THE CLIMB (The Mt. Sembrano Adventure Photo Blog)

"Ain't about how fast I get there, ain't about what's waiting on the other side... 

It's the CLIMB..."

The Passion

Outdoor adventures had already been my interest since I was young. When you're a girl who spent half of your growing years in a place around 100 miles away from the city, surrounded by mountains and hills (Chocolate Hills to be exact), you can't really help but appreciate nature and the wonderful adventures it can offer. When almost all people my age are fascinated with beach hoping, clubbing and spending long hours shopping, I am more interested in mountain climbing, hiking and caving. Being a Girl Scout since eight probably contributed much to that interest. My mom, who is a Girl Scout Leader and Coordinator thought me at a young age on how to make fire from a bamboo stick and make an improvised oven by digging a hole in the ground. She was also my first harness mentor. I didn't mind getting bruises and skin burns. For me, an adventure is never complete without a couple of minor scratches.

Mt. Sembrano 

Mt. Sembrano is a famous hiking destination sitting at the helm of Jalajala Peninsula near Laguna Lake in a way that the lake surrounds the mountain in three sides. It used to be a haven of NPA insurgents, but in the past few years, it's one of the most famous destination of mountaineers from the Manila area. The summit is 745 m above sea level. 

The Climbers' Trail

When I started working more than a year ago, the adventures ceased. But after 20 months after my last climb, an opportunity for another adventure knocked. My boyfriend's bro will be climbing with his peers and Jhabar and I will take an adventure together for the first time. I, Jhabar (my boyfriend), Daddy Eddie (his dad), Kuya Jet (his older bro), Jan-jan (his cousin's hubby) and six other guys headed to Pilillia, Rizal one cold Saturday night.

Kuya Jet, Janjan, Jhabar, Poi and the others..

Kuya Jet inside his tent upon arrival to the camp.

Kuya Jonel and her girlfriend (both professional mountaineers)

Jhabar and I

I (muse?), Poi, Mark, Kenneth, Janjan

Daddy Eddie with the rest of the guys in a tree house at the second jump off on our way home

The Climb

January 22, 2011 marked another unforgettable adventure. We decided to climb at night to avoid the scorching heat of the sun. When we reached the jump off, it was raining a bit, but there's no turning back anymore. We decided to start hiking at around 11:30 pm. The trail was slippery. At the first few meters of the climb, I almost fainted due to oxygen loss. It had been a while since the last time I hiked (not to mention that I never jogged or worked out all those times). But after a few minutes of rest, we decided to move forward. Jhabar too, had a hard time. It was his first time ever to climb a mountain and although he had been working out, his muscles is not accustomed to such a pressure. Daddy Eddie at 60 years old climbing with young people never said a thing (but after reaching the camp, he said he almost gave up but he never did). The rest of the group are constant climbers, so it was easy for them to climb a Level 2 Moderate climbing destination. The others never complained, so I decided to shut up no matter how painful my feet are. I don't want to be a pain in the ass mentioning that I am the only girl in the group.

After two hours of "rest-walk-rest", we finally reached the first stop-over, Manggahan Camp. It was almost 2am (Sunday). At the camp, a  family of climbers were waiting for us, Kuya Jonel (Janjan's cousin) who is a professorial climber (he had already climbed the most famous mountains in Asia and personally know those legendary Filipinos who first climb Mt. Everest) is camping with us together with his girlfriend (at least I'm no longer the only girl in the group now) and his 10 year-old son. They are warming up for a Mt. Apo climb the following week.  We set up our tents, had an hour of talk and decided to rest for the day ahead.

The following morning, we were supposed to climb the summit ( a 30mins climb from the camp) but decided not to do so anymore for nobody will be left to watch over our things. We just spent the next 2 days laughing at the camp and chilling at the Manggahan Falls nearby. We just watched a couple of groups climbing the summit.

Chef Cook Lee (Janjan) :)

The View
Making use of his self-taught photography skills, Jhabar took time to take as many pictures as possible (unfortunately, we don't have much photos together since only the two of us knows how to use the DSLR focus, and auto focusing sucks!). The place is great and he is so stunned not to mention that it was the first time he encountered such a view of nature (because he is a city guy).

The two nights and two days we spent 500 m above sea level had been nothing but great. It felt great to finally unwind after months of city-life stress. After lunch on January 24 (Monday), we went down bringing home a hope for another adventure.

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More photos at http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=1071362528