Hike for Light - Mt. Apo

The Final Hike for Light, Mt. Apo, took place on the weekend of February 12^th-13^th.  Mt. Apo is the tallest peak in the Philippines, so fitting for our last hike.  It is located near Davao City, on Mindanao, the southernmost island of the Philippines.   The first thing to keep in mind for the rest of this blog, is that Mindanao is a travel ban zone designated by the US State Department.  There are anti-government groups active in the area (Communist and Muslim), that were the reason this hike was cancelled back in November.  There are 3 ways I can be fired from my Princeton in Asia Fellowship – 1. Ride a motorcycle without a helmet 2. Ask for a raise from my employer 3. Travel to Mindanao.  The only reason I was able to make this trip is that we assured the powers that be in PIA that I would be with a large group and well protected at all times.  Kidnappings for ransom, while not exactly common, certainly happen.

We flew down on Thursday night, stayed in a hotel, and met up with the group on Friday morning.  A number of the climbers had also joined us for the first hike, Mt. Kitaanglad, so it was a bit of a reunion when all got together for the first time.  Our Friday itinerary started out with a visit to the Mayor’s office, and a turnover ceremony with a number of local residents.  

Afterwards, we all packed into the back of a pickup truck, as is the customary transport on the Hike for Light.  However, this one was a bit of a stretch.  We piled our group of roughly 60 climbers into the back of two pickup trucks and headed up the mountain to the trailhead.  However, as the road got bumpier and bumpier, I began to get sick of holding on to the rope for dear life and being thrown around constantly.  I decided the truck just wasn’t worth it, and got out to walk.  As I strolled up the road by myself, all alone in the middle of  rural Mindanao, I realized that if I got kidnapped at this point it would totally be my own fault.  However, I encountered nothing but cute Filipino kids and farmers minding their own business. 

The first town we stayed in was about a 2 hour hike from where the truck dropped everyone off.  It consisted of about 20 houses, no electricity and…a basketball court.  Immediately upon showing up I went over to check the guys playing ball, and found that they were basically playing HORSE for money.  Oh you know I was all over that.  I thought to myself hey, this’ll be fun, and I can give all my change to these folks.  If I am winning, I’ll just start missing shots and give all the money back.  Oh, Danny.  Turned out that wasn’t a problem and, much to everyone’s enjoyment, I had lost all 30 pesos in my pocket within a half hour.  It was the rims!  The wind!  Is that hoop regulation size or what?!!  How does this 10 year old keep draining jumpers??  Home court advantage.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Afterwards, our trusty climb leader for all of the hikes, 60 year old team Everest veteran Fred Jamili, led a training session with the lanterns we had carried up to the village.  This particular village had been using tree sap for nighttime light whenever available.  We also witnessed a lady walk out of her house in the pitch black with a cloth lit on fire sticking out of a bottle of rum.  This was her source of light to go use the bathroom at night.  A Molotov cocktail! I feel confident that the solar lanterns donated that night will provide a much safer alternative.

We spent the night in this village, then hiked back down and climbed, once again, onto the truck of despair.  I decided to ride all the way down this time, remembering my feeling from the day before.

That afternoon we began our hike up to “The Nursery” where we would camp before making our summit push the next day.  The Campsite had a huge wooden building in the middle of it that had fallen into disrepair, but did provide some much needed shelter (it rained that afternoon and evening) for drying clothes and cooking.  We would camp at this site for the next two nights, and make the hike up to the summit and back with day packs only.

The hike up Mt. Apo was quite different from the rest of the hikes.  We started at basically the foot of the mountain, and did the whole thing in one day.  The trail was quite steep, but with no heavy pack to carry it was manageable.  We were above the tree line and out in the open for pretty much the entire ascent, which afforded and breathtaking views whenever the clouds parted.  

Unfortunately, the first thing we noticed upon arriving at the summit was a giant pile of trash.   There is a camping area at the summit, and previous visitors had thrown trash everywhere.  Fortunately, some of our solar ambassadors, the local climbing group from General Santos, were totally prepared.  They immediately got out large plastic bags they had carried up the mountain and began cleaning up the trash.  They lugged about 5 bags of trash all the way down to our campsite, and off the mountain the next day.  

