Extreme weekend at Mt. Cristobal (Reverse-Traverse)

"Take Nothing But Picture,

Leave Nothing But Foot prints

Kill Nothing but Time"

                                                          - Anonymous    

i was invited by one of my friend to join their 2days trek adventure at Mt. Cristobal "The Devils Mountain" at Quezon, on the 20th day of October this year. he invited me because of 2 possible things 1) kita niyang eager akong umakyat 2) nakulitan siya sakin sa lage kong kakasabe sakanya na "isama mo nman ako sa next climb nyo!!"

Mt.Cristobal is my first climb. napakataas ng excitement ko sa hike na toh :)
without knowing it is one of hardest mountain southern luzon has to offer at par with 
Mt. Banahaw or even harder.

1week before the planned date, their group together with me undergo into a training; with the usual stretching, jogging, push up's etc; i under estimate what we did that day-- never thought my body/muscles would hurt that much.. ! haha

but, i didn't Mind the sore muscle pain after the training. i want to be prepared than sorry :P

after 1 week of waiting finally the day came;

October 20,2012, 2am
Meeting place was at the Jac Liner Bus station at Kamias, Quezon City.

i was 2nd to arrived at the meeting place at exactly 1:40am haha im not that so excited though!! :D

while waiting for the others to arrive.. i have this lots of thoughts about mt.cristobal.. 

• what if the myths about this mystical mountain are true ?
• what if the called Big Foot "Tumao" appeared?
• what if we encounter the said  playful child spirits who tricks and steals from the campers; and a spirit of an old person that hitches on hiker's backpacks?

Despite these creepy stories that have been told about these unexplained, and i believed are not proven yet, Mt. Cristobal is one of the mountains that i wished to climb not just because of its lush nature and proximity from the metro but also because of the challenge it has for thrill seeking junkies.

My curiosity overruled the fear brought by stories of mysterious disappearances and unwanted  apparition on its trail.

From manila (3;00am) we traveled to San pablo city, Laguna via a Lucena-bound bus (108php/head).
5:25am, we travel another Jeepney ride (22php) from San pablo City to Brgy. Tala, Rizal San pablo,  Laguna.
 an Estimate of  2 1/2 hrs travel time from Manila to the Jump off.
6:00am, the jeepney dropped us off in front of  Rizal Elementary School  ( jump off from Brgy. Tala trail)

Its me and Jenice

Every one busy managing their packs right after the jeepney dropped us.

Excitement and Curiosity was with everyone.
at around 6:30am we started the trek along the concrete road. the weather agreed to us. 
 it was a cool, sunny morning.

Manong, Local from Rizal, San Pablo Laguna-  Horse is thier main transportation up to the mountain to fetch water.

Kids Playing along the street as early as 7am :P

As we start our Trek, we passed by several Locals and residences

there are locals greeting us "Goodmorning w/a smile".

Minutes have passed we've reached the two way road, we stopped for a while and do some stretching.

Mingi for the pose! :D Cl!ck !

after 5mins warm up, we continue our journey.

the actual trek started at 7:20 am. the first phase of the trek marked by the continuous slope of the wide way wide way cemented plus the suddenly heat from the sun and the thin cold air  welcoming us serve as a strength-consuming warm up for us.

Mt. Cristobal were coming!!

 "It's not about the large Heavy Back Packs, it's about how we carry ourselves to the summit"

Take 5, it's tough you know!

All in all- the Group; in Left., The Team Leader Lester. ,Sev, Tina, Lucky, Jenice, Darlyn, Rey, Arce, Me, Joey, cant name the others :P i cat recognize the faces , sorry 

 This was the cemented path that dared me and my friends on how long 
knees will be strong enough to made us continue walking. after the upwards motion, this time however the motion was downwards and the effort is to stop our whole body weight- or else you might fall rolling down the cemented trail.

it's just feel so terrible and unmerciful to our knees.

right after we reach the first end of the cemented trail, there's an available hut for the climbers to stay for a while and have rest. 

we stop for a while have our pack breakfast be eaten and rest.

Our Nature's Friendly Neighborhood :) Mareng Langgam.

enough for the rest, time to move!!

We Descended to our way.. after the Cemented path, Gradual slightly rocky floor welcomed us. a minutes away, we saw the "Borger Store" *i forgot whats the real name hahaha 

Cold Drinks for dehydrated body!!!! 

