Pico de Loro

12 brave young individuals tried their luck in Pico de Loro and succeeded in counquering it!

We met at Mc Donald's Baclaran at 6am and left at around 7:30am riding a chartered jeepney.

We arrived at the DENR station a little past 9am. We registered and paid 20php each and immediately went to the jump off point. Our friend Rudy was our guide since it was his third time already.

After some preparations in the jump off we started the trek before 10am. The first part of the trail was like a walk in the park. We arrived at the first crossroad after a few minutes. The path going to the right was wide and more inviting than the other that was barricaded by a big log. The log was intimidating you will not know it's the right way unless you know how to read signs. Rudy told us that many mountaineers get confused in this crossroad.

The path was muddy because it rained the night before our trek. I slipped [but did not fall] several times. Paul got me a walking stick that helped me a lot.

We arrived at base camp 1 few minutes before 11am. According to blogsites it was the lt water source so we filled our containers. Fortunately, because of the rain the night before, there was a water source at the campsite.

After a few minutes of rest we pushed to the water falls and had our lunch there. It was a delight eating in front of the falls. I mean literally in front of it. :)

The trail changed as we went up. It became rocky and more challenging. I remebered our Makulot experience a month before because the trail was almost the same.

We spent a few hours climbing rocks and rocks and rocks. Until we reached the campsite before 4pm.

The campsite was not what I was expecting. It was actually better. The bamboo grasses made it special covering the whole campsite. It was shaddy and wind will not be a problem.

We immediately pitched our tentsnso that we can push for the summit. But shortly after pitching our tents the rain poured and we were forced to stay inside. We just reserved the summit and the monolith for the next day and prayed for a better weather.

To ease our uncomfortable situation due to the rain, we cooked my favorite noodles. I was happy they liked my Korean noodles.

We started our socials while eating dinner. Nine of us went inside a tent while the other 3 stayed outside. Actually our positions were uncomfortable but we endured it for the sake of knowing each other more. From this socials, i found out that vodka is spicy, Mega sardine's other name is Master sardines, Garry's other name is Jerry, Lhai's other name is Lei, Rudy has a farm full of tamarind and Jimmy cannot open a pack of nuts. (hahahahahahahah!)

We woke up early the following day and headed to the summit. We want to be the first group to reach the summit because we didn't like our pictures to be spoiled by intruders.

The trek to the summit was another 15-minute assault. The first part was rocky while the second part was grassy.

The view from the summit was outstanding. We were surrounded with greens and blues. I really appreciate God's marvelous creations! My personal favorite was the dinosaur-shaped island.

From the summit you can see Mt. tarak in Bataan and the famous tadpole-shapped Corregidor island.

The summit was good enough for me, but climbing the monolith was different. The trail going to the monolith was steep and requires courage and clear mindset. At times we needed to crawl just to get through it.

Rudy discouraged us to climb the rock and told us to be contented with pictures taken below. We took our photos acting as if we were climbing. I really tried climbing it on my own but i needed someone to push me up. It was really hard.

Jimmy tried to climb the rock and was able to. To my horror, Jenny wanted to try it also. Then Lhai followed. And so everybody went up except Rudy.

I literally screamed once I reach the top. It was like conquering my fear of heights. It was a succesful climb indeed!

On our way down, I saw how little my space to death was. My knees began to tremble. I felt awful while going down until we reached the campsite. I will never do that again!

Thank God we were safe until we reached the jump off point. I really can't imagine how I will react if something happened to any one of us. I really felt relieved.