Thursday, September 18, 2014

It’s been a while since the last time I put my thoughts into writing. Three months passes without outdoor adventure, because my dear mother is diagnosed with 1B2 Cervix Cancer, and now that she is ok and fast recovering lakwatserong mamoy is back on track.  Yahoooo! For a start my fiancée  invited me to join the 2nd MMF Region XII Climb and Presidents Meeting held at Sanchez Peak Balakayo Mountains which has been organized by Ma’am Sherlyn Diaz Reyes together with MMF Mindanao Mountaineering Federation. The event theme is “Environmental Preservation, Forest Restoration and Wellness towards Health and Education”.



The past months that left me stock-still, resulted to gain more weight and no exercise, so there are big question that running on my mind can I still do it? Fearing of possible leg cramps and become burden to my group.  Sanchez Peak is known for its beautiful landscape and friendly trail, even the first timer can make it to the peak safely just don’t take too lightly because still it can make you catch your breath due to long hours of assault.

Day 1 Registration:

Now the day for registration finally arrived, the sun is high and it was a good weather to start an adventure. Participants from different places of Mindanao gathered at the front of General Santos City hall. There I saw some of my colleagues from previous climb; that nostalgic emotion, seeing mountaineers carrying large bag with heavy luggage, the fun of exchanging jokes and teasing one another. Oh! I really can’t wait to start the hike, feels like a decade since the last time I went for an adventure.  It was already 3:00pm that’s about two hours delay on our itinerary when we depart from General Santos City Hall due to the delay of transportation. The good thing is even with that transportation mishap; still everyone maintains the good mood and still fired up to hike the renowned place in General Santos City.







My event ID together with my fiancé, this will be my first time to climb with my langga. ^_^ a wonderful come back climb for me. 





At last! We arrived at Baranggay Balakayo our starting point, it is already 4:00pm and the weather change from sunny to cloudy with mild rain shower. One of the highlight in the activity is the feeding program, involving children’s from the Baranggay who gathered together to take part in the said activity.



After the feeding program, we started our trek from Baranggay Balakayo all the way to the peak. The atmosphere was cold, and we need to wear our rain coats because of the rain shower. On our way, we encountered another problem as we assault, here comes a muddy trail which makes it more difficult to walk, the pacing becomes slow that took us more time before reaching the peak.





It’s already 6:00pm; the breeze of the cold wind can be felt touching our skin giving signal to our body that makes us shiver up to our bones. I really miss this kind of feeling and excitement. As we are closing to the peak, fogs are slowly covering the place, which made us decide to change our pace so that we can make it to the peak before it gets dark.



Hurray! Finally after two long hours of trekking under the cold rain, we reach the peak safely. We are welcomed by the Martials assigned to check every participant who arrived at the peak.  I and my partner May Li took rest for a couple of minutes to catch our breath before fixing our tent. After all set and done, we cook “tinolang manok” for dinner this serve as our trophy after completing the exhausting trek. Burp! It was indeed a nice prize, eating a hot meal with soup on a cold evening.




On the next day of the event, everybody woke up early to prepare the breakfast. Making sure that our stomach is full, because that’s going to be a long day, for there are several activities on the list. One of this is tree planting; MMF Mindanao Mountaineering Federation has its advocacy to preserve our environment and to restore the forest. This will ensure that the next generation will still have a green mountain to climb, and fresh air to breath. I really admire those mountaineering people for their dedication on saving our mother earth.





Next in line is the zip line adventure, I and my fiancé did not join the activity because we already experienced the thrill and the adrenaline pumping feeling of the ride.

We spent our evening at Lagare Resort for the mountaineer social night. Wew! I almost could not take all the activities it was awesome! The event was held successfully, though in any event we can’t avoid minor problems but I’m glad it has been resolved effectively. Kudos! To all organizer and participants nice meeting you guys, and as they say “SEE YOU ON TRAIL” till next time guys! God bless us all.

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