July 23, 2005, Saturday. We left Cebu for Mantalongon to climb Osmena Peak and trek to Kawasan Falls the next day. It's really a tiresome job climbing the mountains and hills to reach the peak. In the end, it pays to reach there. Indeed the climb gets harder when the peak gets nearer, as I've learned in my wall climbing session. What matters really is not reaching the peak but the obstacles surpassed to reach the peak. That's really amazing and I'm glad I've reached that far. Tiresome. But it's worth it.
We cooked our meals, made tents, chatted and climbed a lot. We slept over a little below the peak. Twas so cold there that my double long pants and my triple upper garment didn't work as I expected. My back was aching with a little stones on my back. Made me realize I am so blessed to have a bed at home unlike those unfortunate ones.
Really, when you experienced having less or not having at all after really having it, you realize how blessed you are for having things you have never really appreciated. Now, it came to me that I must appreciate my bed and the roof and walls in my room for providing me enough warmth and comfort especially at night. The same is true for every thing or person you might have taken for granted because they've always been there. You realize their importance when you lose sight of them. No kidding here. Good enough that I still have my bed to sleep when I came back, unlike those who realize a thing's or person's importance just when they lose them. Too late baby. It's too late.
Let's get back to my climbing experience. The walk was really long, maybe about 3 hours. We were following trails of the previous climbers and sometimes, we created our own trails when we want to walk a different path. Sometimes, we succeed, sometimes, we got back to the original trails.
There were 13 of us climbing the mountain. I only know two of them before the event. But they all became my friends as we go along the way.
The toughest job, I've done so far now, is trekking to Kawasan Falls for 6.5 long hours. Yes, 6.5 hours. That's really tough. Consider the wet trails and so steep ones and the distance too. Oh! It really pains my feet, legs and back. Imagine that. Only walking along trails along steep mountains. That's the most amazing thing I have ever done.
But upon hearing the falling of waters, I suddenly forgot about all the pains in my body. We rested awhile then dip ourselves to the cool waters of Kawasan Falls. Explore the water source. Dive. Sail. Picture-take. Walk. Eat. Chat. Laugh. These are the essential part of it all.
We cooked our meals, made tents, chatted and climbed a lot. We slept over a little below the peak. Twas so cold there that my double long pants and my triple upper garment didn't work as I expected. My back was aching with a little stones on my back. Made me realize I am so blessed to have a bed at home unlike those unfortunate ones.
Really, when you experienced having less or not having at all after really having it, you realize how blessed you are for having things you have never really appreciated. Now, it came to me that I must appreciate my bed and the roof and walls in my room for providing me enough warmth and comfort especially at night. The same is true for every thing or person you might have taken for granted because they've always been there. You realize their importance when you lose sight of them. No kidding here. Good enough that I still have my bed to sleep when I came back, unlike those who realize a thing's or person's importance just when they lose them. Too late baby. It's too late.
Let's get back to my climbing experience. The walk was really long, maybe about 3 hours. We were following trails of the previous climbers and sometimes, we created our own trails when we want to walk a different path. Sometimes, we succeed, sometimes, we got back to the original trails.
There were 13 of us climbing the mountain. I only know two of them before the event. But they all became my friends as we go along the way.
The toughest job, I've done so far now, is trekking to Kawasan Falls for 6.5 long hours. Yes, 6.5 hours. That's really tough. Consider the wet trails and so steep ones and the distance too. Oh! It really pains my feet, legs and back. Imagine that. Only walking along trails along steep mountains. That's the most amazing thing I have ever done.
But upon hearing the falling of waters, I suddenly forgot about all the pains in my body. We rested awhile then dip ourselves to the cool waters of Kawasan Falls. Explore the water source. Dive. Sail. Picture-take. Walk. Eat. Chat. Laugh. These are the essential part of it all.
4 comments:
wow, sugoi. bohol man gyud ang t-shirt.
sugoi desu ka?shatsu ha bohol kedo tokoro ha bohol ja nai desu yo!
ano na? :-D
i've been to osmena peak several times, even after the "tulis" incident summer of 2007, but your reflection on the experience is something really new to me.
perhaps because of there were many of you in the group, you had to pitch your tent on a rocky surface. there's space in the camp site without stones, but enough only for a few tents.
wall climbing might strengthen some muscles and improve balance, but it does not help much when trekking and camping in the outdoors. i also had my share of sleepless nights because of the cold when i started as a mountaineer. over the years i have learned to enjoy it. you should have brought along a real jacket and a sleeping bag. it would help you with both the cold and the hard surface.
last thing. i wonder why it took you 3 hours to reach the peak hiking. even if one starts walking from mantalungon market all the way to osmena peak it would take only an hour, ok perhaps at the most 2 hours. 3 hours would be too much. i just hope dipping in kawasan made the experience worthwhile.
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