A Year into Mountaineering: Hits and Misses, Lessons and Stories - Draft

A beetle struggles on a blade of grass, the same way we struggle on the trail.
A cloud-capped Bulusan Volcano stands on the background.

I wanted to say that there are two kinds of mountaineers - those who blog and tell a story, and those who just climb and make no big deal out of it. It doesn't take long to realize that this sort of classification isn't accurate. The latter species do not exist - it takes ones heart to pursue a hobby that is not only physically taxing but financially as well; mountaineering is a big deal. British explorer Dave Nixon ones said that the whole idea of old-fashioned mountaineering is "to get there and get back in one piece, and tell the great story at the end of it". The story comes in the form of blogs, of facebook albums and attempts to share the story even with friends who probably do not care. Regardless of the form, anyone who climbs has stories to tell. Secretly, even, there's pride from doing something that most people can't or won't.

This pride, I believe, is strongest among newbies with just few summits on their belt. When and how I have gotten over the realization that I am actually climbing, I am not sure. Eventually, however, I stopped caring about how others thought and felt with what I was doing and concentrated on pursuing the hobby itself. I also stopped sharing pictures of my travails on facebook and restricted them to a select group of friends.

So how did the pride get torn down? A hike into the outdoors is a trip to an unwelcoming territory. It is where out weaknesses are magnified. The fear of death - from falling, from wild animals, from hypothermia, from over -exhaustion - are all perpetually imminent regardless of where one climbs. So they say, never underestimate a mountain.

At the top of the so-called Parrot's Beak in Mt. Palay Palay,
which I failed to scale during my first attempt.
Pic from Gen E Sis.

Looking back in the twelve months that passed - of blog backlogs, videos and pics I promised to upload but haven't, and the insane amount of people I've added on facebook - I am glad to realize that I haven't gone tired. The cycle goes - we want to quit while on the trail, but off the trail - in front of our suffocating workstations - there's always like forever between today and the next hike.

I'm probably the biggest climbing pussy one can ever meet. 

I know my limitations and fears, but with poor judgment I tend to exaggerate them. 

Here, I struggle on my way down the coral formation on the peak of Mt. Napulak. 

I have to be braver next time.

I've stopped promoting mountaineering in Facebook as soon as I lost count of the mountains I "conquered" (to use that infamous word). The numbers ceased to matter - we matured, increased our tolerance for pain (read: lactic acid build-up) and learned lessons. Mountaineers are an idealistic bunch - for all out varied personalities we hold many things in common - we are self-proclaimed guardians of Nature and this we mix with angst and pride. Eventually, however, we soon realize that we are nothing but intruders to the last pristine frontiers of man, and that at every step we change the ecosystem, trample on a flower, kill an insect - this we do even as we stay on the trail, and worse so when we wander off. Mountaineering is a necessary evil. I believe that those who will heed the call of the hobby will eventually find their own ways of enticing themselves; I respect those who believe otherwise. Up to this point I am torn between joy and fear that mountaineering is increasingly becoming more popular. We have a large group of yuppies with money to burn and boredom to kill. As selfish as this may sound, it is important that we strike a balance between the evil and the necessity.

This realization has taken a new meaning after our anniversary climb in Mt. Tagpaya. A picture of a trash bag that out group left on a tree was circulated in Facebook, earning the ire of many mountaineers. It was an honest mistake and lest I resurrect an old issue that has long been resolved - a public apology was release which was later taken down - it was nonetheless an opportunity to have an attitude check. Sure, I keep every trash I make and leave nothing on the trail. While I wasn't directly responsible for the controversial trash bag incident, it sure did reveal the extent of how serious I was with the "leave no trace" principle. I only cared about my own trash. This incident would definitely change my future hikes for the better.

To say that Nature is a force to reckon with is an understatement. We do not have a choice but to live the way the forces of Nature allows us to - like dusts that go where the wind blows. Our only difference with dusts is that we have limbs and a feeble brain, and with effort we manage to some extent. And one is

We can plan ahead and bring all the best gears that we have, but it's Nature that has the final say on how a hike will turn out. I had a taste of the forces of nature during my attempted climb of Mt. Hibok Hibok in Camiguin. An LPA lashed out in the island

Stranded in Camiguin.
My worst hike was when I wasn't able to -
with rains pounding hard the chance that I'd be allowed to proceed was nil.
To make things worse, I broke my phone's LCD and I lost contact with my guide. 

Sunny day at the summit of Mt. Arayat. Not all climbs are like this.
Photo from Ron Hubsch.

In the middle of a thunderstorm in Bulusan Volcano.
Pic from JB Galledo.

Mountaineering teaches humility, imbues both physical and emotional strength. It also gives us a different perspective about the world, about life. Looking into a vast landscape with an imposing mountain in the background is like peeking through a wide-angled lens. We try to make out what the complete picture is, but we fail, what with a mountain's sheer size and unsettling beauty. We realize that life is too short to spend being content with the humdrum of our ordinary lives. We realize that that we can choose to become part of something bigger, by exposing ourselves into a bigger, albeit less-explored part of the world, beyond our homes and our cities. And ultimately, we gain a sense of responsibility of preserving it, for ourselves and for the future generation.

SPOILER
The beetle in the first picture is actually dead. I just made it "pose" for the camera. :P