Of course that was only the bottom of the first down stroke of a “W.”
By the time we reached the river bank, the moon has dominated the skies. With its light, I could see the silhouette of interlocking mountain skylines juxtaposed against a blanket of stars. And there, in front of us, was a dark mountain I have to conquer on an upward slope.
But first we had to cross a 30-foot length hanging bridge. If I were younger, that bridge would be easy to cross. I was now in my 50s, in the middle of nowhere, with my feet still trembling as a result of the rigors of descent, with a roaring river beneath in the dark. I was almost crawling with Rex behind who I could swear was grinning. At the middle of the bridge, I stopped with the false hope that the wild swinging should stop first before I proceed. It never did and Rex had to goad me to move on.
When we finally reached the end of the bridge, the scare of the crossing must have surpassed my being tired from the first leg of our walk. I felt I was ready to move on. But Rex said, “We need to rest. It is going to be a very steep climb.”
“So how much longer?” I asked.
“Between thirty minutes to five hours, depending…” he said with an impish giggle.
I smiled as I understood the wide range.
Actually the initial stage of the ascent was not as bad. We skirted the top of rice terrace retaining walls. It was a winding walk while climbing terraces which were like ladders to the skies. Then the trails became almost vertical, again on 70-to-80-degrees slopes. I was thankful that almost everyday, for the last 10 years, I was running four flights of stairs at least twice a day at my work in Oxnard, California. But even this was not enough for the steep ascent. It came to a point where I had to stop every 10 meters or so to catch my breath. I could swear that Rex’s white teeth were gleaming in the dark as he grinned though being patient and understanding of my predicament.
It was when I thought that I could not lift another foot up and was about to ask if we can just stop and stay the night here that I heard dogs barking at a distance. Never did I consider them as such but at that instant, the dogs to me became a sign of civilization. At last, we should be near our destination. The thought of maybe food (by now the spaghetti I ate earlier have already been spent) and maybe a bed, sort of pumped energy into my wavering feet. However, I still had to stop every 10 meters or so.
A couple in their late 20s welcomed us in their pine wood house atop the mountain.
“You’re early,” the man said.
“Early?” I replied, still puffing.
“We were not expecting you until past midnight. It is only 9:00 p.m.”
I did not realize we had hiked only for three hours. It felt like forever.
“Yes, he is fast,” said Rex referring to me.
“You call that fast?” I said.
They told me that compared to others who were fresh from the cities and have never been there before, I was really fast. Some take it for double the time we spent. There was one who reached the area midday the following day.
Thanks to my running up those stairs, I told myself.
“Of course, it takes us only thirty minutes,” said Rex, popping my gloating chest.
Food turned out to be rice with a viand of yummy wild boar meat. That was the good part. The bad part was because I was really exhausted, I could not really swallow. I was hungry but I had no appetite.
Bed was the wooden floor. I did not really mind. In my weariness, I would have not felt pebbles pricking on my back. It was 10:00 p.m.
Feeling like I have just dozed off for only several minutes, however, Rex was waking me up. It was 3:00 a.m. He told me that we had to move early because we did not want to attract attention from the others in the barrio; and knowing now my pace, he advised that the noon sun should not catch us where we would be ascending.
So, after a hurried breakfast of the same food we had the night before, we were on the trail. The initial descent was relatively very easy – only trails alongside mountains snaking to a 30-degree slope. With the moon still up and illuminating the trails, I also enjoyed the fresh cold mountain air scented with natural potpourri of pine and dewy grass. The dark silhouette of mountain ranges of the Cordilleras also undulated in the horizons.
It was 5:00 a.m. when we faced another hanging bridge – not as long as the one the night before – and, thank goodness, a dim brightness was already slowly filling up the sky.
Then the arduous climb started abruptly with the slopes again arching to 70 to 80 degrees. It came to a point where I not only had to stop every 10 meters or so. I had to literally lie down to catch my breath. Close to the summit, the sun was already high by 9:00 a.m. and I fully understood why we started early. I could have fried under the sun if we started later.
Looking back down, I also imagined how hard it would be for government troops to be climbing up these slopes. They would be easy targets for the NPAs in an ambush. I imagined government helicopters firing at NPAs but only if they could pinpoint where the NPAs are.
At this point, Rex fishes out a radio phone from his back pack. He said that they have gotten this from a government patrol they have ambushed sometime ago. The radio crackled with messages. “This is one way we track their movements,” he said. “We are safe.”
