Into the Highlands of Antique

Hello everyone!

Let's just say that this has been one of the greatest struggles in my mountaineering life. This is the reason why I was lethargic for the most part of September. Who wouldn't be lethargic when I almost died on that mountain? Literally, that was the sickest I've felt in my whole life, and I've had my fair share of sickness. The only thing that was on my mind as to why I survived was my 30th birthday celebration with the Amancion kids. It was humiliating as it was humbling. So far, Mt. Madjaas is the only mountain I haven't been able to summit. I was even thinking of quitting mountaineering altogether. Maybe age is already catching up with me.

After the life-and-death situation in Mt. Pangasugan, which we were still able to summit, I thought I could still manage Mt. Madjaas even with little physical preparation. In short, I got overconfident with myself. It took me this long to talk about this because it was really humiliating. Maybe it was meant to humble me.

I prepared everything for this mountain climb except that I didn't do pre-climb activities. I bought a new bag and shoes, and I have a new sleeping pad. Maybe there was a curse in the new items because I wasn't able to summit, but really it was my lack of physical preparation that doomed me.

Before leaving for the airport, I already felt a slight itch in my throat and I started to cough. I dismissed it, but I bought a lot of medicines for fever, cough, and other sickness that I might feel while on the mountain. Our flight was very early in the morning of August 19, but I had no sleep the night before. I was busy preparing my stuff.

We arrived in Culasi, Antique with me having less than an hour of sleep in the van. We had our permits processed at the tourism office and at the police station. From the posts of Hive account@mariasalve, she detailed that it was their revenge climb. The three of them (Maria, James, and France) had already attempted Mt. Madjaas before but failed to summit. Junji and I completed the minimum requirement of five for a group to climb. Everything was fine, but it was too hot that day. I forgot about my cough, maybe because of excitement.

After completing the paperwork, routine orientation, and police questioning (which I became the main character at the police station because of my degree - Chemical Engineering), we hailed habal-habal (motorcycles) that would take us to Brgy. Flores, where the jump-off to Mt. Madjaas is located.

I was in high spirits even if I could already feel that my bag was heavier than the usual weight I carried during major climbs. We were still on Flores Bridge, crossing over Tibiao River, but the heat was already unbearable for me. Good thing I bought a hat at the tourism office, but that was apparently not enough to prevent me from getting sick.

We started the hike at around 12:00 noon and it was the start of my "calvary". While they were enjoying the beauty that was deprived of them in their first attempt to summit Mt. Madjaas, I started to feel the fatigue, but of course, I didn't let it overpower me. I was able to power through until the forest area.

We rested once before we reached the village and I was confronted by the steepness of our assault before climbing down to the campsite. But the beauty of the place is unmatched. If only I was at my 100%.

While resting, it was then I started to cough profusely. I don't know if they've noticed because I tried to hide it, but I knew it was not normal. The combination of no sleep, scorching hot weather, heavy load, no pre-climb preparations, and steep terrain started to deplete my energy. Even then, I didn't want to feel tired because we were still too far from the summit.

I was able to appreciate the beauty of those rice terraces only when I started to sort the photos. It took me two months to finally accept that I wasn't able to summit a mountain for the first time. I almost shelved these photos because I didn't want to talk about my failure. Then I realized those were necessary events to help me see what I've become - one big inflated ego. Plus, these photos are too beautiful just to be shelved.

These rice terraces are located at the last village of Brgy. Flores is said to be maintained only by one old settler of the village. I've seen rice terraces in Benguet, but we were on a van most of the time back then. Standing at the edge of one rice paddy, even if my body was already starting to signal my impending sickness, was a surreal feeling.

I guess it was one of the moments where I was fully aware. The rest of the climb felt like I was doing it because I didn't have a choice but to move forward.

As we left the village, the steepness of the trail became even more challenging for me. We were still on the open hills, so it was a vantage point to see the whole of Culasi and its neighbouring towns.

I was so amazed by the picture-perfect view, but for the guides, it was just a normal occurrence. Even the guide dog was unimpressed. 🙃 For me, it was a combination of beauty and burden at that time.

More photos of the highlands:

I think this was taken by Junji before we entered the forest area and before I went on autopilot and survival mode. Aside from the fatigue, I guess the reason why I got so sick was the change in weather from scorching hot to rainy and cold. It rained when we were already in the forest part of the trail.

I guess that's all for this post. I don't know if I'll be able to post the second part of this one. That was during the two days of being so sick that standing up was almost impossible. Of course, I was left at the campsite while they hiked to the summit. See you in my next post!

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits remote destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines). He's also a trying-hard photographer, so stay tuned as he shares his photos and his thought process while creating them.}

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