At this point in time, I couldn’t
vividly remember every little thing that
happened four months ago. It was my first ever mountain to climb in Visayas. It
was Mt. Kanlaon Traverse. I also
declared it as the tail mountain of my enthusiastic mountaineering quest. Yes,
it was the last one of my very frequent hiking activities. It was only after
two months did I hike again. Afterwards, I never did. Things changed.
Yet in my heart, the Mt. Kanlaon
climb that we completed was one of the unforgettable climbs and it did give me lessons
and a lot of realizations. Apart from these, one of the great things is that I
can claim now that I have reached the highest mountains in each part of the archipelago. In 2011, I
have conquered Mt. Pulag , the roof of Luzon via different trails, 2012 when I
reached Mt. Apo the highest not only in Mindanao but also in the country and
this time, Mt. Kanlaon, the highest in the Visayas area.
Located in Negros Occidental, Mt. Kanlaon is an active volcano
and the recent volcanic activity that it performed was only in 2006. There are
already numbers of fatalities especially for the climbers in this mountain,
hence, it is fearsome and dangerous as you’ll never know when this mountain is
going to erupt, calm or behave. Being the highest not only in Negros region but
as well as in the entire Visayas, it has its own kind of difficulty and
therefore a major climb.
Prior to this climb, hmmm just about two or three weeks before, I participated in a Mt. Halcon climb which is really a major climb as you may already read it in my other post. And this became my training advantage.
Our entire climb (supposed to be a 3-day climb) was a 4-day Wasay to Guintubdan traverse. We started the hike in Mambucal mountain
resort (Wasay side at the town of Murcia) early in the morning where we spent
one night before. We walked to the gate of the Kanlaon National Park.
What I
love about the trek is the richness of the forest and the serenity it seems to
bring me along with the noise of the birds chirping and different kinds of
insects. If one listens carefully during the trek, one can hear a variety of
birds singing. I was heading the trek along with the guide. The guide actually
mentioned every kind of birds’ singing but I could not remember those anymore. The whole climb was trekking a forest trail
and majority of what we passed through were covered by large trees.
There was a
point when we crossed a concrete road. Funny how we took those hard trails
and yet there’s an easier way. According to the guide, there would be another
agreement or permit for that. And so then we crossed to and trekked another series of forest
until we reached a mossy camp site where we spent our first night. It was very
cold but calm night.
The next day was a lot of great
views – Hardin Sang Balo and a lot of lagoons.
(During the trek, I memorized all the lagoons and the peaks, and now I
couldn’t remember them all. I failed to write them down). We were actually in the middle of the
mountain. We encountered different kinds of trails, both easy and hard ones; steady
and steep ones.
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| top view of the lagoon |
 |
| another lagoon |
The trail might cause us to really catch our breath but it was
rewarding. From time to time, we took some break or 5 to 10-minute rest. And these
were precious moments of bonds, stories, jokes and laughter.
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| one at a time, this is the 90 degrees ascent that we did in Wasay |
In this second
day, upon approaching the second campsite. We originally planned to camp
at the saddle and open area near the summit of the mountain, but because nonstop heavy rained poured over us, we decided to settle at the covered campsite.
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| this is the lagoon we've seen on top |
The second night was very rainy and cold. We
could hear the trees swaying and the sound of the wind was scary. Truly it was
a good decision to stay in that campsite. I was texting my sister trying to
catch news about the weather. There was a typhoon in the north and all these
rains were caused by that typhoon—a southwest monsoon rain or habagat.
The following day came. The rain
and wind never stopped. I suggested to buddy Dennis, the organizer to wait for
another day. This bad weather might stop, i thought. The typhoon was of course heading
north and the weather here could change. However, three in the group decided to
climb the summit on that day since they were chasing for their flight schedule.
They did lunchtime and they decided to go down ahead of us. Again, it was another night of cold winds and
nonstop rains.
Another morning came: our fourth
day. The weather didn’t improve but somehow it was lighter than the previous
day. We had no choice but to target the summit. Yes it was still raining!
Sadly, it was still raining. We trusted on the guides that they know better the
mountain and they would not let us ascend if the condition is not tolerable. We
prepared ourselves and started the summit ascent. Along the trail, the guide
was pointing something on the side. He said, we could have seen great views if we were given better weather condition. Sad! :( We continued until we reached the foggy saddle. I said to myself, “it should
have been a great landscape here like what I saw in the internet photos. But
since we’re here, we should take advantage to reach the summit/crater anyway.”
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| chasing for Mt. Kanlaon crater in this inclement weather |
The steep rocky trail to the
summit was not that easy as strong winds hindered us. The front person was the
guide. This guide inspected first if it’s still
tolerable to reach the crater. During this trek,he told us stories of deaths of
some climbers because of the zero visibility. Everyone of us for sure was taking extra care. I was scared.
I wanted to back off. But seeing everyone of us, they seemed determined to
reach the summit anyway. True enough, we reached it, but we were holding each
other’s hands fighting for the winds. The guide instructed us to hide and protect
ourselves through the pile of rocks on that peak. We never minded glancing what’s inside the
crater. It was too dangerous.
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| at the summit/crater, at last! |
We literally survived it! But it
was our choice to still ascend amidst bad weather. It isn’t advisable.
On that same day, we descended
via Guintubdan trail and it was quite easier and shorter. It’s still raining.
It came to my awareness that the other group who did the backtrail climb (via Guintubdan only) had a great summit view. It really could be. Remember that
we had a good weather on our first day until mid second day.
The highlight of the Guintubdan trail was
the large, majestic falls called Busay Buslugan.
By the way, during the trek, we encountered some limatik (mountain leeches) on both Wasay and Guintubdan trails so better be ready on this for those who want to climb it too.
From there was few hours until we reached
the end point of the trek. When we’re reaching the end point, it was
residential area, and there are lots of chickens all over the area. I told
myself, true enough "Inasal" is famous here. LOL. I was joking to myself along with wet body, tired feet and painful muscles brought about
by the 4-day climb.
We just bought pasalubong in
Bacolod city and finally headed to airport. The weather didn’t improved that
much. Still I can say it’s a remarkable climb. Perhaps, I should take just the
Guintubdan trail and hopefully see the majestic landscape of this mountain on my second attempt. I
realized, you cannot always push on to something you want. Sometimes, hope
isn’t enough. We waited one more day and nothing happened. You cannot fight the nature’s force. Nevertheless,
we were still blessed as we remained
safe the entire climb.
On the practical side, I vow not
to make any major climb during August and September months in the Luzon and
Visayas regions. On the 3 years of hiking experience during these months, I
don’t know why I never learn the lesson of always experiencing stormy climbs
during this season.
Photo credits: Qitter Vhostek, Dennis Hisanan and Rose Chan De Leon