Apo has two summits, and a crater valley in the middle. Down the side of the mountain opposite where we had summited was another grassy crater that reeked of sulfur.  We had lunch and spent a couple hours at the summit, then headed back down to the nursery.

Link to 360 degree panoramic photo of the Apo Summit:

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/H4L/Apo/Apo_Summit_Crater.html 

Soon after arriving back at camp we realized that some of us had gotten terribly sunburned.  I applied sunscreen twice throughout the day, and was still pretty pink.  Those who went without, including one who decided to do some sunbathing at the summit, were really red.  In general, the sun in the Philippines is not to be toyed with.  But out in the open all day at high altitude is another story.  Many of the lighter skinned Filipinos were even sunburned, spawning a slew of jokes about the “Hike for Sunburn.”  Wearing sunglasses indoors to cover her peeling skin at our company retreat the next weekend my coworker, Chinie, began with “Hi I’m Chinie, and, I’m not blind…”

That evening a number of hikers showed up and shared the nursery campsite with us.  They seemed like a pretty normal group of hikers, other than the fact that about 5 of them were carrying M16s.  You know, just out for a hike with my M16.  No big deal.

On the way back down the next morning, I was hiking leisurely with my new buddy, Rhonson, learning how to say silly and inappropriate things in the local dialect.  As we neared the base of the trail, a loud explosion in the distance shattered the calm forest atmosphere. It sounded almost like a gunshot, but seemed too loud.  We all stopped and looked at each other, not knowing what to do.  We didn’t really have much choice, and continued walking down the trail.  It was just one shot, and didn’t sound like a struggle or anything more serious.  As we proceeded down the trail, we heard about 3 more solitary BOOMS of increasing volume.  Clearly we were heading towards the noise, and I had forgotten to bring my M16.  This was all a bit unsettling, but the Filipinos in our group seemed not to think it was a big deal.

When we finally reached the trail head we found that the source of the commotion was a military gathering (government troops) saluting one of their generals by firing off blank cannon rounds.  The soldiers turned out to be very cool guys who were about to set off on a hiking/tree planting expedition.  They were even interested in purchasing some of our solar lanterns for nightly patrols.

We spent that night back at the same hotel in Davao, and caught our return flight to Manila the next day.

 

Here ends the Hike for Light series of the DannyPIAPhilippines blog.  For those of you that tuned in just for this stint, thanks for reading.  For those that were more interested in Boracay weddings and posts of that sort, stay tuned for the next blog:

http://www.malasimbofestival.com/

Yes, that weekend was another win.

Hike for Light - Mt. Pulag

Hike for light number 4, Mt. Pulag, had by far the largest group of hikers.  Our team included over 60 people, 2 or 3 times the number of climbers participating in previous hikes.  Mt. Pulag is closer to Manila than any other peak, and is the least strenuous of the 6 climbs.  Our transportation from Manila to the town of Baguio was a chartered overnight bus ride courtesy of Victory Liner.  After a frigid bus ride (there is a tendency to over air condition in the Philippines), we arrived in Baguio at about 5:30am Friday morning.  The majority of our group met up at the bus station, then headed to the ranger station at the foot of Mt. Pulag in a caravan of 4 Jeepneys (bumpiest road ever).

Upon arrival we set up camp and prepared for the turnover ceremony.  This included speeches from Jim Ayala, chair of the Solar Energy Foundation and Founder of Hybrid, Art Valdez, the leader of Kaya Ng Pinoy, Ben Muni from the Baguio mountaineers club, and elders from the local community.  After a discussion of our mission and a lantern tutorial, the event began winding down.

Link to 360 panoramic photo of group at the turnover:

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/H4L/Pulag/H4L_Ranger_Group.html

It was at this point that a couple of gentlemen led a wild pig down the road into the center of the ceremony.  It quickly became apparent that there would be a pig sacrifice taking place in the near future, which had not been on the itinerary.

WARNING - Vegetarians, or others not interested in pig sacrifice, should quickly scroll to the bottom, then scroll back up to “back to the hike” section.  In particular avoid the video below, which is not for the faint of heart. 