It's been a short but a good break. Every one had their cold drinks for refreshment.

Bodies re-hydrated. Strength was revive.  Group continue the trek on the second phase. 

at this time we will be heading to Tayak Hill. 

 It's already 9:am we need to hurry !!!

The Tayak Hill 

 Trees serves as canopy protecting climbers against direct heat from the sun.
 The Cool Strong October wind was definitely a great helped for our breathing.

 After few photo ops at Tayak Hill, we headed our trail ..
 we passed by the  "Cogon Grassland." (Talahiban) which is Taller than me!!
 i haven't taken any photo's but i have this video clip; :P Kindly turn your head left downward :D

    *Need to wear long sleeves or warmer to protect your arm from brushes brought by the
   Tall Large weeds with razor sharp edges and insects bite. 

Loving nature more...

 When we reached Mt. Cristobal's Feet.. the trail undeniably required more use of energy- patience and eagerness. At this point i talk to my self. "there you go alec! heres the  adventure your wishing for!" every 30 mins of walking we consume 5 mins for a break,

"KEEP WALKING..."

 12noon- hungriness attacked. we took some trail foods for lunch, for we are still in the middle of nowhere and not advisable to cook by that time, because we were rushing to get by in the summit before 5pm. 


 as for my self; while i am taking the trail i always thank god for putting those great trees.  their branches and roots were there for support. the trail was continuous assault through the rain forest.

though there is an area in which the whole place is surrounded by thorny trees, palms and vines; branches of thorns stick out of the trail.

BEWARE!  Branches covered with thorn

woodlands with sampinit (wild berries) are growing, latmon trees, bearing edible fruits also grow here.

i don't mind crawling on the soil w/o gloves and climbing huge slippery rocks. 
Scrambling skills are crucial because you'd have to hang onto the big rocks for your dear life, and avoid falling off the cliff .
For me this is the only thing that can make the place metaphorically "DEVILISH" 
It will test one’s patience and endurance, but like almost every other mountain, you will surely find yourself proudly smiling at the summit.

Rain is about to come when we reached jone's peak. 
Rain drops started pouring until everyone had safely crossed that difficult portion.
and then the summit. 

sadly i wasn't able to take some photo's but knowing i;ve reached the summit safe and alive-
is really a great fulfillment :D

It was already 3:00pm in the afternoon when The Group reached the Campsite.
everybody setup their tent and started cooking for dinner.

In spite of the rain and chilling temperature we still manage to have socials.

Adrian for his Memorable Shot! :D right?

Were happy and cold!! :D

in the middle of 3:00am the rain poured harder, our tents are flooded with water and mud.. we took our breakfast shivering and wet! 
we can't manage to trek early because of the fog and rain. trail would be dangerous for us. so we have waited till 8am before taking the trail down to the mountain.

Exotic Flora, Giant Trees with mossy branches, Wild ferns and orchids, cold breeze and fog- Those were the treats we have received when we reached the Mt. Cristobal's Summit.

The Gang! we are chilling right at this very moment! hahaha happy and proud!

at 8:00am we took the Dolores trail down to the mountain. 

Mareng Sunshine showed up again :)

on left; Joey Balderas, he's the one who invited me to join, and then me :) i looked so exhausted.. hahaha but im happy! i am!! :D

(Upper left to bottom right: Justin, Daryll, Sasuke, Mac and you know who you are :P )

late lunch but its okay :D 

I'm Alec, i'm a proud one..  i came with these people with trust of friendship.

with them I've learned to appreciate more and love our dearest Mother Nature.

I Don't care if i'm in sweat, if i doesn't wore any make up, if i looked exhausted

All i care, is From now own i will not be the reason for my dear nature's destruction.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

(Lower Left: Joshua, Joan, Jenice, Lucky, Christina, Arce, Arcangel, Darlyn, Justin, Daryll, aurelle, Mingi, Mark, Chua. Upper Right: Sir tonio, Mac, Lezter, Joey, Me, Maam Joy, Sir Remz, Babit, Joel, Dan, Maam Mumay, MJ, Sev, Sir Ipe. ) Photographer: Adrian 

:D to those i did not mentioned my apology guys!! :D i forgot the names >.<

Back to reality!! Time to go home !! :D