchstop. Fortunate for us, there were some children selling banana-ques there (during Holy Week, the more enterprising locals strategically place themselves along the trail to sell some simple food).

The trail started to become muddy when we re-entered the forest area and the climate quickly became humid.

We arrived at Lake Vinado without any further mishaps by two in the afternoon. There must have been more than 50 other tents in the area, plus about twenty makeshift stalls selling eggs, vegetables, softdrinks and Tanduay! We had the chance to clean up a bit at the lake (water’s not safe for drinking though); none of the other climbers were swimming at the lake because there was too much algae in it. So technically, none of us had taken a bath yet, even with the plentiful water from the lake!

We unpacked, set-up our camp areas, brought out the stoves and cooksets, and took inventory of our remaining food supplies. We can afford to have a feast that night for dinner: canned lechon paksiw, Spam, salted egg with onions and tomatoes, and my expertly-cooked rice (hahahaha).

The campsite at Lake Vinado is the largest in Mount Apo, and every Holy Week, the campers there engage in some friendly games and “parties”. The mood is festive, almost like a fiesta.

That night, me, Kath, Ren and Marlon finished the remaining GSM blue in my bag. We had a great time telling stories, recounting the last 3 days of adventure, gazing back at Mount Apo’s peak, and psyching ourselves for the last section of our mountaineering trip the following day.

We called 'lights out' after we've downed all the gin (I was starting to see some fuzzy circles in my vision by then... I think the group connived in handing me a 'taller' round everytime it was my turn to drink).

Oh, and yep. By the end of Day 3, none of us have taken a bath yet (hurrah for 'alcohol sponge baths!'. We're not really sure if we're used to each other by then, but I don't think any of us were stinky (yet).

--- to be continued ---

(Re)-Conquering Mount Apo

On April 10th 1999, I climbed Mt. Apo with my university's outdoor club. I was barely a hundred pounds then. I didn't have any photos of the climb to remember it by (well, some of my fellow climbers had those disposable cameras with them).

For the last couple of years, I and a colleague of mine (Marlon) have been trying to organize a Mt. Apo climb but constraints on schedule and numbers always cropped up.

Finally, on April 8-11, we set to traverse Mt. Apo with two of my acquaintances (Kath and Ren, who are first-timers). We planned to ascend Mt. Apo from the Kapatagan trail (Davao side) and descend it via the Kidapawan trail (Cotabato side). It's been 10 years since my last (and only) Apo climb while it has been 5 years ago for Marlon's.


Apr 8 (Day 1)



The four of us boarded a bus at Davao City's bus terminal at 0400H (really early!) for a one-hour trip to Digos. Marlon and I had 55-liter fullpacks on (more or less 20 kilos each of gear, canned goods, rice and water) while Ren and Kath had 45-L fullpacks on.


Photo: Davao City bus terminal at four in the morning.



At Digos, we had a heavy breakfast at a nearby carinderia and also bought some food and bread for take-away lunch. At Digos terminal, we haggled for a van with 4 other students/climbers to take us on a special trip to Baras in Kapatagan to get registered and secure our permits.

By 0800H, at the Baras checkpoint, the environmental officers took inventory of our potential non-biodegradable wastes -- plastic bottles, canned goods, garbage bags, tissues and sanitary napkins and foil-sealed food. It was expected that as responsible climbers, we will be bringing down our trash and not leave anything behind, hence the inventory. If ever that we are unable to prove that we brought down all our trash, a penalty of 300-1000 Php is imposed upon exit.

After the inventory-taking, we proceeded to having ourselves registered and securing our mountaineering permits. A medical check-up is mandatory for all climbers followed by a briefing/orientation conducted by an environmental officer on our responsibilities as mountaineers. Climbing fees vary among students, locals and foreigners. Each of us had to pay 600 Php for our climbing permit. After securing our IDs and permits, we were cleared to climb.




Photos, from L-R: (1) Medical check-up done at checkpoint (2) Climbing permit fees at Kapatagan (3) Kath, Marlon and myself outside Baras checkpoint/registration.

Getting from Baras checkpoint to the jump-off point is almost a whole day's trek across the farms at Kapatagan. The alternative is to board a vegetable truck and drive through the farm lots for about an hour, which we did. By 900H, we were at the jump-off point.

We hiked for about 2 hours across farms and small villages before stopping on the trail to eat our packed lunches. After lunch, we continued hiking until we entered the forest area and started to contend with moderately difficult rises and dips on the trail.

The next stop for the day is Baruring river (actually, it's just a big stream), the trail's first potable water source. Most of the hikers needed to make the pitstop here to collect water for drinking and cooking. We re-filled our water bottles and got out our stove and cookset to cook some rice for our dinner.

The RICE Accident

Marlon attempted to cook rice at Baruring river. Yun nga lang mataas masyado yung apoy, and resulted to undercooked rice. We tried to salvage the rice (since we have only just enough to last us for 4 days) but we were unsuccessful. I explained to them how to cook rice using a stove. Since then, our group has nominated me to be the official rice cooker. Hahaha.