Three men simultaneously seized the pig and tied his legs and neck, holding him down so he couldn’t move.  However, he could shriek for his life, and he did right up to the end.  Extremely loud, ear piecing squeals continued throughout the ritual dancing and music playing which continued for about half an hour.  Got to see many of my colleagues from the Solar Energy Foundation dance around in circles to the beat of metal drums during this, but had trouble fully enjoying that.  After all of the formalities, a man came out with a long wooden stake and stabbed the pig repeatedly in the heart, just behind the right front leg.

This was difficult to watch.  Probably the worst part was that the pig knew he was going to die for quite a while before it actually happened.  It also took a full minute of stabbing before he finally gave his last struggle and lay still.  A number of our group members decided to move into a nearby building in order to not watch the sacrifice, but I’m sure they heard the screams.  Our photographer had tears in his eyes.  I realize I am a giant hypocrite for being bothered by this.  I have eaten way too many pigs in my lifetime to have trouble watching a pig die.   But he was such a cute little pig!  I kept having Charlotte’s Web flashbacks, and trying to think of ways to help him escape.  

 

 

Once deceased, the pig was carried off and briefly roasted on a fire.  Our hosts then carried him back out and methodically carved him up with a machete.  When they served us the meat, I felt like I should eat some.  He had been killed for our benefit, and I watched him die.  I figured the least I could do was enjoy the meat.  Not gonna lie, he was tasty.

BACK TO THE HIKE

The next morning we hiked up to camp 2 where we would spend the night.  Another beautiful hike, but extremely short.  All groups reached the camp within a couple hours, and had another day to just chill at the campsite.  Unfortunately it rained most of the day, particularly while setting up our tents.  It was very cloudy and quite cold, which killed just about everyone’s motivation to do anything for the rest of the day other than sit in the tent and cook warm food.  Throughout the day about 200 additional hikers came through and camped in the site directly above us.

After an exhausting night’s sleep (for some reason we decided to set our tent up on the bumpiest incline this side of the Mississippi) I was relieved when 3:30am rolled around.  I climbed out of the tent, pulled on my wet socks and pants from the day before, looked up, and realized the sky was completely clear.  This was GREAT news for the sunrise we hoped to witness from the summit.  

Link to 360 panoramic photo of stars in the campsite:

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/H4L/Pulag/H4L_Camp_Stars.html

We headed off for the summit at around 4:15am, only to find we were stuck in the middle of 300+ hikers making their way to the summit.  I did a quick calculation in my head, and decided a lot of these hikers weren’t going to make it to the summit before sunrise.  Determined not to be one of them, I elected to be that jerk excusing himself and passing people whenever the trail width allowed.  Eventually I managed to pass everyone and found I was all alone.  I stopped hiking for a minute, turned off my headlight, and just stood in complete silence, enjoying the stars, moonlit hills, and sweet smell in the air.  The majority of the 2 hour hike to the summit I was completely alone. 

I began to notice a bright light on top of the summit as I drew nearer, that I reasoned must have been a light tower...seems pretty foolish in hindsight.  Hey Danny, the point of being here is that there is no electricity, how the heck would there be a light tower on top of the mountain?  What can I say, it was early.  As I approached the summit I saw the light was moving, and realized it was a fellow hiker, a representative from one of our sponsors – none other than Century Tuna.

At the summit, an amazing amount of stars lit up the night sky.  Both dippers, the southern cross, my old friend Orion, and countless constellations I can’t identify twinkled like a van Gogh painting.  A long line of hikers below, headlamps shining, continued making their way to the summit as if on a pilgrimage to some faraway holy land.

At around 6:30am, a dim light began to emerge in the east.  What ensued was the greatest sunrise I have ever witnessed.  As the sun rose the dark sky faded into a deep purple, and eventually a thin strip of blue appeared.  The bright yellow sun soon rose, creating a strip of orange just above the horizon and illuminating a sea of clouds stretching infinitely into the distance.  We began to feel the sun’s warmth, melting the cold that had gripped us since getting out of our sleeping bags 3 hours earlier.

