Chronicles of my Cristobal Climb

Where: Mt. Cristobal (Level II), Quezon-Laguna province
When: Feb 3-4, 2007
Who: Me, Geland (opismate), Blos, Kat, Val, Ron, Agnes, Leo A, Leo C, Jayson (BMS), Tinog (mascot), Manong guides #1 and #2


Geland + Stip + Jayson


What transpired:

Feb 3

0200H: I'm still packing. Got off from work late.
0300H: Finally, I got to sleep.
0510H: Woke up. Ligo. Bihis. Text Geland (baka tulog pa e, he's driving). Go to House 3.
0545H: Left housing compound. Bigat ng packs namin. Kaya kaya namin?
0725H: Breakfast kami ni gelpogi at Jollibee Sto. Tomas. Di pa nakakaalis yung BMS group from Makati kasi late daw si Agnes.
0830H: At San Pablo. Blos, where are you?
0845H: At Barangay San Cristobal. Stip goes for a powernap, Geland goes for a scrambol and lumpia sold at the roadside.
0940H: Yaaay!!! Dumating na yung BMS group. Drove towards Gomez store. Iwan kotse.
1035H: Onboard rented jeep. Left Barangay San Cristobal.
1115H: Disembarked rented jeep. Group picture taking. Prayer. Start of hike. Ngarrk... mabigat nga yung pack ko. Pero kaya pa naman.
1240H: First reststop. Chowed on packed adobo and rice near a farmland. Kat forsakes her 'Skyflakes diet' for two extra servings of rice.
1330H: Forest trail blocked. Decided to take another trail. 15-minute assault.
1410H: Saw another group of mountaineers at a nearby crest. Sinundan namin.
1415H: My first tumba-slash-hulog. My left foot slipped into a rock crevice. 'kala ko I'm a goner, hehehe. Stupid me.
1421H: On the rocks. Photo ops. Manongs and Ron scout the crest to check our next attack.




1435H: Bad news. Our current path is doble-dehado: boulders on the trail and steep inclines on both sides. Group decides to backtrack to the crest where we started from.
1440H: Assault na naman. Made harder by trailblazing --- walang trail so we had to make our own. Half of the time I was on all fours just to advance. Can feel the pack weighing me down.
1500H: On the crest. Enter the kaingin-lands. Dusty.
1520H: Assault on the talahib slopes. Eyes are drooping already from lack of sleep. Decided to consume my Lipovitan. Pack getting heavier, despite me consuming 1.5L of water so far. Musta na kaya si Geland, his pack and his slippers? Girls are already muttering p*tang ina occasionally hehe.
1525H: Group starts to take more frequent rest-stops, intervaled at every 150-250 m advance on the assault-plus-trailblazing. I can feel my calf muscles tightening.
1555H: Trail becomes very narrow, bordered by steep 100-plus-meter drops on both sides. Had to crouch down occassionally due to strong wind gusts. Need to shimmy along a rock wall obstacle on the trail.
1610H: Group stops. Evaluates that the trail we've made is NOT going to the established campgrounds. Advancing further will be difficult. Will be dark soon.
1615H: Group decides to set-up an emergency camp.

1615H to 2000H:
We were very fortunate to find a relatively flat plot of land along the trail (elevation: 1180 m). In a half-hour's time, Manongs 1 and 2 were able to clear out most of the gigantic talahib and Agnes' group had the camp stoves lit to start cooking dinner.

As the temperature is rapidly dropping at our position, Kat prepared a liter of GSM+pomelo punch for everybody to sip and keep warm.

The rest of the boys started to pitch tents.

Dinner was served at 1800H. Drinks and socials started immediately after that. Brrrr... the cold temperature (16 deg C minus chill factor) had everybody craving for alcohol.

2000H: Alcohol run-out. Val sound asleep, walang pakialam sa mundo. Rest of the guys are asking who's hoarding/hiding alcohol. Kat reveals details of her 'first love'. Ahihihi...
2015H: So far, Blos and Gel started skipping their turns to drink.
2035H: Gel goes, "Pasok na ko sa tent." Hahaha... as I was very tired from the lack of sleep, I blurted out immediately "Ako rin matutulog na." Everybody else started calling it a night. Tent distribution: 7 BMS peeps in one tent, Jayson and Leo in another tent, me and Gel in our tent.



2100H - 0630H: Restless sleep: had to wake up every half hour or so because (1) my back's starting to ache from the big rock at my side of the tent so I had to shift my sleeping position and (2) because our tentground was sloping, I kept sliding to Gel. Pag nagdikit na yung pwets namin, ops! Reset sleeping position. And as usual, I was snoring daw according to Gel. He on the other hand covered his face with a towel because he's hearing voices calling out his name. Spooky.

Feb 4

0630H: Breakfast prepared by Ron, Kat and Val. Morning rituals. Picture taking.
0830H: Break camp. Blos starts to timekeep (Guys, 4 minutes to go!) Group photo at campsite.
0850H: Start descent. Goodbye, Mt. Cristobal!
1100H: Exit Mt. Cristobal, enter Barangay Kinabuhayan.
1200H: Took a much needed bath at a river in Barangay Kinabuhayan. Water had a minty taste (suppossedly with healing powers). Felt refreshed.
1300H: Group consumes halo-halo at a local store. Start trek towards pick-up point. Travel back to Gomez store. Goodbye socials. Late lunch at Jollibee. Drive back to Tabangao.

1730H: Me and Gel back at Tabangao. Haaaypagud.

Souvenirs list: 5 scratches on my left hand, 2 scratches on my right hand, a puncture wound on my right middle finger, 1 scratch on my left cheek (c/o Valy), callus on my left big toe, a slight sprain on my left foot, several pictures, pride in completing the adventure with a fullpack, and most of all a new gang that I look forward to joining in future climbs!


Photo courtesy of Geland.


Pictures from my cam are here. Also see Gel's accounts of the climb in his blog.