Mt. Arayat, Pampanga

Each mountain has its own beauty and cruelty. I would consider Mt. Arayat as my first major climb although it can be done in one day. A friend told me most would opt to camp out to fully enjoy what Arayat has to offer but our group opted for a dayhike.

stations of the cross from the jump off point

I always cannot sleep prior to a climb because I'm always afraid I'd oversleep. This time was no different. Despite this, I went ahead and five minutes of walking from the jump off I was already breathing heavily. I owed it first to my lack of sleep but I was weirded out because I never got this tired before. Suddenly guilty thoughts of sinful bacon consumption filled my mind and I was thinking of backing out that early.

But the call of the wild is hard to resist. More so, the many surprises the mountains hold. For instance, this was my chance to see the flora and fauna of Pampanga. Despite the many rests after only a few minutes' hike, we were able to survive. The first stop I though we already reached the summit but I was wrong.

bark mushrooms

I enjoyed going down a vertical by means of hanging vines after our second stop. This with my heavy backpack on my back! I felt like Tarzan. LOL!

 By lunchtime we got to a base camp. I ate only one of the two pieces of chickenjoy I bought earlier, saving the other one for later because we were told that the most difficult part was just right after the base camp site.

view from the base camp site

But it was a playground for me. Shortly after I was having fun climbing up an almost 90 degree slope despite the soft earth and one wrong move could send you flying to the ground. Perhaps my gym workout helped a great deal as it became a breeze.

Then it was time to descend, the hardest part for me. It's not only because I have not yet practiced the art of jumping down from one rock to another, but also because it would mean saying goodbye to nature again. 

salamander?

rainbow in the final summit

Because two of us in the group are slow in moving down, choosing to stay safe and slow rather than risk safety for speed, nighttime befell us. It was of course even more difficult to move because who knows what poisonous plants and animals are lurking in the dark. Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, we had to walk more than a kilometer more but now on cemented grounds. We practically had to drag ourselves down because of exhaustion and hunger.

It was already late at night when we got to the town so we missed the famous restaurants there, ending up in Jollibee instead.There I decided to go ahead of the group and take the bus to Manila because I was super sleepy and I needed to get to my bed pronto!

So tired yet happy!