#1 Mt. Pico De Loro: A challenging day hike
February 9, 2014
(An overdue blog, so I have to relive my experience.)
Mt. Pico de Loro is located in Maragondon Cavite with 664+MASL. According to blogs I have read while doing my “research”, this mountain is a minor climb and has a difficulty level of 3/9. It seems that this would be an easy trek (I said to myself).
The “Parrot’s Beak” monolith is a well-known feature of Pico De Loro. Aside from the summit, hikers opt to conquer the beak’s peak as well.
The Parrot’s Beak
The first mountain I conquered for the year 2014. Since I’m not an “experienced climber” or one who constantly climb mountains, I had no idea what to expect for my first hike.
I packed my bag with water, extra clothes, wore my sandals, and I’m good to go. No wonder my backpack was light! (Pro: It saved me from further struggle while climbing. Con: no packed lunch!)
We registered and payed 20.00 at some place before beginning our trek. Were briefed to greet other hikers that we’ll meet along the way (courtesy :D).
First few minutes of the hike was bearable. I can still take “selfies” while walking. Hehe.
My hiking footwear. Cost me a blister on my right foot, though.
As we went on hiking, the trail became steeper, and I began to feel the pain on my legs.
Steep ascend.
We were heading for the falls first. I was quite disappointed ‘cause there was no “waterfall(ing)”.
After having our break at the falls. We continued and headed for the summit. Our trek to the top felt like forever! We constantly encounter other hikers already making their descend. They kept on saying: “Konti nalang, mga 5 minutes nasa summit na kayo.” Hearing that made me push myself more so that I can rest my tired legs and feet. But that was just wishful thinking. Every single group says the same thing! Their 5 minutes, summed up was equal to almost an hour to the summit! Well, that was their way to motivate other hikers, which is nice.
At the campsite. There’s the summit!
At first, I thought the campsite was the summit. We rested for a while. Our leader asked our group if everyone would still climb to the summit. I hesitated and wanted to rest at the campsite nalang. But then I thought that I wouldn’t be back here again, so better push to the peak na.
As seen in the photo above, the climb to the peak was no joke. It was steep, the soil was loose and the wind was strong. I was nervous while thinking which path to take to reach the top. I constantly need to hold on to the grass and pray not to slip.
Conquered Mt. Pico De Loro’s Summit!
I didn’t push through in climbing the monolith. Fear took over me when I heard that it won’t be easy. Tama na yung kaba ko paakyat ng summit.
The group :)
We hurriedly made our way to descend the mountain since its already late in the afternoon. We wouldn’t want to still be trekking at night.
With three of my group mates, we started to descend - non-stop ‘cause we wanted to rest already. Our goal was to reach a store at the base so that we could buy an ice-cold softdrink to regain our strength. Unfortunately, taob ang tinda :( Define paasa. Walked non-stop for the softdrinks, and boom! ubos!
No matter how fast we walked, the night still caught up with us. Used our phone’s flashlight since we had no legit ones.
Throughout the trek, I kept saying to myself and aloud: ”Bakit ba ako nandito?”. I should’ve stayed at home, sleeping and feeling comfortable. Not here on the mountain, with legs tired, sweating and panting. I even said that I wouldn’t climb ever again.
Guess I ate my words. My body constantly seeks the adventure now. Longing for mountains to conquer. No matter how tired I felt during and after the climb, I still want to do it again.
This is not the end. But a beginning of my new kind of adventure.
'Til the next climb! :)