Mt. Binacayan: Step One to Greater Heights?

For the first time in so many years,  I went to bed barely past  nine hoping  yet  failing to achieve the elusive good six hour sleep  as preparation for an initial step to adventure that  I’ve been dreaming of before my arthritic knees and earthly self’s capacity to explore heights expires to my group’s first destination – Mount Binicayan.

Mount Binicayan is one of the legendary  mountain that was stopped by giant by Bernardo Carpio with his bare hands from collision that could have crushed the village along the river banks.  The other mountain is called Pamitinan.

To be sure, I started the day by taking a capsule of  RLR Squalene.  If only  I have a sufficient stock instead of the only have three capsules in my bag,  I should have taken more. Yet I had to leave te other two in case of emergency.

It was a drizzling dawn when I left home at 3:34  to the nearest tricycle terminal where Ma’am Sol Paguirigan and I met and took a tricycle ride to  Luver’s, Rodriguez, Rizal, where  the group started to gather at four in the morning.

Couples Sir Richard & Ma’am Dang Furuc and Sir J.R. & Ma'am Joy Sabulao;  mom & son tandem Ma’am  Teng & Charles Sabajas;  Sirs Donnel Dilidili, Alberto Velasco, JC De Vera & Elias Soriao and Ma’ams Jane Macagaling, Rio Ayuson,  Marycel Jacobe, Evangeline Dizon, Rebie Paz, Roniesyl Espina, Jinky Tuscano & Cristina Davalos were already there.  Later, Ma’ams Marjorie Bitong & Angel Bais  joined us few minutes later.

Except for the young Sabajas, a grade schooler & Sir Sabulao, a teacher at  Wawa National High School, everyone in the group teaches at San Jose National High School who decided to relax, and commune with nature  by taking the a less-traveled path in Rodriguez, Rizal - that led us to the Mount Binicayan summit.

In sub-groups, we took tricycles while others rode their motorcycles to the entrance of Pamitinan Protected Landscape  (PPL) (popularly known  as just ‘Wawa’ to local folks), which is one of the initial components of National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS).  Due to its historical significance and biodiversity richness,  it was proclaimed as protected landscape by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 901.

At  exactly five o’clock in the morning, Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) Office   had already 72  registrants  - 16 Tour Guides and tourists from Rizal and Quezon City, 24 of whom  were bound to  Mount Binacayan and 32 to Mount Pamitinan.  And the line for  registration continued to grow   longer.

I talked with one of the registrants in line, CJ,  a private school teacher  from San Mateo, Rizal, who said that  it’s his fifth time to climb a peak in Rodriguez, Rizal yet he reflected excitement like the rest of the first time climbers.

Tour guides and tourists or mountaineers, experienced and newbie like me were required to register at DENR office prior to entering the gate of PPL with very minimal fee of Two Pesos. A table of some stuff for sale was also set up where one can buy tourist stuff like gloves and little souvenirs.

Each of us in the group contributed Eighty Five Pesos (Php85.00) for  the Tour Guides.  As we were twenty in the group,  we were divided into three because it  is also a rule that a tour guide can only lead seven to ten heads.

We also dropped by at the Barangay Office for another registration.

By five thirty, we were already treading Torres Road.  Darkness still enveloped the area.  Good thing, I was saved by my companion’s flashlights  (I had none because I found out only last night that  what I thought  available at home was not working anymore and had no more chance to buy one) from possible slip or fall (lampa pa naman ako) along the way.

We had banters while walking and I wondered how many in the neighborhood was taking acre of dogs. I  only heard one that seemed to withhold its bark, maybe, shy to scare the passersby.  Animal silence could even be attributed to the fact that they are used to strangers going to and from Mount Binacayan.

As we proceeded ascending the pathway and began to catch our breaths, the group minimized talking (we noticed that talking while climbing is more tiresome.:-)) thus,  resuming chats during short stops for picture taking.

By seven o’clock, I was already indulging myself  with selfies and joining group shots  by everyone’s camera and cellphone.

For the first time, I made it!

Our struggles paid off as we savor the heavenly break that Mt. Binicayan offered us.

Documenting our successful climb with a group picture at the summit of 424 m. high Mount Binicayan.

The 360-degree panoramic view  was breathtakingly  beautiful and the sense of fulfillment so overwhelming as I inhaled the cool fresh morning air from the summit of the 424-m high Mt. Binicayan.

The sun did not show up so we failed to capture sunrise from the top but I believe cloudy day was a blessing for me and everyone as it spared us from  shedding more ounces of  sweat and further struggle during our adventure to and fro the Mt. Binicayan summit.

Smiling for my cam's delight while catching breath: (l-r) Sir Elias, Ma'am  Sol and Ma'am Dang.

At almost a decade and a half to senior citizenship,  I dream of conquering more heights with the group with whom I enjoyed company during my first steps to a summit.