ZooPilipinas

http://www.zoopilipinas.com/jeo/amuyao4.jpg

it’s like i heard someone say “tulog na man, pikit na, ayus lang yan, pikit ka na”. the next thing i knew the right half of my face was buried in mud. i opened my mouth to say the word “god”, mud and water slipped inside. i spat. earth aftertaste. i was lying on my right side. i felt the hard rain pound on my face and body. i laid still for a few moments, trying to figure out where im hurt. my left knee seemed to have hit a rock, it was screaming real bad. other than that, i thanked god i was okay. i was lucky my head landed on a soft mound of earth and not on a rock or anything that could zap the life out of me. i was really lucky. i looked up to where ive fallen from, cursing. there stood my 3 friends, ryan ria and mike, looking down at me with their headlamps as the only indication they’re there.

have i fallen asleep? or was it just the signal #2 typhoon kabayan that clouded my vision and made me slip? maybe i was already succumbing to hypothermia. idunno. all im certain of is that i was really tired. we all were. we’ve been trekking on the storm for 10 hours already by that time (it would take us another 4 hours to reach the already sleeping town of barlig). i remember the first time i went there four years ago, it only took us under 5 hours to trek down. but it was very different then. nobody in the team was injured and there was no typhoon. it was summer and everything was sunny and smiling. i brushed my previous amuyao thoughts off and tried to concentrate on the now-now time. we need to get our arses down, i kept telling myself, and i will not leave anyone behind.

there were only four of us, ryan, ria, mike and me. the other apexterra heads backed out a day before the climb. ryan’s right knee, which was injured from his last climb, acted up when we started our descent. hours later both of his knees gave up on him. that and the strong typhoon, freezing cold rain and the unforgiving strong winds, slowed our descent to an españa-quiapo jam. hypothermia poked every now and then. i did pray on our way down, a lot. i know all four of us did. i kept on begging for the rain to stop, i wasnt sure anymore how long my body can take the extreme cold. my marmot thermal jacket was no use anymore. everything was soaking wet. there was no cellphone signal. shit.

i was so exhausted already. but i know i wouldnt give up. i couldnt. i was their only guide on that climb. and if i falter, i will fail all of us four. mike, ria and i divided and carried ryan’s stuff to ease his descent even just a little. he kept on pushing himself down, both legs constantly rejecting his brain’s orders. i knew the feeling. ive been there. in my very first mountain climb, which was in mt. banahaw with my sacrilege mountaineer friends, my knees also gave up on me. so i know how hard it was for him. and i knew that when your body have given up on you, all that is left is the willpower inside of you. good thing he had tons of it.

we reach barlig at around 12 midnight, it was already a ghost town. the storm have not ceased yet. we searched for a place to stay and found halfway inn. we were forced to stay there for three more days because landslides have blocked the way that connects mountain province and ifugao. we spent the days mostly resting our aching bodies. we would head out from time to time to talk with the locals for updates about the typhoon and landslides. there was no cell signal in that small town but a couple of locals have their cellphones connected to a high tv antenna which manages to get a weak signal. they were kind enough to let us use it to communicate with our friends and families back home.

we were all so thankful for surviving that weekend. and more lessons have been learned from that climb.

i gotta thank everyone who helped and showed concerns. daren, ish (ria’s cuz) and our good friends here in manila. manong nataniel and his wife for trying a number of times before finally succeeding on picking us up at barlig and driving our asses safely through the landslides. manang edel for letting us stay in her place. the NGO and autobus office at banaue. natalia of mfpi for calling and checking if we were already okay. (we do not know her in person but it’s one of the great things about mountaineering, the concern for the people you share the trails with even if you dont know them) my boss of course for not firing me hehehe. si god? the whole climb i was thanking him. and i know it will never be enough.

ayun. i gotta say i was humbled more by the experience. by mt. amuyao. by the typhoon. by this earth we walk upon. by everything.