I guess it was a mistake, right from the start, to think that we could ever exact revenge on a mountain. When the guys first climbed Mt. Kalisungan, they weren't really challenged, they ended up being bored. They said that after what I had experienced at Tarak, I'm just gonna laugh at this trail. We forgot the most important rule in mountaineering, never underestimate a mountain. Never underestimate a mountain! The result: the most miserable night of my life.
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Six months after my last climb, my legs are raging to go. Mt. Kalisungan is in Victoria, Laguna and I'm thrilled to be traveling to the more eastern part of this province. It has this romantic, rustic charm that I just don't feel in Cavite or Bulacan. We passed by the town of Bay and I swear I could smell the delicious aroma of Monay Bay. It's one of the best bread ever! By 10am we arrived at Victoria and had an early lunch, then after some rest we started our trek. We were 18 in the group and that was the biggest group of climbers I had ever been with, it seem like we are in jamboree. Not that I have ever been in a jamboree, but I know it involves a lot of people. We joined Jeff at the head of the trail because, I am now much more confident with my trekking skills and I know Rozza is faster than most people and would get bored anywhere else but the front. It feels good to be the leading for a change, you get more rest and you don't have to wait for the one in front of you to move on. The trail in Kalisungan is very cool and shady. It is similar to Tarak but less stressful, no brooks you have to cross, you don't have to cling on rocks for your life and no dead trees you have to hurdle. Just lush greenery all around you. Sid warned us it would be so hot because of the practice of kaingin. I think the typhoons made this trail much more bearable. We did not notice it but that must have been the first clue that Sid's account on what to expect may no longer be applicable. It is amazing how a mountain could change that fast. Sir King said the grasses and the trees weren't there before, it is almost like a new trail. The last stretch was really steep and windy, plus there is also a light drizzle! This is so bad for my lungs. We got at the summit way before the others (wee!),so we have to wait for them. But Rozza and I were way cold that we can't just stand around. So we explore more of the camp site and ran around. There is something so joyful with running on a mountain, it is so liberating, like you are a child again. Only, I did not really ran much when I was a child, much less on a grassy mountain. So it just feels out of this world for me.
After resting for a while, we started cooking but the winds are making it so difficult. This starts our struggle against the winds of Kalisungan. When the sun started to set, I started getting worried. Our food took forever to be cooked and during dinner time, we just ate our food inside the tent because staying outside is so uncomfortable. It was supposed to be humid, with lots of insects flying around. Those were the things we were told to expect, but no insect would survive these winds. I thought of wearing a malong over my already multi-layered clothes but it just made me feel like I'm in a parachute. The tents also needed to be rearrange to protect everyone from the wind and you can just ask the guys how stressful that was. So after the tent rearrangement, our tent was placed at the back of Sir Mike and Ma'am Rose's tent, right beside the slope. I get that Sir M's tent would block the winds for our tent but it does not stop me from imagining our tent tumbling down the slope. Sometimes vivid imagination sucks. Anyway, tired bones must sleep, even if the winds are howling, we must try. Surprisingly, I slept better compared to my other camping experiences; but when I woke in the middle of the night the image of a tent tumbling down comes back and the winds are really making me question why I am not in the safety of my own bed. It also started to rain. I hear b\voices so it is comforting to know that I am not the only one awake on this miserable night. Meanwhile, I was contemplating when would be the acceptable time to barge into either Sid's or Jeff's tent for refuge but when I felt a small puddle with my foot, I immediately woke up Rozza and gathered our stuff. We transferred to Sid and Tina's tent. Soon enough, other tents are waking up because they are getting flooded too; except for Sir King and Jeff who seemed to be oblivious to our sufferings. All of us are now waiting for the sunrise because sunrise would mean the end of this miserable night. Anyway, since I am paranoid I still keep on checking up our tent, just too make sure it was still there. The wind was still very strong but the rain had stopped and the skies had cleared; wow! The view is amazing, the sky is full of stars and lakes are reflecting them, further you can see the lights of nearby Laguna towns. It's a shame that we could not enjoy the view.
Much later than we had hoped, the sun finally showed up. The winds were still not letting up but at least I no longer see our tent rolling down the slope of Kalisungan. We had breakfast and packed up, when we were ready to leave it started to rain again, we are actually among the clouds. The trail became really muddy and we had to use a makeshift cane to keep us from slipping. We are at the end tail, so we had no idea why we weren't moving like we are buses on EDSA. It was like that for sometime so on our first "real" stop, I made sure we are not at the back. After a lot of sliding in the mud and laughter we finally made it back to the starting point. Kalisungan's trail is by far my favorite but the camp out was really horrible, I don't want to go through that again. Would I come back to Kalisungan? Maybe but not during January.
