The summit of Mt. Manalmon

A trip was set, our destination – Madlum cave and Mt. Manalmon.

Starting from Bulacan’s entry point we traveled by bus almost two hours  more  before  we got to the location. We alighted the bus and warmed up for at least twenty minutes in preparation for the wading and trekking.

Jump  off point was several steps away from the Madlum cave and we reached the place after wading the knee-deep river. 

Madlum (derived  from a Visayan word madulum  meaning dark) cave, again, impressed me with its disco ball-like stalagmite at the entrance. The formation looks like a lamp shade of capiz and it glistened in the dark. Inside the cave, the strong odor of guano (bats’ excrement) took over  as we momentarily invaded the  animals’ haven.

We went out of Madlum cave one by one through  a passage

 which brought us to a rocky slope.

We trailed through a sandy riverside and waded the shallow body of water to get to the  path which would lead us to the campsite.

At the campsite, we were given the chance to plunge ourselves into the 7ft.  deep clear water as we waited for those who went up the summit ahead of us to come down. Students really had fun playing as they ecstatically swam.

  

 I could see their heartfelt appreciation of nature and freedom from classroom activities.

Then time to go up the mountain for our group came. The sun cooperated with us during the hike. It hid behind the clouds so we avoided the risk of sun burn as we trekked. 

Along the way a number of shoe soles detached from their shoe bodies were seen – the drawback of wading with shoes on first and hiking afterwards.

As we went up weariness among hikers was observed especially for those who weigh heavier than usual. We proceeded, nonetheless.

The immense rock atop the mountain which actually serves its summit was reached finally. The way to the peak appeared steep and there was nothing to cling to should a climber loses his balance. In short, it’s an activity an acrophobiac would never dare doing.

Most of the hikers took the challenge of getting to the summit with the help of the facilitators. I did climb to the peak of the mountain for the second time and didn’t regret doing it for, once again, I got to see the magnificent vista of the whole place.

We left the place feeling refreshed. Going back was a leisure walk for hikers managed to sing in chorus as we followed the trail back to the jump off point. They never spoke of thirst nor hunger as we walked back  but atrociously demonstrated both as we reached the area.  Forty-five minutes of trekking to the summit of Mt. Manalmon which couldn’t be accomplished without wading the Madlum river and another forty-five minutes of walking back undergoing the same but a bit easier procedures truly drained the energy and emptied the stomach of each hiker.

Everyone ate and quenched their thirst and then, we waded, again, the river and walked back to the buses  which  were parked at the entrance of Madlum area. Others chose to get to the other side through the zipline.

As everyone boarded the buses we left San Miguel, Bulacan. I sat and felt the comfort of the cushion against my aching back. Tired, I dozed off.

Another trip has come, another extraordinary experience with nature has commenced. This trek to Mt. Manalmon which stands 180 m. above sea level  is not so exciting  as the one I had in Mt. Banahaw but all the same, the activity gave me total freedom from all of all my responsibilities and let me feel the soothing caress of the natural wind upon my skin and breathe the fresh scent of the surroundings, which seemed to penetrate my entire being.  Above all, it reminded me of God’s immensity as I surveyed the majestic panorama from the top of the mountain.

Truly, all the efforts I’ve exerted on my second climb to the summit of Mt. Manalmon paid off.