 Link to 360 panoramic photo of SEF group at the Summit:

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/H4L/Pulag/H4L_Pulag_Summit.html

The Hike down over grassy hills just continued to get more beautiful.  Each mound, lit on one side and shady on the other, cast shadows on the slopes above and to the west.  Green mountains rose and fell in the distance as far as the eye could see.

Highest bathroom in the Philippines:

Post-hike feast in Baguio, just prior to overnight bus back to Manila.  Great group of folks here:

Facebook album located here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=14502359

Hike for Light - Mt. Madja-as

The Mt. Madja-as Itinerary, from my end, was a bit crazy to begin with.  I had booked a flight the US months ago, leaving at 8:00am on Monday Dec. 19th.  The Madja-as hike, longer than the previous two, was scheduled to take place from Thursday to Sunday, with flights back to Manila on Monday morning.  This clearly wasn't going to work for me.  I talked it over with Fred Jamili, the climb leader, and Bambi the coordinator, and we worked out an alternative plan.  Fred and I would rush down from the summit on Sunday, and if we were moving at a fast enough pace, we might just make it back to Kalibo for the last flight of the day, 7:45pm, to Manila.  Fred believed this was manageable if the weather was good.  Famous last words…  

 

Our turnover ceremony with local government was in the town of Culasi, with speakers and chairs set up on the basketball court in the middle of town.  We were 32 climbers in all, including Bambi and I from the Foundation, Fred, Leo, and Janet from Team Everest, and a large group of climbers from Iloilo. Our hosts had prepared lunch for us, Chicken Adobo, and thanked us profusely for choosing the Mt. Madja-as community to donate solar lanterns.  The first man to speak was from the city council, and apologized that the basketball court was the only location they had available for a group our size. However, this was actually one of the warmest receptions we have had, and the court was a perfect gathering place. 

Chinie and Hybrid Social Solutions General Manager Jojo Mansala flew down for the turnover ceremony.  Both spoke at the event, with Chinie explaining the mission of the solar energy foundation, and Jojo giving an introduction to the solar lantern itself.

After the event, Jojo and Chinie headed back to manila, and we got ready for the hike.  We were informed at this time that hurricane Sendong was traveling across the northern tip of Mindanao, moving our direction.   It was unclear at this point if it would hit us, and it was still about 1000 kilometers away.  Just as we began discussing this possibility, as if on cue, rain began to fall heavily.

Our first stop was the town of Flores, a 20 minute drive and 2 hour hike from the town center.  The drive turned out to be in the back of a pickup truck, no cover.  It poured rain the entire drive, so we were all soaked from the moment we hit the trail head. The hike was over a steep muddy road that wound its way into the foothills of the mountain.  Our hosts in the town of flores had hot coffee waiting for us upon arrival, and we were able to change out of our wet clothes indoors.  Our accommodations were on the floor of a local school.  There were about 15 little kids living in the village, all super cute, who peered in the door of the school at us pretty much from the moment we arrived until we turned out the lights.   They were fascinated by all of our antics, and even sang some Christmas carols for us while we cooked dinner.

That night we got another report that the typhoon had moved closer to us, and was still on course to hit us some time in the next couple of days.  Fred, the hike leader, definitely gave it to us straight.  He has climbed Mt. Madja-as 5 times, and told us that it is miserable and potentially dangerous in rainy conditions.  The trail is quite steep, and there is the potential for flash floods.  Fred wanted to wait for the update in the morning before deciding if we would push on. 

When we awoke Friday morning the skies were cloudy but it wasn’t raining.  The weather report was still inconclusive, so we headed out early for the first camp.  This was another absolutely beautiful hike, the first few hours or so were along a steep muddy trail through rice paddies, that eventually led into the jungle.  Mid morning we got another inconclusive weather report, and continued heading up the mountain.  The hike into the first camp goes down a very steep trail  into a river valley.  The campsite is on the edge of the river, which is the last water source on the way to the summit.  It rained progressively harder throughout the hike, and by the time we reached camp it was pouring.   We had started at around 7am that morning, anticipating a 6-7 hour hike.   A group of us, knowing that I had to be back at the airport by Sunday evening, were trying to move quickly, in case it was possible for one group to get up really early the next morning and make a summit attempt.  That first day we made great time, and actually arrived at the campsite just after 11am.  However, we couldn’t keep moving without knowing the group plan, so we set up our tents and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. 

