On December 2011, Mark, Glenn and I decided to explore at least three mountains in Bicol. The first mountain (the highlight of our exploration) that I suggested to our group was Mt. Isarog, being one of the loftiest and being a cradle of vibrant and diverse ecosystem while the other two mountains were Asog and Masaraga.
On December 20-21, 2011; right after arriving from Mt. Pulag; I met Glenn to comprehensively discuss the itinerary of the climbs night Bicol. The night of that day, we left Dasmariñas City and proceeded to Naga City. We arrived in Naga City at 4:00 AM… stayed in McDonalds and waited for the 8:00 AM opening of DENR Office to claim our prearranged permit.
On December 20-21, 2011; right after arriving from Mt. Pulag; I met Glenn to comprehensively discuss the itinerary of the climbs night Bicol. The night of that day, we left Dasmariñas City and proceeded to Naga City. We arrived in Naga City at 4:00 AM… stayed in McDonalds and waited for the 8:00 AM opening of DENR Office to claim our prearranged permit.
I was not feeling well and very tired that time because of almost three sleepless nights due… to the rainy Pulag climb and the long travel time from Benguet to Cavite and eventually to Bicol. My head is aching, and I was cough starting to disturb me but I need to be stronger because I don’t want to spoil the long-dreamed climb of my two companions. What I did is to ensure myself with proper and enough medicine.
At 8:15 AM, we proceeded to the DENR Office to claim our permit. Unluckily, the process took unusually longer because that time was the DENR’s Christmas Party. Nonetheless, while waiting for the papers; we were able to attend their office Christmas Thanksgiving Mass. Everyone in the office was understandably busy… some even asked us to join in the banquet. It was already 9:30 when we received our documents.
Our travel to jump-off point was smooth with the help of friendly locals. We found the jeepney terminal to Panicuason by asking the friendly vendors and the tricycle drivers. We left the city proper at 10:05 AM.
On our way, the warm jeepney driver volunteered to bring us at the very ‘doorstep’ of the jump off for a very minimal cost. We met Jun, the DENR assigned guide in their hut within the periphery of the jump off. Jun explained the character of the trail and the specifics of our trekking. Our pre-trekking activities gave us enough confidence to explore the mountain.
We started trekking at exactly 10:50, with high morale and enthusiastic spirit but aware of the probable challenges that we will encounter. Few steps from Jun’s house, we started to deal with the first challenge, limatik! We passed through the farmland, to a mountain resort and entered the GSP-BSP campsite while guarding our body from ground black limatik attack. After a while, we found ourselves dealing with moderately steep and slippery trail, this time the challenges were black and green limatik with tiny mosquitos. The beauty of the forest, vibrant sound of birds, the different types of butterfly and the buzzing insects did not fail to amaze and delight us… to the point that we disregarded the persistent limatik and mosquitos.
At 8:15 AM, we proceeded to the DENR Office to claim our permit. Unluckily, the process took unusually longer because that time was the DENR’s Christmas Party. Nonetheless, while waiting for the papers; we were able to attend their office Christmas Thanksgiving Mass. Everyone in the office was understandably busy… some even asked us to join in the banquet. It was already 9:30 when we received our documents.
Our travel to jump-off point was smooth with the help of friendly locals. We found the jeepney terminal to Panicuason by asking the friendly vendors and the tricycle drivers. We left the city proper at 10:05 AM.
On our way, the warm jeepney driver volunteered to bring us at the very ‘doorstep’ of the jump off for a very minimal cost. We met Jun, the DENR assigned guide in their hut within the periphery of the jump off. Jun explained the character of the trail and the specifics of our trekking. Our pre-trekking activities gave us enough confidence to explore the mountain.
We started trekking at exactly 10:50, with high morale and enthusiastic spirit but aware of the probable challenges that we will encounter. Few steps from Jun’s house, we started to deal with the first challenge, limatik! We passed through the farmland, to a mountain resort and entered the GSP-BSP campsite while guarding our body from ground black limatik attack. After a while, we found ourselves dealing with moderately steep and slippery trail, this time the challenges were black and green limatik with tiny mosquitos. The beauty of the forest, vibrant sound of birds, the different types of butterfly and the buzzing insects did not fail to amaze and delight us… to the point that we disregarded the persistent limatik and mosquitos.
We reached camp 1 after an hour where we enjoyed our lunch and had a brief rest.
While on our journey to the camp where we were scheduled to set our tents, rain poured heavily, I was shivering in cold and my head was terribly aching that time but we continued our journey. We reached the highest campsite at around 5:25 and immediately took the chance of setting the camp and preparing our dinner while the rain is manageably weak.
