Last weekend, my friends and I have considered climbing Mt. Talinis, the second highest mountain that can be found in Negros Oriental, at about 5905 feet above sea, level,also known as Cuernos de Negros or Horns of Negros. This peak is part of Valencia, approximately 9km southwest, forming part of the Negros Volcanic belt.Mt Talinis is popular because of the sweeping views. It has a number of lakes at its base, the most visited of which are the twin crater lakes of Balinsasayao: Lake Nailig and Lake Yagumyum. They are separated only by a narrow mountain ridge. Mt. Talinis is easily climbed via nature trails that start in Bidjao, Dauin and Apolong, Valencia.
We took the Apolong Valencia route taking off from Casa Roro at exactly 8am on April 9, 2010. Just on the way up to Casa Roro, which is about 20mins uphill hike, I was about to back out. My legs just wouldnt move and I was catching my breath endlessly. During rest time at the Casa Roro, my friends encouraged me to go on since we are almost at the mouth of the trail and that we were already fully-geared up. So reluctantly I went, with conditions that I am not going to be rushed and that I walk on my own pace.
I had mixed emotions going up, when the trail is all uphill, and I was catching my breath all the time, I kept saying to my companions that I'd rather go home than continue moving upward. This is the time when we all stop, set me up to a more comfortable situation, they give me water, let me eat salt to prevent spasms and just talk me out of quitting. Slowly, they took all my stuff one by one from me, first they gave me an improvised walking stick to aid me in the steep portions, they took my backpack for lighter load, they took anything that I might use as a reason to quit....what was left hanging in my body was my sling bag which carried the camera and some medicines...nevertheless, I was still the last one to arrive in every "rest point".
There were times when my shoe would get stuck in between roots, there were also times when I couldnt control my footing and would slide down with my butt touching ground, and countless of times that I had to stop to sip water to remedy a very dry throat...not to mention that my legs were always shaking. I had few sigh-of-relief moments when the trail is going downhill...but that doesnt stay long....the trail was mostly uphill, very steep, very narrow and very dangerous....well, one misstep will let you end up down the ravine...
All throughout my "agony", I was mesmerized by the view I have seen up there....the endless line of forest trees, the wild berries, the autumn-leaf ferns, the breathtaking greenery and the smell of fresh air, it was enough to give me will to continue walking despite my almost "distorted" legs...
When we reached the flowing river, we stopped for lunch. We had packed lunch of fried chicken, scrambled eggs, fish, rice, tuna sandwiches and meat loaf. We took few minutes of rest then off we hiked again to reach our destination which at that time was around 30mins to finish. We have divided our group into two, the first group of three were the ones who knew the trail very well and acted as our guide. Their pace was fast but stopping in a distance just enough for us to still see them. While I was with Kirk who is also a first-timer like me and Tymer who acted as our leader and has helped me a lot in this adventure...
At last after 6 hours of walking ( ideally, the trek can be done in 2 to 3 hours non-stop), we reached Nagabi at around 2pm, ( this is located at the foot of Mt. Talinis on the opposite side of Lake Nailig and Lake Yagumyum.
Up there is a very different, eerie yet exhilarating feeling. My first feeling was a sense of relief, relieved of being able to reach it unharmed and that my legs are still moving, I just couldnt believe my eyes....Everywhere I look, all I see is the lush greenery of vast forest and the nicely shaped mountains...It was just amazing. Not long after, we spotted some mountaineers coming down from Lake Nailig trail, it was such a nice feeling to see other people there. We had set up our tent just beside the hut of Yayang who has been living there for 15years. ( Yes, and they follow the trail at least 3x a week, imagine that!)
Another group of mountaineers came late afternoon, so all in all we were 17 campers in Nagabi campsite. The other mountaineers set up their camps just below us, but at nighttime, they came up to have fellowship with us. They were composed of mountain advocates who goes up just to clean the trail and the campsites, also with them were 2 Japanese volunteer nurses who are equally friendly and charming. Some of them were there for sheer fun and hike, just like what our group had in mind.
We spent sometime observing earth hour, talked about how to maintain cleanliness in the mountains and then introduced ourselves to each other and what followed was endless noise of talking, laughing, dancing, drinking and just bonding with fellow hikers. We ended the fellowship with some noodles and coffee at 2am. Then we proceeded to our tent which at this time was already moist. Inside, we hurried to be under the blankets and tried hard to sleep despite the very cold weather.
We awoke the next morning with a very beautiful fog covering the scenery. Once we were out the tent, we hurriedly went inside the kitchen for some heat from the flaming firewood.
The other campers invited us to trek down the sulfuric steam vent just few minutes walk from our campsite. Reaching the destination was quite rough due to uneven trail and rocky terrain. The vent has a very offensive odor, sulfur steaming out from it was painful to the nose, but the scenery was like being in another place altogether. It was all white due to sulfur residue, trees are dead and dry, water cascading was somewhat dull and the whole place was just lifeless.
After the trip to the vent, other campers went straight to twin falls, which I declined because of lack of sleep the previous night. I spent the rest of my morning dozing off inside the tent amidst the reflection of the sun flowing in. Then the afternoon was spent playing cards, playing games and preparing for frog hunting by the boys. They had makeshifts weapons to catch frogs and we rooted for each one of them.
We also went to the carabao puddle and there we took pictures of different plants we see along the trail, while the boys were spotting hiding places of the frogs they were about to catch come nightfall.
Our group was the only one left on the second night as the other campers left after their twin falls trek just around noon that day. So when darkness came, we just content ourselves drinking the last bottle of rhum and spent the night just talking with bonfire to keep us warm.
We also ate the frogs caught ( around 50) and enjoyed the cool breeze gently hitting our faces for the last time.
On our last morning, we spent an hour exploring other areas, we took pictures of ourselves in different spots, lying down, jumping up and just plain smiling.
Then after breakfast, we headed home taking the PNOC route. We stopped by at the guardhouse making small chitchat with the caretaker, asking for the right directions leading to the river ( where we stopped for lunch going up). More pictures were taken and then off we started our 4 hour hike going back to the city.
Once in the river, the boys went swimming while I rested my feet and breathed hard to prepare myself for the downhill hike. The hike downwards took a lot of effort from me, especially from my legs and shoes. I was wearing fencing shoes and it wouldnt break when I wanted it to, and controlling my knees to stop myself from going straight down was quite strenuous. But this time, I was raring to get to the exit of the trail, so excited to take each step as it means getting nearer to home.
It took me and my partner Tymer 4 hours to reach Casa Roro, although we made a few- minute stop on top of the mountain just to make chitchat while we secretly ate our last stock of snacks. (*wink) ....down there, we met up with Kirk who was waiting for us for quite sometime already and written on his face was the word WORRY because he was calling out to us but we didnt answer while still inside the forest ( he was calling when we were having snacks, thats why we didnt ansnwer...lol).
Time check was 12noon...my face and neck were red, my legs shaking and jolting by itself. I was beginning to feel the pain all over my body but we had to hike some more to reach the stop where we can get a ride back to Jack's house. We had lunch at Yayangs house just down Casa Roro.
My experience was exhausting, even very dangerous...according to the mountaineers, we took the hardest and roughest trail but the shortest one. I still couldnt quite believe that I have achieved this much, considering that I am not in my best body shape now. I am not fit, not enough exercise to sustain endurance, not enough healthy lifestyle to breath longer and not enough experience to tackle such long trek, but I made it and I made it with flying colors....despite the soreness I feel all over my body, nothing can compare to the joy I feel inside. Secretly, Im congratulating myself for this amazing feat I have conquered. I have survived Mt. Talinis, arent you proud of me???