All hikers had reached camp by about 1pm, and we pretty much huddled under a tarp for the rest of the day, just chatting, playing cards, boiling coffee, and cooking food.  That night the reports became a bit more conclusive.  All accounts had the typhoon hitting us directly the following morning, right when we would be headed up the steepest part of the climb.  Our sponsors back in Manila were worried, and we got reports of evacuations in a nearby town due to flooding.  Given all of this, Fred told us we would head back to base in the morning.  We were all pretty bummed, but after hiking through the rain all morning there was a bit of relief in the back of our minds along with the disappointment. 

From the time it started raining on Friday it didn’t stop until we were back in town.  It rained all day, all night, and throughout the next day’s hike down the mountain.  We managed to stay relatively dry inside the tent Friday night, but another full day in the rain and we would have been in bad shape Saturday night.  It’s very tough to keep things dry when it rains while you set up and break down the tent.  The hike down was, as Fred had warned us, miserable.  We were basically hiking down through a small, cascading stream.  There are much fewer tree roots to gain footing on this hike, and there were about 5 extra river crossings that hadn’t been there on the way up.  We were trekking through ankle deep water and sliding down mud banks for the majority of it. 

Near the bottom, we passed by a father and son hiking up the trail barefoot, as is common in mountain communities in the Philippines.  Fred chatted with them briefly, and found out that the local village captain just delivered a handful of the solar lanterns we turned over on Thursday.  We would be passing nearby their home on the way down, and offered to stop by and give them a short lantern tutorial.  Their village was tiny, 3-4 huts nestled into the side of the mountain, about an hour hike, over steep muddy terrain, from the nearest electrified area.  Their main source of light after dark was tree sap.  They told us that burning the sap produced a ton of smoke, and dripping sap frequently led to accidental burns for their children.

Bambi went through the recommended usage of our lanterns as we sat on the floor of their hut, and they seemed very eager to put them to use.  The light was much brighter than what their sap lanterns provided, and they got very excited about the ability to charge their cell phones.  Bambi asked them for a cell phone to demo the charging capability, and sure enough the one presented was out of battery.  After a few minutes connected to the unit the phone came to life and the owner’s eyes lit up.  Fred would chime in occasionally with a joke or anecdote, and the whole event was very cheerful.  I couldn’t understand much of the dialogue, but could tell that these families were grateful for the lanterns, and would make use of them on a daily basis. 

Unlike the other turnover ceremonies, on this day we got to actually sit in the homes of our customers.  We had the chance to speak with them face to face, and could see that these lights would make a real difference in their lives.  At one point they asked Bambi what we wanted in return for the solar lamps.  She said nothing, but asked them to send us some photos on their cell phones over the holidays.   

Once back down the mountain, the same truck that delivered us to the trail head took us to the city municipal hall where we would spend the night.  We hung all of our gear out to dry, got some food, and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.  We got some snacks from the local sari sari store, a few bottles of Red Horse, and just hung out listening to music and chatting.  I also got a chance to try Balut for the first time.  Google it if you don’t know what it is – my “I’d try it if someone presented it to me” comment from a previous hike definitely came back to haunt me.

The next day was very relaxed – we woke up and had a quick breakfast, then headed off to the airport.  We got there very early for our flight and had about 5 hours to kill.  I spent most of the afternoon hanging out with Fred, Leo and Bambi, chatting about the early days of Kaya Ng Pinoy and how the Everest expedition came together.  Our flight left on time (there was a bit of worry given the typhoon), and I caught my flight back to Seattle the next morning.

Hike for Light - Mt. Kanlaon

We had very little time to rest our weary legs after returning from the first hike.  We arrived in Manila on Monday evening, and were on a plane to Bacolod the following Friday.  This hike was Mt. Kanlaon, the tallest mountain in the Visayas region of the Philippines.  Kanlaon is an active volcano, and is known to have a large leech population along the trail.  Needless to say, we were pretty excited.

