Tapulao Conquered!

i am back! after a month long hiatus, im blogging again. well, its been a tiring last week of september for me. september 20, i am on 11-8 duty. the following day, 11-8 again. september 22-24, i attended a Basic Life Support/First Aid training in Buendia. Believe me, this training is tiring especially the part of having to do lifting and kneeling for the whole CPR return demo (doing it again after a year!) I have to do my initial packing on Wednesday for my scheduled Mt Tapulao climb (September 24-26). And the final checking of packed things is done on Friday, the last day of BLS training and also the day we are to leave (at about 11 pm) for Zambales. (Mount Tapulao is in Palauig, Zambales). At about 6:30 am, we started our climb. This is indeed a major climb. Ang daming assault ng climb na ito. Ang daming bato. Many episodes of going up and going down. It was tiring but satisfying that naakyat mo yung bundok na ganito kataas at kahirap ang trail. Nakakauhaw din itong climb na ito dahil hindi namin napansin at nalagpasan tuloy ang first water source. Tuloy tuloy sa second water source para makapagrefil ng tubig at makapaglunch. After that, 3-5 hours pa to the camp site. The applicants kept pushing through. I must admit medyo kinukulang na ko sa dulo papunta camp site. Pero I did not give up. I evaluated what happened sa climb. I need to improve my pacing. I am like a happy rabbit. Mabilis sa start , bumabagal na dulo. It is a good thing that nakakainspire ang TL. Her being strong willed enbled us to go on. Assault to the top is done the morning after at 6 am. At about 9 am, umpisa na ng pagbaba. Kasama ako ng TL sa mga unang dumating sa second water source. But again bumagal na ako in the middle. Sa kakamabilis sa first parts ng descend, i developed painful blisters sa paa. Well, i really need to improve my pacing - dapat malaman kung sang part dapat mabilis, kung saan normal lang, kung saan mabagal. Even though I must improve my pacing, I am very proud of having finished this climb. Mount Tapulao is one of the highest mountains in Luzon. Add to add that na lahat kaming applicants natapos ang climb whereas yung ibang seniors and guests failed to. (sorry po.) This climb is a learning step for all us beginning mountaineers of UP PGH Mountaineering Club. Kudos to all of us! See you all in the next climb! Until the next mountain to be conquered!