I was thinking twice as to whether I should write another blog post about Pico De Loro since I've already done one. I didn't even took a lot of photos during the hike because I didn't had the mind to create a post out of it. After days of staring at my Instagram posts of our trip to Pico De Loro, I gave in and decided to blog. The writer in me won.
A friend from work knew I liked hiking so she invited me. For the travel, they hired a van. It sure was a lot more easier than a commute. We arrived around 8 in the morning at the DENR station. There were lots of hikers that day. Not surprising since it was a Sunday. What surprised me was how big our own group was. We were twenty eight people in our group! I have never been in a group this big before.
We registered and paid the 25-peso fee. After a bit of introduction and some stretching, we began the climb.The trail was an unfamiliar one. The old trail where we passed through last year was now private property. A new trail was made and to be honest, I loved that new trail. The old trail, as stated in my old post, was teeming with a bajillion rocks and roots. If the old trail was a person, it would be the kind that wanted to hurt us so badly because we tried climbing their mountain. My experience on the new trail is so much lovelier. The new trail seemed more friendly and accommodating, welcoming us and assisting us with each step. Actually, what made me so pleased with the new trail was the mud. It had a clay-like consistency to it that prevents you from slipping. My sad excuse of a footwear had a grip like never before. How I wish the trail of any mountain was always like this.
We began the hike at 8:30 in the morning and found ourselves at the campsite two hours later. The place was swarming with "guides". I do not remember the camp site being like this the last time. These guides will help you with the hike to and from the summit and the monolith for a price of php50 per head. You'll still have to pay even if you opt to not climb the monolith. My companions found out about it when we got back to the camp site and were peeved because the guides did not mention this beforehand. Hiring the guides are not mandatory but prepare your ears for stories of people who didn't hire guides who ended up getting bloody and injured.
The climb to the summit was significantly more manageable that my last climb. I would have been able to do it even without the guides' help. There are more rocks than loose soil, which means more things to hold on to. We didn't stay long at the summit. We left our backpacks with some of our companions and went down to begin the climb to the monolith.
How on earth was my brother able to climb that monolith without the help of guides during our first hike? The part where you needed to rappel were so darn narrow. Imagine a staircase made out of flat pointy rocks slapped together at the edge of the wall by a person who might have had twenty-three bottles of beer for breakfast. I cannot imagine for the life of me how the "casual" kind of hikers could have managed this on their own. How?! Anyway, after much scrambling through that steep and narrow stairs with the help of our guides, we were able to climb up to the top.
I took as many photospheres and panorama shots as I could. And when I had my fill, I took in everything I saw. I looked at it with a clarity that I did not possess back then (I used to wear glasses). I could see the ups and downs of the ridges from afar. I could see curves of the asphalt roads where the cars passed through. I could see the edges where the land and the water met. By the time it was my turn to rappel down through that wretched stairway, I felt as if I have seen half of the world.
As for the pride of being able to "conquer" the monolith, I didn't feel it. Me being able to get up to the top was mostly because of the guides. I would have had a sense of pride if I did it on my own but, alas, it seems I have yet to be capable enough.
The rappel down was anguish. The guides were telling me where to put my foot or my hand at and when I couldn't do it, they started shouting to just trust them and do it. I sort of wanted to kick them in the shin real good and tell them that I couldn't do what they were telling me to do because I didn't have a good grip on the rope because of my gloves. In my mind, that would've shut them up.
An hour or so later, we were back at the summit. And minutes later, we were back at the camp site. The descent was so much easier than I expected. A couple of people and I were at the DENR station at 4:30PM. My head was hurting though because we went straight for it without any breaks. Our sweat was trickling down our faces and we didn't stop for a water break except once or twice at the beginning of the descent.
Overall, I loved this hike. This is one of my personal favourites. One, because of the good weather and the good trail condition. Two, because this is my first hike since my Lasik surgery. Pico de Loro, You have given me one great experience.
As for the pride of being able to "conquer" the monolith, I didn't feel it. Me being able to get up to the top was mostly because of the guides. I would have had a sense of pride if I did it on my own but, alas, it seems I have yet to be capable enough.
