Exactly a year after our Mt. Talomo climb, it's time to conquer the highest peak of the country, Mt. Apo. This should have been our our first conquest, unfortunately, due to the forest fire, it was closed.
Again, our gratitude to Eng. Albert C. Gabriel for facilitating our climb, http://www.mtapoadventures.com/. Of course, having experienced the climb to Mt. Talomo, our preparations was much lighter since we were already equipped with clothing and gears. By the way, we were informed that as of this date (18 Oct 2017), we were the last mountaineers to climb Mt. Talomo.
Day 1 at 4 AM, we were ready to start our trek to Mt. Apo.
We used the Brgy. Sibulan, Sta. Cruz, Davao Del Sur as entry point. After almost an hour bus ride from Davao City, we arrive at Sta. Cruz to eat breakfast and to shop food supplies.
A 45-minute motorcycle ride brought us to our entry point at the foot of the mountain.
The trek begins. At first, it seems so easy, but the worst is yet to come.
Yes, the worst is yet to come. At the back drop are heavy clouds because the day before, Super Typhoon 'Paolo' hit Mindanao with 240 kilometers per hour maximum sustained winds and gusts reaching 296 kph. In fact, we were one of two groups reported by Bombo Radio to climb with the storm just passing by. With limited time for the sembreak, the climb must push through.
Along the trail, a garden of cabbages.
After reaching the marker, the temperature went down. Wind and rain welcomed us. During the hike, we met mountaineers on their way down warning us of zero-visibility at the peak, which they failed to reach. But our hopes were not dampened.
After almost nine hours of hike, wind, rain and mud along the trail, we reached our campsite, and camped for the night.
