Climb Blog #2: Maculot Clean Up Climb.

It has been six months since I had my last climb in Mt Manabu.
I was excited for this climb schedule- because I felt the need to be on top feel the breeze and breathe the air of the mountain.
The objective of the climb is to clean up the campsite- and since most of us cannot squeezed a two-day climb- we opted to do a night trek so we can go home Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, before the day of the climb my daughter got sick- she had fever...I have to take a leave at work last Friday to make sure she's fine....I almost cancel my participation in our climb....whew!
Good thing friday afternoon my daughter's temperature became stable.
Whew! All throughout the day, I was a little paranoid about possible viral infection.
Who wouldn't- the A(H1N1) virus is really sending so much scare among parents- the news about schools suspending classes adds up to the paranoia.
So before I leave the house for the night trek, I took effort to call my husband and confirm if it is really OK to proceed. Well, I am so lucky to have a husband who always understand my need, who never interfere with my hobbies. Of course, he can always managed even when I'm not around hehehe.


The much anticipated climb after six months....leaves me so much pain in my quad.
I have a very bad feeling that I do a lousy trek. Hmmmm
The first 30 minutes of our climb was grueling.... my headlamp is so heavy that I envy the black diamond headlamp of one of our friend.
I felt like am losing my breathe...wow was it ages since my last climb?
Actually, I had very low mileage even on my runs.
We were all complaining. But nevertheless, we reached the campsite within 2 hours- the alloted trek time. Wow! I was amazed.

Of course most of my climb buddies -we see each other and have a real "bonding" monments during climb. So we had about an hour of socials- then were down to the tents for our much needed sleep.

Wake up call is 6AM- we had a hearty breakfast. After the breakfast we headed to the rockies. Yah! I dreaded the rockies- in fact during my last climb in Mt Maculot- a traverse dayhike, I forego the rockies- because of my fear of heights. I have the impression that the way to the rockies is like the rocky ridge to the Beak of Mt Pico de Loro.....my panic attacked and a fever- I forego the rockies.
This time, my friends ensure that I climb the rockies. Hahahaha
Honestly, I feel jittery at the thought...but no more chills- I was asking myself....maybe this is the time!
So even if I had removed my socks several times- nyahahaha they say delaying tactics they patiently waited. Actually, I feel like the ants were after my feet.



So even with the repetitive checks on my shoes, undoing my socks etc....they waited for me- and they were all looking at how much I was delaying the trek to rockies.
Wow! I was so thankful that my friends- pushed me.
I was so wrong about the rockies- it was manageable and better than the ridges to the Beak. I enjoyed the sight...the island of Taal volcano, the nearby shore of Nasugbu...it was worth it. I wish I had a wide angle camera to capture the images that I see....I have to be contented with my K610i camera phone...some of the shots.






After the climb we collected 2 sacks of plastic trash.
This is good news- the previous clean up climb took them 12 sacks of plastic trash.
I realized that the mountaineering community is very good in advocating LNT.
The locales were also advocating cleanliness....we were advised that the halo-halo station will ceased operation in the campsite- that is to prevent proliferating plastic in the area.
Actually, we have collected as much disposable cups- and I suspect that it came from the halo halo store.

The clean up climb is good for my soul....I didn't even noticed the descent because I was busy looking around for plastic dirt like candy wrappers, plastic wrappers etc.