Our group for this climb was about half the size, and only 14 of us were allowed to climb.  However, our group this time included a couple different team Everest climbers, 4 Climbers from Negros Youth for the Environment, as well as the Menor brothers.  For those of you wondering who the Menor brothers are, where have you been?  Kidding, Ronel and Marlon Menor are two employees of Hybrid Social Solutions.  Marlon has been with the company longer than anyone except Jim himself, and is our highest grossing area sales manager.  Ronel is our technician, in charge of field testing and repairing all of our solar units.  Both gentlemen are super smart, athletic, humble, and annoyingly good at chess.  I consider myself to be a pretty good chess player, but have only managed to beat Ronel 3 times out of maybe 100 games.  I’ve never beaten Marlon.  Apparently both of them played for their high school in their local province and competed at the national level.  It’s to the point where I will think I’m winning, then make a move I think is pretty darn good, and Ronel says, “are you sure?”  And I’m like, ugh, no, I’m not sure, but that’s the move.  And he says, “ok, mate in 3, Danny.” 

We brought a chessboard on the hike, and the three of us played whenever we had spare time - the airport, the airplane, in our tent until late into the night up on the mountain.

We arrived in Bacolod, on the Island of Negros, and proceeded to our sleeping accommodation at the foot of the mountain.  In general our lodgings were much nicer on this climb.  We slept the first night in a dorm type room at a local hotel about a 5 minute drive from the trailhead.  There was running water, electricity, the works.  Our Hike organizer, Bambi, did the first turnover ceremony by herself the next day while we were hiking.  We were sorry to miss it, but had a second lantern turnover scheduled for the coming Monday.

This hike was a bit easier.  I think a lot of this had to do with us being in better shape, but it was also less steep, less muddy, and a shorter distance.  However, the first half of the hike is leech territory.  We had heard slightly exaggerated stories from the Everest climbers that had been on the mountain before, and it was a constant source of worry and group jokes leading up to the hike.  I did a fair amount of internet research, and sent tips to the group (The best advice I found is posted below). 

“Leeches are common in rainforests of Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Southeast Asia. Unlike leeches in other parts of the world, rainforest leeches live in leaf litter and vegetation -- they are not aquatic. They find their prey (you and other warm-blooded animals) by odor and sound vibrations. In leech-rich areas, if you stand still for a few minutes, you'll see leeches dropping from vegetation and moving toward you like inchworms.

Terrestrial leeches are generally small (although they can get quite huge in some parts of the world) but will gorge themselves during a meal, gaining up to ten times their weight. The single feeding will be enough to sustain a leech for several months.

The best protection against leeches is covering up and using insect repellent on clothing, although they are extremely persistent and invariably if you spend enough tromping around in the forest you will get leeched. Do not get overly concerned about a leech attack -- they carry no disease and there is low risk of causing significant blood loss. Leech bites do not hurt -- since they release an anesthetic when they sink their teeth into your skin -- but they do bleed profusely. Leeches use an anticoagulant when they bite to facilitate the flow of blood from the wound. “

Removing a leech

If you are bitten by a leech and are compelled to remove it before it has had its full (leeches drop off on their own when they are done feeding), you can do so by following these steps:

Identify the anterior (oral) sucker which will be found at the small end of the leech. Put your finger on your skin adjacent to the oral sucker Gently but firmly slide your finger toward the wound where the leech is feeding. Using your fingernail, push the sucker sideways away from your skin. Once you have dislodged the oral sucker, quickly detach the posterior (rear) sucker (the fat end of the leech). Try flicking the leech or proding with your fingernail. As you work to remove the leech, it will attempt to reattach itself. Keep the wound clean -- minor cuts in tropical climates can quickly become infected. The leech itself is not poisonous. The wound will itch as it heals.

NOTE: Is it generally not advised to attempt removing a leech by burning with a cigarette; applying alcohol, mosquito repellent, shampoo, or salt; or pulling at the leech. This can result the leech regurgitating into the wound and causing infection much worse than the leech bite itself" 

I personally set off for the hike with my pants tucked into my socks with REI bought insect repellent smeared around all openings in my clothing.  However, about 2 hours up the trail there was a waterfall with a deeper pool beneath it, and I just had to go swimming, leeches be damned. 