After our dinner, we rested in our tents and went asleep earlier than scheduled but after a while, a challenge occurred. My rest was disturbed when rain poured torrentially and water started seeping in my tent. I also heard my fellow climbers suffering the same situation. I decided to go out of the tent under the rain and further dredge a canal to create a swale to divert the groundwater to other direction. That time I was already suffering from fever and persistent cough so, I decided to take ascorbic acid and paracetamol. Luckily, the trench that I did worked out and spare me from further seeping groundwater. Almost all my things were already soaked in water including my sleeping bag. So I decided to lie over the sleeping bag and use the towel that I managed to spare from the rain as blanket. I failed to sleep and rest well but at least, my fever subsided and my cough weaken when morning came.
While on our journey to the camp where we were scheduled to set our tents, rain poured heavily, I was shivering in cold and my head was terribly aching that time but we continued our journey. We reached the highest campsite at around 5:25 and immediately took the chance of setting the camp and preparing our dinner while the rain is manageably weak.
After our dinner, we rested in our tents and went asleep earlier than scheduled but after a while, a challenge occurred. My rest was disturbed when rain poured torrentially and water started seeping in my tent. I also heard my fellow climbers suffering the same situation. I decided to go out of the tent under the rain and further dredge a canal to create a swale to divert the groundwater to other direction. That time I was already suffering from fever and persistent cough so, I decided to take ascorbic acid and paracetamol. Luckily, the trench that I did worked out and spare me from further seeping groundwater. Almost all my things were already soaked in water including my sleeping bag. So I decided to lie over the sleeping bag and use the towel that I managed to spare from the rain as blanket. I failed to sleep and rest well but at least, my fever subsided and my cough weaken when morning came.
At 4:30 AM, we woke up and prepared our breakfast to be able to be on time with our scheduled summit assault. Rain was still pouring but it did not hamper us to enjoy our breakfast. We left the camp and started the summit assault at around 5:30 AM under the very chilling breeze and torentially pouring rain. After dealing with steep, slippery and muddy trail; we reached the summit at around 7:45 AM. Rain was still pouring hard and wind was strong… but we were still very happy and fulfilled for reaching the highest point. We conquered Mt. Isarog at last despite of the unfriendly weather!
After taking pictures and briefly resting in the summit; we went back to the camp, still rain is hardly pouring. We reached the camp at after 2 hours. Under the heavy rain, we packed our things and immediately started to descend, with delighted and fulfilled heart.
After taking pictures and briefly resting in the summit; we went back to the camp, still rain is hardly pouring. We reached the camp at after 2 hours. Under the heavy rain, we packed our things and immediately started to descend, with delighted and fulfilled heart.
At 800 MASL, after two hours of downhill trekking, the weather improved. Fog started to reveal the downhill view of San Miguel Bay, mountains of the nearby Camarines Norte, the plains of north western area of the province. Although the delightful surprise was brief because we need to descend faster to cope up with our schedule, the beauty of the view is still vivid in my mind until now.
At 3:45 PM, we reached the trail head and immediately visit the nearby Panicuason Falls which is an unquestionably a good “admix” to our adventure. Mark and Glenn immediately enjoyed the very cold water while I decided to simply dip my feet on the clear water because I was then afraid about my health condition.
After enjoying the waterfalls, we then decided to go back to Jun’s house to take a hot shower and prepare for our journey to Iriga City, our next place of destination. While on our way to Jun’s house, I turned my head and saw for the first time since we started our adventure the clear and beautiful Mt. Isarog. There was no fog, no clouds, only the whole lofty mountain as if telling us to visit again and experience its beauty in fine and beautiful weather soon.
At 3:45 PM, we reached the trail head and immediately visit the nearby Panicuason Falls which is an unquestionably a good “admix” to our adventure. Mark and Glenn immediately enjoyed the very cold water while I decided to simply dip my feet on the clear water because I was then afraid about my health condition.
After enjoying the waterfalls, we then decided to go back to Jun’s house to take a hot shower and prepare for our journey to Iriga City, our next place of destination. While on our way to Jun’s house, I turned my head and saw for the first time since we started our adventure the clear and beautiful Mt. Isarog. There was no fog, no clouds, only the whole lofty mountain as if telling us to visit again and experience its beauty in fine and beautiful weather soon.
What was outstandingly memorable in this adventure is the sudden unusual energy that I felt when I turned around and had a glimpse on the mountain after completing the adventure, and in that very instance, my tiredness, body pain, cough and even the fever was gone. Scientifically, it may be due to the medicine which became efficient due to the psycho-emotional delight that was bestowed to us by this rough terrain in the heart of Bicolandia.