We had to dig a small hole to bury the undercooked rice near Baruring river. Dinner was going to be a light one --- it will be a simple ration of instant noodles and 1 can of vienna sausage among the 4 of us. After repacking our stuff, we set forth for Camp Gudi-gudi, the first campsite for the Mt. Apo climb.

Getting to Camp Gudi-Gudi from Baruring river is about a 3-hour trek. We left Baruring river at around 330pm. The trail going to Camp Gudi-gudi was very challenging --- aside from having to contend with the slippery mud, there were several fallen tree trunks scattered across the trail which we had to (a) climb over, (b) swing across and (c) crawl under. There were also a number of steep descents and rises which we had to carefully tread through. The fact that our packs were a bit heavy (because of the water we collected) made it necessary for us to take a break every half-hour.

We didn't meet anyone on the trail for a while, and soon after it got dark. We brought out our headlamps and flashlights. Navigating the trail was getting harder in the darkness. We had no idea then how much farther is Camp Gudi-gudi. We took a faster pace. I slipped countless times, not minding anymore where I step. I skinned my left shin and slightly twisted my right ankle.

After more than an hour of trekking through Mt. Apo's rainforests in the darkness, we finally heard sounds of people talking and butane stoves cooking away. At 740pm on Apr 8th, after 11 hours of trekking through slippery slopes and climbing over trees with heavy backpacks on, we were finally at Camp Gudi-gudi.

Tired as we were, we set up our tents and sleeping bags. I made a makeshift noose suspended from a treebranch where we can hook our butane lamp from so that Kath would have light for her cooking (instant noodles and vienna sausage). After a quick dinner and cleaning ourselves up with alcohol (no baths!), we slept for the night.

April 9 (Day 2)

None of us got a good night's rest. Camp Gudi-Gudi is a relatively small campsite, and since we were among the last persons to arrive at the camp we had to contend with the remaining tent areas. These tent areas were on a slight slope. So every half-hour or so into our sleep, all of us would be twisting in our sleeping bags to regain a comfortable sleeping position.

In the morning, I lighted one of the butane stoves to cook rice enough for both breakfast and lunch while Kath set on cooking vacuum-packed corned beef; we brought along a few onions and garlic to spicen up our meals a bit. The weather was a bit biting --- 15 deg C that morning --- so we spared some of our limited water for coffee.

After our meals, we broke camp, re-packed our gear, went about our “morning rituals” (morning rituals involve the use of a spade for digging, hehehe…) and were finally off for the climax of the trip: reaching Mt Apo’s peak. We left Camp Gudi-Gudi at 0840H.

The first two hours of hiking were difficult, as we were still in the rainforest area. We had to maneuver across very steep descents and contend with equally steep rises, relying on tree roots and the occasional rock to serve as foot-and-handholds. This portion of the trail is still muddy and slippery because of the rain earlier that morning.

Finally, we cleared the rainforest and found ourselves in the open. Elevation of 2300 meters. The humid conditions gave way to cold-weather climate, and the abundant presence of ferns and lichens are an indication that we were already at above-tropical altitudes.

We trudged on the trail, mindful that to our left side it was a sheer 200+ feet near-vertical drop. We rested on the occasional huge boulders on the trail, which were actually clues of what we were going to tackle next.




Photo (R): Lichens (those yellow strands that you see) and baby ferns, indicating above-tropical altitude. Lichens are technically parasitic plants, relying on other vegetation to survive.


From Davao City, some of the locals who are able to look at the whole of Mt. Apo on a clear day (no fog/clouds/mist covering the mountain) will notice that the top portion of the mountain is a pristine white. It greatly contrasts the peak (which is brownish) and the rainforest area (a lush green). Some people thought that there was snow on Mt. Apo.

That ‘white face’ of Mt. Apo is our next challenge for the day’s climb. It’s not snow. Grey-white boulders ranging from the size of a basketball to as big as a townhouse cover a significant portion of the mountain’s upper face. Mt. Apo is actually a dormant volcano, and its last eruption hundreds of years ago scattered boulders in this portion of the mountain. Think “Lord of the Rings” mountain scene. It’s going to be a 2-3 hour bouldering session for us, depending on our pace.

Mt. Apo’s boulder face does not have any “trails” to speak of. To facilitate mountaineers on where to generally head for, small pyramids of rocks are located strategically at the edge of some boulders to serve as trail markers. We made a game of scanning the area to spot the next trail marker for our amusement and distract us from the heavy loads that we’re carrying. Kath and myself are wall-climbers, and we took full advantage of our wall-climbing skills to maneuver across the boulders to set a path from one trail marker to the next.

Midway through the boulder face of Mt. Apo, we had our lunch break in a small canopy created by some criss-crossing boulders. We enjoyed our lunch; our energy reserves needed to be replenished. As added measures, we consumed some of our “power foods”.

Power Foods?

