Mt. Palali Traverse

A group has invited me for a Mayon Climb for this May. Basically, their group comes from Legaspi, Albay province, so they were named after it. LA Boys :) hehehe Sir Victor Callos included me in his final list. I dont have any idea about Mayon, its difficulty, how tough the trail is and most of its specifications because I dont have any experience in this mountain yet, but I only read some informations regarding this mountain, and we once passed by this perfect cone volcano on our way to Mt. Bulusan last August 2012. This group (LA Boys) has climbed this mountain many times, so their familiarity will bring us there. :)

2 days before our climb, Mayon volcano spurt a steamed ashes and casualties have been reported. I didnt believed it at first, I doubted and thought they're just joking. :D And the sad part is that it really happened. Oh my God, we're still thankful it didnt happened on the day of our climb itself.

2 Peaks (Mt. Pinatubo and Mt. Arayat)

Been hibernating for almost a month, without any climbs; I tried to join this another invite from Sir Edzel Herrera (Extreme Outdoor Club) 2 peaks (Mt. Pinatubo and Mt. Arayat).

Mt. Pinatubo Hiking notes and story:Upon arriving there at the jump-off area, there are lots of foreigners and they seemed so excited. Some are with their families. Too many 4x4 vehicles parked along the registration area. We are ready now. 

Picture w/ some friends below. 

w/ 4 Extra and Comodos Abs, KC, Tish, Marcke and Albert

My Birthday Outdoor Activity

Been almost in a graveyard shift at work for more than 6 months, my birthday approaches really fast. Just in time, our company is in its RED WEEK wherein various activities are being performed such as Outreach program, LexisNexis LN Cares, Climb for a Cause, Books donation, Tree-planting activity and so on..

September 19, and I was one of the chosen volunteers for the Tree Planting activity that will happen to La Mesa watershed.

When we do a cathole, the Eco guide instructs us to dig hole not too deep and not to narrow. Planting a tree   

On the rock! (Conquering Pico de Loro's Rock tower)

An invitation for a Mt. Pico de loro's dayhike at Ternate, Cavite came to me. And I accepted the invitation without a second thought. I was surprised knowing that the one who organized it has the same workplace as mine. Dino 'd Ironman is working at Manulife at UP Ayaland, Technohub. Realizing how small world it is when most of my friends is his co-workers, we too have mutual friends because some of his previous co-workers are currently working in our company.

Assembly time is 3am, but I came to meet him late by 30minutes. We rode in a private van, we arrived at Ternate at around 7:30 am. We took our breakfast at Mini stop near San Sebastian church. We started the trek at 8am. Registered at DENR by 9am for only Php40 each. We are on a relax pace at first because the trail is easy. Kept going and the trail is getting difficult and getting steep. We arrived at the camp site near the summit around 11:00am. As usual we took pictures for keeps and yes! For our bragging rights! Hahaha

There we took our lunch first before the assault to peak 1 and to parrots beak. 

A loong trek at Nagsasa

It was 2 more days to go before I finally come up to the decision that "The time has come for me to experience to climb a mountain." Right then, I texted sir Jovi, the organizer of this event. Huling Hirit sa Tag-init, Beach Bumming trip at Nagsasa cove to include me in the list of the participants. 

I asked my supervisor for an ad-hoc schedule, basically the reason is to prepare for tomorrow's climb. Having no idea what to bring, as it was my very first time to join a climb. Luckily I had a friend from Facebook, Michael Gorospe whom I asked to so many questions on the preparation for a climb, and advised me not to buy all mountaineering equipments in just one shot.

By 5:00 in the morning we started trekking along Brgy. Cawag, Zambales. We are all in all 60+ participants.The sun has started to rise by 8:00 am and we can almost feel its hotness. All of a sudden, a heavy rain have washed us out while having an assault to the summit.

Start trek@ 5am