MARAGUSAN CLIMB 1998 - Nostalgia

About thirteen years ago I joined the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines, Inc. (MFPI) national congress and climb at Mt. Candalaga in Maragusan, Compostela Province.

It was one of the so called unforgettable chapter and the most excruciating part of my life, literally.

I didn’t prepare for this climb because my co-workers back then said, it’ll be just a fun out-of-town camping but when we get there, I never thought I would confront the greatest fear of my life and that was to climb a mountain with just a mere can of sardines and a pack of noodle. But somehow I managed to survived the 12-hour uphill climb with all the leeches, snakes, mosquitoes and calling all the gods along the way.

I thought of sharing the experiences and photos that I had for the next month of Nostalgia.

So this is the invitation leaflet …

Maragusan town lies in the heart of Compostela Valley Province North of Davao City, it’s about 6-hour bus ride from Davao City. 

I remember we arrived Maragusan exhausted and hungry, I knew I could devour a whole elephant back then but there weren’t no open ‘carenderia’ during that time because it was on a Sunday and was also drizzling. So we requested an old lady in this little house to cook us food and we’ll just pay in return, that old lady was kind enough to feed us.

So the croc was full and went to rest, at a ledge in the municipal flag pole area, after a day’s rough road journey.

After an hour, the organizer buzzed us to gather at the municipal gym for the final instructions, but the rested croc went to get some photo opp with the majestic Compostela Valley at the background.

So, after our whats, the whys, the whos and the hows were answered, we were asked to climb this dump truck to be transported to the first camp. We actually don’t know some of these guys, but that was this climb was all about, extending arms and knowing lotssa friends …. It was a real clean fun! The dump truck ride was long and bumpy, I swear the devils around there has covered ears, human voices were too loud and piercing.

After we were dumped and all, just in case we’ll lost our way to the second camp after 12-hour hike, we’ll have at least a souvenir shot. 

More of this adventure next week.