After all the fretting, the leeches turned out to not be that big of a problem.  Our guides told us we were lucky because it had been relatively dry lately, which meant fewer leeches.  However, we did see about 10 of them, and they are pretty creepy.  The creepiest thing is that you never feel them.  You just look down and this thing is on your hand or your pants wriggling around looking for a place to attach.  We sat down for a snack at one point, and a leech just fell onto my hand.  Like, literally dive-bombed me out of the foliage above.  

In general the hike was quite pleasant, beautiful weather, and we reached the campsite by around 2:00pm.  We set up camp and decided to head up to the summit  before dinner.  The hike to the summit is about 45 minutes from the campsite.  The campsite is right at the end of the tree line, and the surroundings are lush and green.  However, the scenery changes drastically on the hike up to the summit. The hike is mostly a scramble over loose volcano rocks, and you quickly climb past where anything can grow.  The summit provides an amazingly picturesque view.  It is possible to walk right up to the edge of the crater and look over the edge.  In one direction lies the crater with another tall peak on the other side, and in the opposite direction is the way back down, with lush green mountains in the distance.  We were above most of the clouds, and visibility changes rapidly.  One minute we could see for miles, and the next minute it’s difficult to see anything over 20 feet away.  The crater has an amazing echo, and we spent a while whooping, whistling, and throwing rocks over the edge. 

After about an hour of photo taking, we hiked back down to camp.  There was a moment on the hike down when the clouds parted, the sun came out, and there was a gorgeous view of the mountains below.  I could see our campsite, right on the edge of the tree line, and the old crater below it.  I sat and gazed for a few minutes, until the clouds moved back in and the view was gone.  

That night, we feasted on Chicken Adobo (Thanks Paulo!) and had another round of rum combined with telling the group about our thoughts on the hike for light and favorite moments so far. 

We got up the next day at 4:00 am, boiled some water for coffee in the dark, and headed back up to the summit in time to catch the sunrise.  It was absolutely beautiful, hard to describe, but fortunately I don’t have to.  We brought a professional photographer, Fung, along with us this time, and his specialty is 360 degree interactive photos.  Check out the link below.  If you zoom in really far you can see me sitting on the edge of the crater.  Hope Fung is able to join us on future hikes, this really is the only way to do this scene justice.

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/H4L/Kanlaon/Kanlaon_Crater.html

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/H4L/Kanlaon/Summit_Group.html

 

After hiking down, cooking breakfast, and breaking camp, we headed back down.  On the way back down, we dropped our bags off at one point, and hiked down into the old crater, a bright green valley surrounded by mountains on all sides.  It was quite a steep hike, roughly an extra hour of climbing, but totally worth it.  The crater is now flat, and covered with a grass-like fern.  It would have been a sweet place to camp, but the hike down with packs on would have been a little rough.

Once back on the trail we hiked down very quickly.  We were all excited to get back, and were blessed with Ronel’s singing top 40 hits from the last 15 years to give us encouragement.  With only a couple short stops, we were back at the base in about 3 hours.  We got there just when it started to rain for the first time, bought snacks from the local sari sari store, and played a few games of chess.  

When the rest of the group got back, we ate lunch, then bussed to the Mambukal Spring Resort which had…hot springs!  The whole place reeked of sulfur, and the pools were really hot, even by lobster standards.  We all soaked in the hot spring for about an hour, gazing up at the huge bats (flying foxes?) soaring overhead.  That night we had cheeseburgers and red horse (strong local beer) for dinner, the perfect meal for tired hikers.

First thing the next morning we headed to the second turnover ceremony in Guintubdan.  About 40 residents from a village quite a ways away, had been provided with transportation to Guintubdan to meet us for the turnover.  Jim flew down to meet us for the ceremony, and spoke to the group about the purpose of our organization and the benefits we had scene the lanterns have in nearby communities.  Representatives from local NGOs including the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation and the Alliance for Development spoke, and Ronel gave a demonstration of how to set up the lantern, use the solar panel and charge a cell phone.

http://www.virtualphilippines.net/Panoramas/H4L/Kanlaon/Turnover_Group.html

The trip back went very smoothly, this time on a flight donated by Zest Airlines. 

Stay tuned for Mt. Majaas, Dec 15-18, just before I leave for Christmas in Seattle!!