I've been feeling off these past few days. Maybe it's the weather. It's been raining here and I'm having trouble waking up at 5 AM to do my morning routine. Maybe it's the start of the month and I haven't set my goals leaving me a bit lost. But life must go on.
Our feelings are influenced by our thoughts. We're stressed when our mind is filled with things we don't want to happen. Sometimes, we only need to shift our focus to the things that we want and those that give us peace in order to improve our emotional state.
I want to blog and share my experiences online. It's become one of the ways for me to alleviate my busy mind. And with this, I'll continue my Trek to Mt. Binabag series.
THE HARDEST PART
From Part 1, I've shared how difficult it was to get to the drop-off point of the trek, how we got lost along the way, and how we rested more than we needed to. I ended with us coming out of a vegetable farm and starting our upward assault.
This part of the trek was the hardest because of the steep slope and the intense heat from the sun. There were no trees to provide shade. I was with my girlfriend and her friend, Jeff. We were all focused on our steps and our breathing was growing faster.
But the upward assault didn't last that long and soon, we reached the end of the upward trail. When I looked back, I saw how high up we were. I could see the bay area of the city. We were catching our breaths as we enjoyed the view in front of us.
The trail continued to a flat terrain overgrown with bushes and trees. Ferns were scattered around the place and I could still remember the smell of the plants. It's a familiar smell I encounter every time I go to forested areas in Cebu.
I saw this white flower and didn't know its name. I considered taking it back for my mother but I didn't have anything to carry it with.
We continued following the trail, walking in silence. I was a bit creeped out by this part of the trek but I kept my thoughts to myself. I didn't want to scare my companions.
Finally, we came out of the thick bushes and saw our destination, the towers that the locals mentioned at the start of our trek. They were so close. But we couldn't walk straight towards them. We had to circle around the mountain and follow the trail.
ALMOST THERE
The trail continued through a wide cornfield. There were no more tall trees in this part of the mountain and I think it's because the people cleared them out or maybe it's because of the altitude.
We were excited to see how close our destination was. We picked up our pace in crossing the cornfield.
I saw again those white flowers on the ground and now I regret not bringing them back home.
The trail started going up and we slowly climbed our way towards the towers.
THE TOWERS!
I noticed the vegetation was changing as we neared the peak. The trail going up was full of ferns and Bermuda grass was starting to show. The view on one side was of rolling mountains towards the west side of Cebu. On the other side, I could see the east side of Cebu and again, the bay of Carcar City.
Looking up, we could see the towers ahead. We passed by more ferns and some shrubs. This was it! We've finally arrived at our destination.
As I've mentioned in Part 1, I didn't have expectations about this trek and I didn't know what I'd see at the top. The trek was easy compared to the previous ones I've done. But it was just as fulfilling.
The towers loomed over us and the strong winds made the cables produce a buzzing sound. It was like airplanes were passing by.
I think the towers were cell towers and it made sense that they had to be installed in a very tall location. We wondered if someone did regular visits to the tower for its maintenance. There was a shed nearby and thought that could be where technicians stayed during their visits.
WHAT WE CAME FOR
We travel to get to a destination and we trek to reach the top of a mountain. Yes, the journey is as important as the destination but the destination is always something to be enjoyed.
The view at the top of Mt. Binabag was breathtaking. I wished my phone could have captured the beauty of the landscapes in better detail but the pictures still show some amazing shots.
The odd plants at the peak added more to the contrast of the scenery before us. There were still mountains below us and they ended on the plains near the coast. The sea blended with the horizon because of the fuzzy clouds.
The sun was directly above us but we hardly noticed the heat because of the strong winds. The sky was so clear. Everything was so clear up there. After taking in the views at the top, we then explored more of the peak.
NEXT PART: EXPLORING THE PEAK
This series is not done yet! I still have to show you the interesting things at the peak and our wind-battered faces as we tried to take decent pictures of each other.
And that's it! The trekking adventure continues. I will culminate this series in my next blog and hope to start catching up on my book reviews. See you in the next one. Cheers!