180 by Mount Maculot. I guess mountaineers will find the saying "Do not change the mountains, let the mountains change you." such a cliche but it is exactly what Mt. Maculot did to me. It challenged me, it dared my limits and most importantly, it humbled me.
If Mt. Maculot gave me a 180, Pico de Loro gave me a roller coaster ride. It took me to my highest highs and my lowest lows. This is an experience I would, and should, never forget.
As far as I could remember, it all started when I felt like someone is following us. I somehow saw a light of a cellphone at the corner of my eye and I thought that someone hidden in the woods is planning on capturing us and making us the main characters in an award winning suspense thriller movie.
At that moment I asked my friend if someone back home knows where he is, he said no. This got me a little worried because no one knows I am at Pico de Loro either. We have one friend that we invited to go with us but we told her that this trip wouldn't push through because she is not able to join us. I ignored that feeling and we continued traversing the trail. After all, we already passed by the base station and we are an hour away from safety, or so we thought. We talked and talked and talked until the time we realized that we are not seeing trail marks anymore. We saw a couple of hints that we are on the wrong direction such as a water buffalo that is blocking the way and is staring at us, but we ignored it.
