Almost heaven!

CEBU, Philippines - The freedom of wind with the expanse of sky – you can only get it while on Mother Peak of the roof of the Philippines – Mt. Apo (towering at 10,311 feet above sea level).

 This aerial view, to borrow the words of aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, can give you a “chance to seemingly escape mortality and look down on earth like some god.”

 Mt. Apo’s only recorded eruption occurred in 1640. That’s over three centuries ago. But only a hike can make us understand fully how Apo has created a highway to heaven along the Kapatagan Trail in Davao del Sur. Boulder-strewn slopes and a rocky countenance above timberline best define the Kapatagan face of the tallest mountain in the country. We were trampling upon boulders, not soil anymore, for about three hours, at 87 degrees at the most difficult stage, to complete our dream: Philippine Summits 3-2-1.

 Just before I would retire from this thankless job of writing just about anything under the sun – and before my climbing buddy of 12 years Cris Comendador would decide to take on marriage for a vocation — we decided to finish our journey. Mountain savvy propelled us up Apo last March 6, around 2 p.m., on the first peak and on March 7, around 6 a.m., on the mother peak. Sheer will brought us kissing the clouds literally, drenched by glee over the feat, and bargaining for a lift to the arch of a rainbow. Yes, while we were only praying for a clearing to catch a glimpse of sunset, we got a rainbow for a bonus! It was almost heaven at the crown of the Philippines.

 â€œPhilippine Summits 3-2-1 Project” is the least we could dream of, with some other priorities to attend to: workload, rescue group volunteer affiliations, personal commitments. We did travel to La Carlota (Negros Occidental) in 2011 for the Mt. Kanlaon hike. We headed for Benguet last year for the Mt. Pulag trek, and capped our pursuit with the recent Apo climb.

 Cris and I decided we just have to take a long pause from climbing. I’ve considered mine as semi-retirement, though! We just have to take a symbolic graduation. And what better way to observe the rites on that crown of earth!

 Cris and I thought tears would overwhelm us. But it was the sunset burying Kidapawan and Kabacan in the twilight that stopped us from doing so. It was more sensible to shout at the top of our lungs from up there, where there were only the three of us on hundreds of kilometers of wilderness. It was our shout of exultation, of salutation to the Awesome Supreme whose masterpiece we believe is the very crown of earth we were standing on.

 We decided earlier to take the Kidapawan-Magpet Trail. I thought that because it was proximate to Cagayan de Oro as gateway of our trip, it would cut unnecessary costs. But Cris’ contact guide Dante “Meeting” Libo, a trusted mountain navigator from Bansalan, who runs a farm in Kapatagan (at the foot of Mt. Apo), told us we would appreciate more the climb if we see the boulders first. I was expecting a “chillax-ing” climb, as posted on Facebook status update. I don’t want friends to get the idea that every climb is “hardcore.” It should be fun, engaging, worth remembering, punctuated by our trademark silly-goofiness. But the twist was marked by a total of 11 hours traverse.

 Thirty-two-year-old Dante is the perfect navigator for the journey. He said he started as porter there while still 19 years old. In fact, he couldn’t exactly remember the many times he had climbed Apo. He just joked that he could have circled the island of Mindanao a hundred times if each walk, in kilometers, was connected from end to end.

 I would say Dante’s presence strengthens all the more my faith on predetermination. It was hard for climbers from out of Mindanao like us because if we are to climb by the book, we have to pay P750 entrance fee and a P500 exit fee. I don’t have a logical explanation for these exorbitant fees yet. And I would say the fees do not seem to do the job because garbage litter all over various camps of Mt. Apo. I also learned there are only about two cleanups annually. We arrived at a conclusion that since climbers pay exorbitant fees, this must have given them the idea to leave their garbage behind expecting that part of the fees would pay for mountain aides.

 Dante is Apo Sandawa’s gift to us. Months prior, I prayed hard we would end up negotiating with the right people. Those who have come to fully understand what every climb means to the uber-climber.

 Dante began explaining that because Mt. Apo touches three provinces, on three regions, policies vary. And we have to observe certain rules of engagement so as to be safe up there!

 I praise Cris for doing a good job in connecting with Dante, since the latter hooked us to Joel Juico, an expert motorcycle-for-hire driver. We had to get past the worst-road I’ve ever seen in my whole life. And we have to drive to the foot of the mountain, about 25 kilometers away from Bansalan town. So we entrusted our life to Joel, per Dante’s advice.

 True enough! Joel negotiated a bad road but still preserving the living daylights in us. I acknowledge that Joel and Dante are Apo Sandawa’s huge answers to that prayer of being ushered by “superhuman(s)” to embrace and kiss literally our one big love.

 Mt. Apo is a spectrum of environments — forests, boulders, a dead lake being vandalized by show-offs and ignoramuses; a swampland, Lake Venado, and Marbel River – a raging demon that entails nine crossings. Whew!

 There could only be one way to appreciate them all. Closer. As close as being a fraction of an inch away. So please take our staff and our backpack this time and make climbing your life, too. Be up there closer to heaven so you will know how cruel man had become, and shameless all these years, to have given our Creator a finite shape and a single face. Up there, this awesome ancient world and the old stars will tell you a very different story.

The sunset over Kidapawan underlines how we should come and renew our hearts at the very threshold of nature. The fog, the stars, the sky, the rainbow, the volcano is our story, too. A tale as old as time.