profound bliss

It was supposed to be just plain mountain climbing but K, my climb buddy, wanted to go "chasing waterfalls" so we went to Buntot Palos (or Hidden Falls, as what the falls is known to the locals) last Sunday, July 24, 2011. We didn't get a guide anymore cuz we heard the trail was pretty easy to follow. You just have to lookout for this flat rock in the middle of the trail right after passing the second stream ( sapa ). A little before that rock is the almost invisible trail to the left that goes down to the campsite. Once you reach the campsite, there's another trail to the left that leads down to the falls area. It was very steep, reminiscent of the steep trail that leads down to Buruwisan Falls. But K seemed to find the descent so easy. I took a video of him at one point. You have to cross the water in order to get near the falls. The rocks were quite close together but there's this one hop I had to make that I couldn't do. The rock was inclined a...

After Typhoon Egay, which made my Mt. Kalisungan climb very difficult last June 8th, another Low Pressure Area (LPA) has entered the country. PAGASA says it will be called Typhoon Falcon if the LPA develops into a tropical depression. The weather bureau expects the LPA to turn into a tropical cyclone by Tuesday afternoon. It is reported to be stronger and wider in scope than Typhoon Egay. So hard to go backpacking when it's raining. And I'm planning to go to Buntot Palos tomorrow, that is, if it's not raining so hard. Google says water level in Buntot Palos gets incredibly high when it's storming. photo: pagasa.dost.gov.ph

Before laziness take away my urge to blog about my recent hike (just like what happened with my Lucban, Majayjay, and Mt. Maculot posts which are still non-existent until now), imma blog about it now. Two weeks ago, before I even got the allergies and stuff that doomed the first two weeks of my October , I already planned going up Pico de Loro. For one, I wanted to introduce two of my friends to mountain climbing (cuz if they liked it, I’d have more climbing buddies in my future hikes). Secondly, it already felt like eons since I last climbed a mountain (Sept. 20, 2010/Mt. Maculot). Thursday, after my successful visit to the doctor, I already told Gerald (who’s always too willing to tag along) about the climb on Saturday. I normally go out-of-town Sundays but Princess had a vet follow-up Sunday, plus the fact that I don’t wanna miss the Sunday mass anymore. Dan, another friend of ours, wanted to go but was hesitant because he partied Thursday night which emptied his wallet. Kenne...

I woke up around 3:30 AM that August 1 morning, so excited to go to a waterfall in Laguna which boasts of its freezing-cold water. Gerald, the friend who went with me to Kwebang Lampas last month, was also supposed to go with me on that waterfall trip. I texted him before I took a shower telling him to get his lazy butt out of bed. We agreed the night before to meet at my house 4:30 AM so we could start early. Ever so excited, I was all set to go a few minutes before the agreed time. But when I checked my phone for his reply, I found none.   By that time, I kinda knew something was off. I started calling him to wake him up, thinking he overslept. I rang his phone over and over for 2 hours. Nanay left for church at 6 that morning and she reminded me not to leave if Gerald wouldn’t make it.   But then I was all set wearing my new Penshoppe shorts , and with my rucksack packed especially light, I didn’t want anything (read: being stood up) to get in the way of having an eventful...