Mt. Amindiuen Edition (New Year's Climb)

Mt. Amindiuen, popularly known as Alto Peak, is the highest in Eastern Visayas (Region 8).  I used to call it “Alto Peak” but the locals discouraged us to call it in that name because its real name is “Mt. Amindiuen”.  According to our guide, Alto Peak is the big rock located on the road intersection.   You can see it during your trek to the foot of the mountain.  Locals said that Mt. Amindiuen was only called Alto Peak because the previous mountaineers called it so.

     I spent half of my December 2011 exploring the beauty of Leyte.  I and my friends had this “research mode”. We surf the internet to look for beautiful places in Leyte where we can possibly visit.  After, either we go directly to the place or we will further research about the place by going to its nearby places to ask the people whether it will be safe for us to go there or not and the time required to trek the place. So almost everyday, I traveled with my friends.  I thought the 1st day of 2012 will be a rest day but I was wrong.  My laag buddy Benjie “Opaw” Sabelino, had always desired to conquer Mt. Amindiuen.  But due to his job, his plans were always cancelled.  On the last day of 2011, I saw in his eyes his determination to climb that mountain so I called up my friend who is familiar with Mt. Amindiuen to guide us.  His name is Peter Ian “Pets” Sano, a popular guide of the said mountain.  He was not supposed to guide us because on the day I called him, he just came from Mt. Amindiuen and 3 days after that he will go back there for another climb with “TAMAK”, a group of mountaineers.  But as a friend, he gave in to my convincing power.

trek and play

January 1, 2012, 0430H, we prepared for our climb.  At 0600H, we left and went to Cabingtan where Mt. Amindiuen is located.  We went to the Barangay Captain’s residence to ask permission to climb Mt. Amindiuen and to sign our name on his log book as visitors.  At 0740H, we started to trek to the foot of the mountain. During the trek, we get to taste the famous wild strawberries.  The trail was so steep that all we have to do was to trek without talking.  I, myself is a natural talkative but on that moment, I felt that uttering any word will cost so much of my energy. On the road intersection where you can see alto peak, Pets directed us to the 2^nd drill site of Energy Development Corp., the place where most mountaineers took pictures of themselves with the peak of Mt. Amindiuen as background.  0900H, we arrive at the 2^nd drill site. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see the peak because of the thick fog.  The place was so windy that it may even push you down the cliff. But still, we manage to pose before the camera to have at least a remembrance on that location. After some picture taking, we trail back to the road intersection and head towards the foot of Mt. Amindiuen. 

i found you leech!

We stopped for a while to have a rest and there they found out that there was a leech in my left eye.  We were still on the 2^nd drill site that I felt there was something in my eye. I asked Opaw about it but he said there was none so I ignored it.  The leech may have hidden itself in the eyelid to have a better taste of my blood. Fortunately, the leech was already full that it was easy for us to get it out from my eye.  

 1100H, we arrive at the foot and immediately started to ascent. We have to do the 4-wheel drive (somehow related to crawling) on some part of the mountain to stop ourselves from falling because of the slippery trail brought by heavy rains.  Roots were very useful in pulling ourselves up.  At 1200H we had our lunch.  I ate with my muddy hands sitting on a wet ground.  This is the point in my life where I realized that we don’t really need comfy chairs and complete set of eating utensils before we can swallow our food.   And lastly, we don’t have to be picky on our food, any food as long as it is safe to eat will do.  After 15 minutes, we again started to ascent.  

Pets said we are halfway to the peak.  He decided to carry Opaw’s camera and be our photographer (huwaw!..guide na, photographer pa!).  He also informed us that from that point to the peak, trail will be more difficult, steeper and slippery. And he was right, on our assault to the peak; we were like climbing a 90-degree wall.  Rain pours hard which makes our assault more dangerous and any wrong move may cost our life.  1320H, we safely reached thepeak of Mt. Amindiuen.  All exhaustion gone!  Beautiful wild flowers were like welcoming us and unfamiliar insects were there.  We may not see the view down because of the fog but the thought and feeling of reaching the peak safely is amazing.  I prayed secretly and said thanks to Him.  Sadly, we saw trashes on the peak, from empty bottle to coffee sachets to cigarettes. I just hope next time, other mountaineers will be responsible enough for their trashes. 

We all know that we are only on the 50% of our adventure; it will only be completed if we can return back home safely.  1400H, we decided to descent. If it was hard on our way up, it was harder on our way down.  Our pace was much faster than on our ascent, but the effort we put was twice or more.  We had countless slips.  We had to swing on tree branches.  We even have to hold on to thorny plants to stop ourselves from falling or slipping. We arrive at the foot at 1530H.  We immediately head to Amindiuen falls to wash ourselves.  Actually, it was only us who named it.  That waterfall will only be seen during heavy rainy days. Pets even told us that it was the first time he saw it.  Its cold water was so refreshing that it washes out not only the dirt on our clothes but also our tiredness. 1600H we bid goodbye to Amindiwin Falls and started to trek towards our jump off point.  It was non-stop and as newbies on the sport of mountaineering, it was already amazing for us.  I think Mt. Amindiuen was pleased because we named a waterfall after her name that she gave us the strength to do a two-hour non-stop trek. 1800H, we reached our jump off point.

After putting on some dry clothing, we head back towards the city carrying with us the memories we had on our trip to Mt. Amindiuen.  As Filipinos, we consider this adventure as palihi (“Palihi” in Cebuano is akin to an act that invites luck or the act of doing something that you want to be repeatedly done for the whole year).    I hope more adventures will come on 2012. ^_^