Mt. Apo...Day 1...A Special Gift from the Creator Above...

Via Kapatagan-Kidapawan Trail (Davao del Sur-Northern Cotabato)

I decided to write this adventure of mine in three parts since we took this hike in three days ang I don't want to miss any exciting moment of this event of my life....This was so memorable to me and I want it to share with you with all my humble and giggling way...Hope you will enjoy reading this ..."A special gift from the Creator above"...and here it goes...

Mt. Apo...The Highest mountain in the Philippines...A dream mountain to most hikers in the country or even by those in other countries. But not for me. Yes! You read it right...not for me!...That is the truth and the reality of life that I must accept and bear in mind. I did not dreamt for this mountain, simply because... I'm afraid to do so... I'm afraid to think that I can still climb this mountain which I know the facts that I am too weak for these and I don't have the same endurance and strenght as other mountaineers had...Afraid that if I dreamt of this mountain...those dreams will just go into trash and waste my time of thinking about it. I just told myself..."marami pa namang bundok dyan na pwede at kaya ko pang akyatin para maipagpatuloy ko ang iba kong pangarap at kaligayahang makita ang kagandahan ng kalikasan"..."di ko kailangang pangarapin ang alam kong di ko kayang gawin"...But I am not happy the way I think like these. Sometimes I envy myself if I heard that some of my buddies did some major climbs...some even stop inviting me when they found out that I am not fast as they are...or not as young as them....or maybe others don't go with the group if they knew that I am one of the participants...But that is fine with me...That's life...that is the truth...that is real!

But Sir Ivan known to be makulit...and hard to resist his invitation...I ask the heaven above to give me a sign if I will push to join their climb or not...I search about the trail and characteristics of the said mountain, and my fear lessen when I read one of the famous blogger about it. And every time I looked my facebook status, I always saw different experiences about their climb in Mt. Apo, some friends are also pushing me to climb...Then, I ask myself...Is this the sign I'm asking? Until one of my fellow hiker gave me a very intriguing advice...knowing that he is much older than me...hehehe...and we both have the passion to see nature and be with the nature....yun nga lang...mga late bloomers...LOL...And he said, "kaya mo yan...ako nga nakaya ko eh...nung pumunta nga ako dun when they get my blood pressure, the result was a little bit higher...pero umakyat pa rin ako....di naman kailangan magmadali eh, kailangan mong i-enjoy ang view at trail....wala namang madaling bundok...it's just how you do it and how you feel the nature"...Pasok na pasok sa banga diba?..hehe...Until I finally told myself..."kapag walang nag oppose or nagbigay sa akin ng negative vibes, I will do it!"...At yun nga ang nangyari....all things are getting smoother and my fear is slowly getting weaker...and that fear was transformed into excitement and giggling.....And this is it..pansit!...I decide to join the Backpackers to conquer the Highest Mountain in PH.....Umaayon sa akin ang lahat ng bagay...my physical condition, my schedule, my friends, the weather and I also felt so much happiness inside my heart....Two days before our flight, I message Sir Ivan that I will join them in climbing Mt. Apo...and he replies with a very exciting voice. "Yehey...kasama na si Mommy Weng"

And the journey of conquering Mt. Apo began after our relaxing day in Davao City... http://byahengjologslakwatsera.blogspot.com/2013/03/davao-city-adventure.html

Camp Linaw, Digos City Davao del Sur...from where we stayed our first night

February 15...the most awaited day ...We had a pleasant and comfy place to sleep at Camp Linaw in Digos City. It was just a minute walk away from Lake Mirror from where you can see the whole Mt. Apo on its very awesone view.

View of Mt. Apo reflecting its image to Lake Mirror
(photo credit to Ms. Liz of The Backpackers)

After our picture taking, the group prepared to depart Camp Linaw around 8am and proceed to the main jump-off at Brgy. Mainit, Digos, Davao del Sur by riding an open mini cab. We spent around an hour and a half in an uphill and bumpy road, but still we enjoyed our ride by seeing those beautifull views along the way until we stop at a small sari-sari store. And everyone was so excited unloading our backpacks and as always, we asked for God's guidance for everyone's safety along our way.  And our trek starts with a big smile and excitement within our face.

Trails from Kapatagan jump-off to Paradise Campsite...

Rest area along the small village in Kapatagan

Kapatagan Jump-off

vegetable platation of the locals

A local harvesting his craft

Paradise Camp

The first part of our trek was like we are walking on a huge uphill vegetable plantation...cabbage, carrots and potatoes...are everywhere...one of the soon to be a member of BPs utter a joke..."Mommy Weng kuha tayo ng carrots para dun sa chicken afritata natin" and the group starts to laugh...Until we reach the Paradise Camp from where we made our lunch break with a nap on a trail...again? Hehehe...this is my second experience taking nap on trail...first was in Mt. Tapulao...but this one is better ang lamig ng hangin at malambot ang higaan...hahaha!

After almost two hours of rest and lunch break, we again proceed to the second pace of our trek...Paradise Camp to Godi-godi Camp our target place to take our dinner and resting place for the whole night...

 Trail from Paradise Camp to Godi-godi Campsite...

Our trek to Godi-godi Camp has a differnt kind of excitement...in this trail you can experience lots of passing through logs and sometimes you will go under the logs...

Ms.Clue, one of the Bps encountered a minor injury during this trek...she accidentally bump her head on one of the branch after she made a jump from a log that she passed by...but being with a group that treats everyone like a family, she was given a first aid and everyone shows concern about what happen to her....Yan ang gusto ko sa samahan nila...para silang magkakapatid na laging handa at may malasakit sa isa't isa....Thanks be to God and nothing too serious happened to her...

Godi-godi Campsite
(photo credit to Ms. Clue)

After the insident, we continued our trek. Everyone was a little bit worried....ayaw naming abutan kami ng dilim sa daan because our guide Kuya Omel told us that it is difficult to do night trek in the area....and he is right...along the way we encountered some stiff assault that needs to use both your hand and feet and do some hopping moves...and if you cannot see it ...diretso ka sa bangin...OMG!

But with God's blessing, we reached Godi-godi campsite while the sun is still up....it is around 5:30pm and everyone was so happy because we reached our target on time.. We started to pitched our tents while our porters prepared dinner and others went to get some water for all of us... I was very much impressed with these group of porters led by Kuya Omel because they are so energetic and very helpful...This is the first time I encountered a porter and guide pampering us in the mountain considering that they are carrying much load than us... And we are very lucky to have them as our guides and porters....Thanks to Kuya Omel, Kuya Bobong, Kuya Jun-jun, Kuya Juvan, James and Turoy.

And we had a very goodnight with a little chat together with the Bps and the guides...What an awesome  day...I can't believe that on that day...I am sleeping at the famous Godi-godi Campsite.....

Ups!....I wouldn't say my usual ending...instead kindly read my Day 2 experience in Mt. Apo.... this has a different pacing of our treck....