One of the things I learned in climbing mountains is that reaching your goal will never be easy. You need to endure all the pain and learn to motivate yourself and push it into the limit. Mt. Manalmon reminded me this virtue. After more than 2 years since my last hiking trip (Sedona, AZ), I get to experience thrill and adventure again, but this time it's here in the Philippines.
It was my first time hiking in tropical mountain. I didn't know what to expect. I was a bit anxious but I think its normal. The entire trek should only take 2 hours according to the other reviews, but it took us more or less 6 hours! It was because we were taking photos a lot, breaks, and it was very muddy too .Though, the main reason why it took us that long was because of the unexpected heavy rain fall. Also, we were split into two groups and had to wait for them when we were half-way back to the base camp. It's good thing that we found a small house to take cover from the heavy rainfall and while waiting for the other group.
After more than an hour, they finally arrived. They took a short break, then we continued our trek back. It was still raining a bit but we had to go before it start raining heavy again. After 15 mins walk, we reached the part where we have to cross a river. The problem was, the current was too strong. We can't cross, so our local guide decided to take a different route (I forgot to tell that we have a local guide with us ). Another good 15 min walk and we reached the other trail, but our guide said that we can't cross either. So, we're stuck! I think it was about 3pm already and its gonna get dark soon that's our worry. Again, we went back to the river where we're supposed to cross. When we arrived, the current of the river weaken a little bit but it was still raging. We waited for another 30 mins hoping that it will weaken more. Thirty minutes passed, the current weaken a bit more but still strong. Our guide decided that we can cross, so we did. We crossed on person at a time with the help of 3 guides and a vine that they tied in both ends. We were 14 in the group in total, and I was second to the last who crossed. I was very close to the other end when my left foot got tripped by some kind of vine that probably washed by the current. But thank goodness that I managed to stay in balance. I already experienced many dangerous situation before but It was definitely one of dangerous thing I ever did. There's no doubt that current was still strong, and one wrong move it can sweep you away to your death.
We continued our trek down to the base camp. It was very challenging because the trail is more muddy and the rocks are more slippery because of the rain, so we proceeded in caution.
After about 30 mins from the river crossing, we finally reached the base camp. We were so relieved!
This hike was definitely worth it despite of the danger, though for beginners I wouldn't recommend going there in rainy season.
Thank you for dropping by! Thank you!
Please support @SURPASSINGGOOGLE as a witness by voting him at https://steemit.com/~witnesses and type in "steemgigs" at the first search box.
