Together with two friends of Flor: Liana and Dwight. We booked a 3-day tour to climb Mt Apo. We had to carry our own gear, but the food would be carried by a porter. The original itinerary was:
Day 1: climb to basecamp
Day 2: climb to the top and back to basecamp
Day 3: return from base camp.
Sounds very doable.
We stayed overnight in a bunk room and got up before 6 a.m. to get to the meeting spot. Joel our guide was there and we had some breakfast and put lunch in our containers. After that, we drove to the track. The last bit of the road was unpaved and I held my heart but the 4×4 car made it! The motivation was the more we drive the less we have to walk.
Parked the car and it was time for our briefing. Honestly, there is not that much to brief. We walk up and we pause whenever we want a break. Hiking is that simple! But the guide did inform us already about the paths, the views, and the expected duration. There was also a scale present. This is for the porter he got paid per kilo. His was 30kg! Cannot imagine the food that must be in there. I offered to carry some, but I also didn’t want to take away his job. An odd feeling. Not surprisingly my backpack was the heaviest at 14kg and Liana had the lightest with 10kg. So quite evenly distributed.
We set off after the group pictures and soon Dwight realised that walking uphill is an exercise. But it was only 7:30 am so plenty of time to walk 6km. First through farmland and later through rainforest. Absolutely stunning! And the similarities to the Northlands forest of New Zealand surprised me! Yes, there are different trees, but also the same as the tree fern. Moreover, it had the same feel and character to it. Like the terrain with roots, fallen trees, and big steps up and down instead of a gradual trail. According to the guide, we made a really good pace and we were much faster than most. The Sweden trail legs were still there so I personally could go faster, but I prefer company over pace and I don’t think I was allowed to hike solo. The fog came in after the break increasing the mystical feel of the forest. But also made me worried because my tent isn’t designed to withstand tropical rain. And the rain forecast isn’t mild.
At midday, we reached the campsite! So there wasn’t anything more to do than pitch the tent and relax. The newest addition to the campsite was a shower. The water was provided through a hose. Getting cold refreshing stream water. I mean yes it’s cold, but also really refreshing and makes me feel so much better! Flor went after me and even Dwight and our guide embraced the cold water.
Flor brought a tarp which we used over the sitting area. This was a good decision because it rained in the afternoon. So underneath the tarp, we could eat our dinner dry. Unfortunately, the rain intensified as water was already seeping a little bit through the floor of the tent I was worried. The floor was explainable because even though we were on a slope and not the lowest point. Still, a puddle formed. The large raindrops sometimes penetrated through the outer fly. Giving a little spray that would come in the tent. I was so so so worried. My down-sleeping back is not supposed to get wet. I did get out to assess the situation. I created a trench that drained the puddle. Re-pitching the tarp over the tent or relocating the tent would be a hassle and probably get us more wet than it would be useful. So unless rain came straight through I didn’t want to do anything.
The rain continued all night and it was still pouring at midnight (our original wake-up time). I needed to pee already but the guide decided not to wake us. I did not want to go out and as soon as I was back in my warm sleeping bed be called to get up. So I fell in and out of sleep with a full blather. Eventually, we got woken up at 2 a.m. I sprinted off to pee!
Crazy enough with all the food that was brought up, there wasn’t anything for breakfast. We would get breakfast at the top carried by the porter. Luckily I brought snacks because there is no way I’m capable of walking up to the highest peak, in the dark, for multiple hours without food.
The night hike was great. By myself, I would be so scared from all the weird tree shadows and I would be scared to get lost. But Joel was here to guide us up and with 5 headlamps, it wasn’t that dark. Soon after we started I struggled a bit. The height, the climb, the terrible sleep, and, what I didn’t realize, a lot of Sulphur in the air from the vents of the volcano. When looking at the city lights in the valley, you can see the air being hot, as you see above heated tarmac. I used my buff as a mask which helped. 10 minutes later my body was accustomed to the hiking and the air and it was much easier after that.
Because we departed later than we originally were supposed to, we weren’t at the top at sunrise. But seeing the boulders we had to climb over, made it easier. It was challenging but also a lot of fun! We made it to the top after a final tough climb. It is rewarding to reach it and even more special to do it together. Of course, the real work started at the top. I mean modelling for all the photos is exhausting!
When everyone was finished with the photos we started to descend to walk towards our breakfast. But the Porter is so quick that we didn’t get far. I still needed to get used to the rice breakfast, but as I was already awake for 5 hours, it felt more like lunch. Then for the people who know me well, they know that I can find rice on itself difficult, but I finished my meal in a record time. Nomnomnom.
As we were so fast, we would descend all the way back to the car. As I dislike going downhill, it wasn’t something I looked forward to. But I survived Kebnekaise, so I would survive this. Probably.
The way down to camp was doable. Just take your time, focus on your footing, and don’t forget to enjoy the view as you go downhill. Even the forest part at the end to reach base camp wasn’t bad. There we could relax if we wanted because they were still busy cooking lunch for us (I know so spoiled now!!). Flor and I decided to start packing up. Probably the Dutch genetics to be efficient and to finish the job as quickly as possible.
After another delicious lunch, we set off. The fog had come again and soon the tropical rain came. The temperature and getting wet weren’t the issue. The trail became so so so so so so slippery! I did fall a few times and on one of the falls I twisted my knee slightly wrong. Nothing too serious but definitely something to be careful about as I want to hike way more miles! After a stupid decision by stepping from one slippery fallen tree to another while there wasn’t anything to hold and I wobbled and to stop myself from falling 1m down, I tensioned my whole body. My knee did NOT agree with this and started to hurt whenever I would slightly bend my knee. It took 5 minutes for me to be able to set aside my pride and asked for a break so I could apply tape. Luckily the guide was prepared and gave me a kneeband. It didn’t take the pain away. Duh, it’s no painkiller, but it took away my fear of injuring it further. I decided not to take painkillers. If I prevented bending it didn’t hurt and I take those pain signals very seriously. There was no good reason to push and risk injuring myself more. So based on the pain I continued slowly down.
It took forever
Even when we saw the town, the pure clay downhill was torture and I fell again. Luckily I didn’t hurt my new. Only my ego because it was so slippery I couldn’t stop sliding 😂 I ended up head down in the mud. It did cheer up Flor who was also struggling. I think our guide noticed that we needed cheering up. So he suggested walking where there was water because that wasn’t slippery. I mean Flor and I both do know enough of Earth Science to know that it wasn’t true. So Flor said ‘Nah that looks even more slippery’ and Joel was like ‘Nah I’ll show you’. And he slipped and almost fell. So funny (sorry Joel! We did laugh at you).
The last creepy big jump over a stream that eroded about 2m into the ground was the last challenge. eventually, we did the jump at a slightly less scary location, but still. As I still couldn’t bend I jumped on my left foot and then let myself fall forward, so I would fall back and crawl further up (with a straight right leg). #ManateeOnLand
But we made it back! So tired but also so proud and fulfilled.
Thank you, Joel and his crew Paul and John, And thank you Liana and Dwight, and most of all, my traffic cone Flor!
Zilla-in-the-wild 