Climb a mountain; Take up a sport

The cuts have healed. The throbbing headache gone as well.

The aches all over my body diminished to a mere memory; and only the strong smell of Efficascent Oil would bring back the frown on my face and the lines on my forehead.

It has been a month since I did my first MOUNTAIN CLIMB. Uploaded Facebook pictures prove such a feat was completed by yours truly. So does the T-shirt we emblazoned with #iconqueredmt.magsanga.

Yet no matter how I cringe at the thought of why oh why did I ever subjected my amazing body to such a harrowing experience, the same would bring a smile and some very funny thoughts that I and I alone hold; and the 11 other people who were with me on this climb.

I was never the experiential type. I am quite content reading about mountain-climbing and rock-climbing in the adventure novels I have read.

Yet the thought of actually doing it with the company of good friends was too irresistible to resist. So on August 24, I finally did it.

Even the great Ernest Hemingway in his “The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories” said this about mountain-climbing: “There are only three real sports: bull-fighting, car-racing, and mountain-climbing. All the others are mere games.”

So there you go, two off my bucket list – Climb a mountain. Take up a sport.

This only leaves me with – Learn to play a musical instrument; and visit a Nudist Beach.

I thank my husband for doing the climb with me. All the way to the peak of Mt. Magsanga, said to be the second highest peak in Leyte, and is more commonly known to be a part of Merida, Leyte’s landscape.

I thank my friends-cum-officemates for efficiently planning our climb to make it as safe and as enjoyable (and less traumatic, of course). Two of whom have participated in other climbs in Cebu and in other parts of the country.

They knew what-to and what-not to bring and wear. They knew how to be safe and how to enjoy mountain-climbing.

How to get to Mt. Magsanga

1.) To get to Mt. Magsanga, you first had to choose between two paths – the easy one or the difficult route. Of course we chose the former.

Remember, of the 12 people that were going to do the climb, only 2 are experienced climbers/trekkers. The majority of us would call this climb our VERY FIRST so all we really wanted was to GET TO THE TOP. No acrobatics, please!

The easiest, accordingly, was to kick-off from Barangay Putingbato, Isabel, Leyte, which was the route we took.

2.) Then, you needed to get a guide, who was not only knowledgeable of the terrain of Mt. Magsanga but should also be one who knew the locals – one who hails from Putingbato.

Since one of the climbers in our group knew the Barangay Captain of Putingbato, we were able to request for two climbing guides to come with us. Our guide was a Putingbato barangay tanod and assisting him was his son-in-law. (Sorry, I forgot their names but they were the friendliest and took very good care of us.)

3.) Finally, plan, plan, and PLAN for your climb – from what to wear to what to bring.

A. Wear a sturdy pair of climbing shoes, a long-sleeved shirt, and long pants – no maong please – that are stretchable, loose, and comfortable. For the ladies, they can wear leggings and shorts on top of the leggings.

Why the need for a long-sleeved shirt?

Because I was so confident that I only needed sun block to protect my skin from the terrible heat of the sun, I opted not to wear a long-sleeved shirt. I put on my #iconqueredmt.magsanga T-shirt instead and wore it from the very beginning of the climb to its very end, VERY, VERY CONFIDENT that I would be able to climb the mountain effortlessly.

I found out mid-way our climb that the long-sleeved shirt on our TO-WEAR LIST wasn’t for sun-protection, it was for protection against the COGON PLANTS that covered the entire mountain. 

So guess what happened?

When we were at the peak, I felt very itchy and VERY, VERY DIRTY. I got out my 70% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL from my backpack and splashed it all over my arms. I wanted to shout but couldn’t. Oh! The sting! Oh! The pain! Oh! The searing heat that only a 70% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL could bring!

I had bruises and cuts everywhere uncovered – that would be my arms and hands. And the 70% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL was killing me, not helping me at all.

So there’s your answer…

B. Place your water in a water bottle that you can place inside your backpack. In this way, your hands are free to do the climbing.

