In lieu of needless body building workout at the gym to buff up my our bodies, Casper, our UPM trained now professional mountaineer working full time, who also happens to be our lead man in my ultimate getaway as clocked by my cutesy timer, wants us to incrementally work our way doing the real thing. A planned Pico De Loro climb suddenly turned to Mt. Cristobal when we figured we would’ve been troubled looking for decent transpo. Had it been Pico De Loro in the first place, I would have definitely passed. There’s a grander celebration brewing on the day of the climb at Katips than a mini mountain which is too easy I’ve never heard of anyone camping on site.
It was Mt. Cristobal then, with two of us, (Tin and Sir Norms) only the ones actually opposing. They’ve been there last year. Sir Norms wasn’t even sure had it been Pico, and with the change to Cristobal happening a few minutes into the meeting, it was a definite No for him and there just went my hopes for my portraits on the mountain.
I remember him last year asking me for a copy of The Blair Witch Project which as they say was perfect for a mountain teeming with nasty ghost and supernatural stories.
The climb was scheduled for August 23-24, 2008. Luckily, I had no Friday night class and was able to go straight home to pack.
The day of 23, we left Cubao (40 minutes late than scheduled) and got to Chowking 830AM at San Pablo, Laguna where we had breakfast and bought lunch. A jeep was waiting for us that would take us to the jump off point. Casper had a lot of contacts in the area around the base of the mountain, and it was apparent he had actually stayed there quite long. We got a guide and we were all set!
This would also be the first where we wouldn’t be with our usual group with Marko and all the other Soluzionas. The base where we started was almost at 800M already. I had planned to plot the whole trek with a GPS unit I borrowed but my N95 Lyra ultimately let me down. It just kept losing its bluetooth connection every few minutes.
The first part was just like a walk in the park. We lazily walked for 30 minutes until we reached the last house we will ever see along our way. Last year, Sir Norms had his hand licked by a dog staying here. Got sick when he went back home and was scared that he took anti-rabies shots in a hospital…
Mt. Cristobal is supposed to be a level 2 climb in a scale of 1-3. Its twin Mt. Banahaw which complements it being the opposite Godly mountain is a little harder but is also with the level 2 range. From the house we were walking steep ridges and hills covered in trees. We got a few rests because it was tiring but it was not as hard as previous climbs with the sun literally toasting us. On our first rest we were able to have the only picture with the most of us.
Gay, Sir Jun, Liz, Casper, Liz, Sir Nap, Tin, Ana and Sir Juanch with me taking the picture.
It was like my Manalmon climb only it was about 10 times longer, cooler and more pleasant. We passed by several other teams out to take advantage of the long weekend. All along the climb we were in the clouds and everywhere it looked like this:
The wet environment was rich with blooming fauna, ferns, berries, moss and lichens. It was slippery with the mildew but our Merrells were doing their jobs holding us together in place. In some places it would get too steep where some of our girls had hard times finding their balances but most of the time we just breezed through the trail (yabang, shempre hiningal din ako sobra kakaakyat at naeenjoy ko sobra ang rest).
At one part of the trail, one has to cling on the roots and outgrowths and walk on protruded branches to get by:
I fucking love this environment all my childhood I was dreaming of literally living in the woods like those one sees in the movies. It was just saddening Sir Norms wasn’t there to readily take pictures of me whenever I asked.
With the cold atmosphere I literally only drank less than 600ML of water all the way to the camp site. We shared the crater with a group composed of 25, about 23 of which are homosexuals.
At night, we were instructed to turn off our lights and adjust our eyes to the darkness of the scene. Lo, the place was glimmering and shining everywhere! It was littered with organisms unseen to the naked eye that was glowing in the dark. I do not know how long I had to set my camera to capture such a sight!
Back at the camp site, we ate and listened to our friends who were having a mini convention on top of Cristobal. That would be what my title will be all about. All night, we were haunted, terrified, mortified by the sound of these homos who trully ruined the tranquility of the place. They were screaming, boisterous with their loud stereos, singing and dancing to their hearts’ content. Some were dancing with lights, one was even nude, just like what one sees in Gay bars, as per my mate. Our guide calmly talked to them into respecting the serene place and they were courteous enough to turn off their stereo… for just a minute. Fuck I was able to record their noise and it is unpleasant whenever I hear them again, with me having a slight homophobic case. It rained at about 3AM and it didn’t stop.
It’s hard to cook and eat in the rain. It was also harder for our girls who weren’t able to sleep well when water found its way in to their old tent. I had a lot of my stuff, even my camera and other electronic gear wet from the moisture and the rain. We let loose a few shots before I packed everything inside my bags. It was raining and all the way down I was not able to snap one single picture.
The guides and local townfolks believed it was the mountain punishing the homosexuals that sent in the rain. For us, it was a blessing in a way. I’ve never enjoyed trekking down a mountain. It was cold, refreshing and I never felt thirsty.
We got back to the base, ate lunch, bathed ourselves and were back to Manila. I remember I wanted to be proven wrong that ghosts do not exist but was let down. This was the closest I could have been to an encounter. Still, unforgettable? Yes, again trully. If only it didn’t hurt that much on the pockets:
Bus fare to San Pablo – P140.00
Jeep to Sta Lucia/Jump off – 80.00
Contri for Sunday Lunch- 100.00
Jeep/Guide/Ligo – 200.00
Contri for Dinner and Bfast – 145.00
Bus fare to Cubao – 140.00
Saturday Bfast and Lunch – 200.00
Total*** P1,005.00
This is aside from all the stuff I bought for myself. If this is the new trend for a cheap climb, I’d be hard-pressed to go on our next climb scheduled September 21.
