2nd MMF Region XII Climb and Presidents Meeting

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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Sanchez Peak National Clean Up Day 2014

People climb mountains for sports, hobby and recreation. Because climbing a mountain gives us the feeling of freedom and accomplishment to ourselves every time we get through the obstacles and hurdles before reaching the summit. But despite of the delight and happiness that Mother Nature gave us, some irresponsible mountaineers leave their garbage causing bad effects to the environment. Thanks for the initiative lead by “Pinoy Mountaineer” Gideon Lasco, he initiated the National Mountain Clean-up Day (NMCD) held last May 10, 2014.  It aims to promote awareness on the importance of maintaining cleanliness in Philippine mountains.

In line with the said event, the local mountaineers group in General Santos City also organized a climb for a cause to clean Sanchez Peak / Mt. Balakayo, which is known to be the highest peak in place. The event themed “Let us show the country how important it is to have clean mountains for our future” it was organized and lead by Joseph Sanchez and the First Five Trekkers.    

Participants for NMCD fills up a registration form during the first day of the event.

A short briefing is conducted by Mrs. Teresa Naranjo Garay CENRO Officer; she gave us the details about the goal and importance of the said event. The briefing also includes the presentation of climb marshals and other officers to whom they can call for assistance in case of emergency.

After the briefing and orientation we then traveled to Barangay Olympog our starting point.

Some garbage we saw along the trail.

Every single piece of garbage has no escape; we search the trails all the way to the top.

It’s already 5pm when we reach the peak; we then fixed our tents and prepares food for dinner and socials with fellow mountaineers.

Lakwatserongmamoy holding the National Mountain Clean-up day event t-shirt.

Hope these wonderful views of our mountains will be preserved up to the next generation. Let us unite in promoting responsible mountaineering and follow the leave no trace principle. With this not only us but even our grand children’s will enjoy the gift of our mother nature.

We would like to thanks the following young fellow who organize and played a major role in event. Once again you guys prove that mountaineering is not just having a good and branded gears, it is the heart, passion and advocacy in preserving the nature. Kudos! And congratulations for the job well done. Edward Biboy Angelo Phyll Joseph Kelvin and Tintin.

Event Itinerary :

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Christmas Day Celebration At Sanchez Peak

Preparing for Mt. Matutum climb, we stretch our legs and test our endurance at Sanchez Peak the General Santos City highest peak. The trail is not hard as you think; one can say it’s a beginner trail but a good start for those who want to try mountain climbing.  Sanchez peak is not far from the City of General Santos City. 

We hired a motorcycle (habal-habal) that charge us Php 50.00 per head going to Balsinang where we start our trek.

Balsinang Trek.

It took us almost two hours to arrive at the peak. We set up our tent and stayed overnight, it was an awesome view to see the whole area of General Santos City at night. Too bad for us we didn’t bring a nice camera with us to capture a good shot.

The owner of the land collects Php 20.00 for the entrance fee.

Mt. Matutum can also be seen from the Sanchez peak but luck is not on our favor, a vast cloud is blocking the view of the mountain.

Sanchez peak view at sunrise.

On our way back to General Santos City, we traverse to balakayo.

Beautiful Mountain ranges of Fifth Mountain Balakayo.

Thanks for the photos Merjohn Dolon. :)