My power food is a mix of black coffee and Lipovitan (caffeine + sugar, hahaha). Kath and Ren had Extra Joss and honey oatmeal granola bars. Marlon, on the other hand, was way too proud of his Cloud 9 candybars.

And then it rained. The difficulty rating just went up another notch.

We donned on our rainshells. I remarked that we have to keep going with the climb in order to reach the peak camp with daylight still available. Some of the boulders started to become slippery, so our pace became slightly slower. At this point I got my first serious “injury” – I banged my knee very hard on a boulder in an attempt to climb it. I lost sensation in my left leg for about 10 minutes and I ceased moving during this period. My knee swelled slightly, but as soon as I got sensation back in my leg I consented with the group to continue on.

It rained for about half-an-hour. Actually, after half-an-hour, we’ve gained enough elevation to be above the rainclouds. Sweet! It was still foggy though, but occasionally the fog clears up and gives us a few seconds of glorious sunlight to take in the magnificent view of the ash-white boulders at 2600 m above sea level. And just beside it is Mt Apo’s biggest sulfur vent (locally dubbed as Baby Volcano), a yellow-green crack in the mountain’s side about 150 m long continuously spewing out steam.

We cleared the boulders area by two-thirty in the afternoon and got to a small flat clearing where we rested for half-an-hour. We ate our remaining bread and consumed some more of our power foods. A hundred meters away from us is the next challenge for the climb: Mt. Apo’s “Gulugod”.

“Gulugod” means spine. The usual mountain spines are ridge trails, with an incline of 30 degrees tops. Mt. Apo’s “Gulugod” is a staggering 80 degree ascent, almost near vertical! It’s a one-hour climb for a 200 meter ascent on a rocky+muddy wall. From where we are standing, we can see the string of climbers making their way up the Gulugod.

Photo (L): Dead Lake (left portion of the photo) and Boulders Face (right portion of the photo).

Again, wall-climbing skills proved to be an advantage. Kath and I had an easier time climbing up from one ledge to another as compared to Marlon and Ren, despite my sore knee and heavy pack. When we stopped to rest, we’ll find ourselves in precarious positions --- a slip means a potentially bad fall hence we tried our best to lean on the mountain wall as best as we can.

At the top of Gulugod, the trail forked. As Kath was in the lead, she took the right-side one. And lo…

… we found ourselves I a really big clearing. Easily the size of 2 football fields. Kath was ecstatic thinking that we’ve made it to peak camp finally.

Her happiness was short-lived when Marlon and I simultaneously commented that (1) there are no campers there – which is weird and (2) the ground was too soft. We were not at peak camp yet. We were at Dead Lake.

During the rainy months, this clearing fills up with water and hence becomes a lake. In the summer months, most of the water would have drained out or evaporated.

We left our mark at the Dead Lake by arranging some stones and getting a photo of our packs.

After this detour, we back-tracked to the fork in the trail and took the left one.

Photo (R): The trail going to Peak Camp. Photo taken from Mt. Apo's summit.

A half-hour later, we were finally at the peak. Wahoo!!! Tired as we were, we took in the foggy view, had some photos taken. This wasn’t the end of the day yet. We had to make our way to the peak camp.

Peak camp is 30 minutes away from the peak. It was an easy trek from the peak to the peak camp compared to the bouldering and 80-degree ascent earlier.

At 550pm on April 9, we were at Peak Camp. Wahoo!!!

Peak camp was much larger than Camp Gudi-Gudi, although all the good spots (the ones just beside rock walls) were already taken. We settled at an open (and more importantly flat) area. Marlon and I quickly set to cutting some talahib to lay out for our tent areas, while Ren went to look for water sources. The wind was beginning to pick-up (it’s very cold and gusty at the peak camp). While Marlon and Ren set-up the tents, I had to fashion a make-shift wind-shield for our burner stoves so that Kath and I can cook dinner. The wind-shield I did was crude: used my earth mat, some garbage bags and some twine to create a wind-barrier. Crude, but effective.

Dinner was rice (now expertly cooked by me, hahaha), corn soup, Spam and sautéed sardines. After dinner, we drank half of our GSM Blue supply while exchanging stories and jokes.

By 930 pm, we were back in our respective tents wrapped in our individual sleeping bags to sleep. The wind outside was really gusty and the climate is really cold. My watch registered 6 degrees C just before I went into my tent.

Oh, and of course, it’s not possible to take a bath at peak camp either so we had to make do with rubbing ourselves with alcohol again.

And one other tidbit: hygienic mountaineers put on a fresh pair of underwear everyday. Hahaha. I have always been a hygienic mountaineer.

---- to be continued ----

Before There Was HALO or Gears of War or Rainbow Six or any of those similar video games where you played as a soldier...

... you were a kid who played with action figures.

If you were an 80's kid ("kid" here refers to somewhere between 4-16 years old), had the privilege of having a television set at your house, and that you were actually allowed to watch TV for Saturday morning cartoons, then you...

1. Would be going up-and-jumpy when you see the images below;
2. Can recognize at least two of them; and
3. Be excited to watch it on August 2009 when it hits the movie theaters.