This, my husband and I learned the difficult way.

To navigate the steepest part of Mt. Magsanga meant getting down and dirty. We needed to use all four limbs and monkey-climb all the way up. This task was proving difficult for my husband who was carrying our 2-liter jug of water.

We were in a steep part of the mountain when we started arguing about why I prepared a 2-liter jug of water that wouldn’t fit inside his backpack.

So to ease the tension, we stopped and got most of my husband’s stuff out of his backpack and transfer it to my backpack, just so our 2-liter jug of water would fit inside his backpack.

So there you go, make sure your hands are free from anything when climbing.

C. Wear gloves – no not the thin ones that ballerinas wear in performances. Industrial gloves, to protect your hands from sharp objects (COGON PLANTS, urgh) that you might get in contact with while climbing.

A trekking pole is well-recommended, too, if you have one and only if you are comfortable holding a trekking pole while climbing.

D. Bring just enough food – not too little, not too much – to do away with a heavy backpack. Like in our case, we knew that we will only have lunch at the peak so we brought food just for our lunch.

Bring some chocolates and candies, too, to fuel you while your next meal is still an hour or two away. Our group had an early breakfast so the candies and chocolates helped in keeping the cravings, the hunger, and thirst at bay.

E. Other essentials that one would need for a successful climb of Mt. Magsanga would be: sun protection, flashlight, first aid kit, knife/multi-tool, and utility rope.

Beyond-essential items, meanwhile, are: camera, whistle, toilet paper/wet wipes, trowel, hand sanitizer, and trash bag.

One could also bring an extra shirt and a small towel, if your backpack isn’t still too heavy.

It pays to be prepared.

Climbing Mt. Magsanga took two hours to do from the ground to the peak. We started our ascent at 7:00 A.M. and was at the top by 9:00 A.M.

We stayed at the peak for two hours and started our descent at 11:00 A.M. It was the most physical, most painful, not to mention most DANGEROUS exercise that I ever had but Mt. Magsanga is worth it.

When we were at the top, we could see the towns of Palompon, Isabel, Merida, and the beautiful city of Ormoc. We had one of the best view – MAGNIFICENT VIEW!

I wished I had a powerful DSLR camera with me then but I don’t think I could carry the extra weight. I was already complaining the heavy load of a backpack on my back, what more a DSLR camera!

Signal was good too at the top. I discovered this when I started using my cellphone for taking some pictures. It was also then while going around that I realized how steep the mountain really was. This was further confirmed when we started our descent.

How to descend Mt. Magsanga without free-falling?

Use your ass. Well, for those who aren’t brave enough anyway like myself to stand and walk. The others in our group – the experienced ones – stood up and walked (climbed) their way down.

When we were on flat ground, we walked all the way to the Putingbato Barangay Hall, gave our guides a tip, the Barangay Captain a thank-you gift, and profusely thanked all three for accommodating us and for making our mountain-climbing experience safe, fun, and memorable.

Now I want to believe that I can still do it the second time around BUT I JUST CAN’T DO IT ANYMORE. Once is enough.

Mountain-climbing isn’t for me. Nature is, so I guess trekking will do – for now and forever.

I am glad, however, and no amount of money can ever AMOUNT to the happiness I felt – the feeling of accomplishment – when I reached the peak of MOUNT MAGSANGA.

My thoughts at the time and TODAY are – this was a feeling only a MOUNTAINEER would appreciate and empathize.

No wonder the great American rock climber CHUCK PRATT can only say: “I don’t want to write about climbing; I don’t want to talk about it; I don’t want to photograph it; I don’t want to think about it; all I want to do is DO it.”

Therefore, I encourage YOU TO DO IT, go climb a mountain, at least once in your life – at least for bucket-list purposes.

Note: We conquered Mt. Magsanga two years ago, August 24, 2014.

This is where we started our ascent. That’s my husband, Emar, still happily carrying our 2-liter jug of water.