The group meets 4am in Quezon City. After several hours of packing and water-proofing, we're finally ready to go. We were 15 all in all: 8 applicants (of which I was a part of - 4 boys & 4 girls), and 7 older, more experienced members. We took 2 jeepney rides to get to drop-off point. On the second ride I was on the roof with a few friends - its the best way to view the beautiful countryside (that is, if you can hold on tight throughout the rough dirt road!). Unfortunately, it would be the last relaxing time we'd have. Sabi nga ng team leader namin (Dodie) habang nagjo-jokes pa kami: "Sige, tumawa na kayo! Mamaya, puro murahan na 'yan!". Hehe. He was right, though. So anyway, after all the laughter, our long trek began.

We climbed up and down, up and down several hills under the HOT sun! We all got sunburn in a few hours. The problem with the 1st day hike was that there was hardly any shade. The weight of our packs didn't make it hard - it was the intense heat and sweat. The group was begging me to sing 'Bakit Pa' para daw umulan. It didn't work. It was a mostly ascending trail hike (sometimes with an almost vertical inclination!). We kept on pushing ourselves till we reached the 1st campsite. All in all we hiked for 8 hours (9am - 6pm with only 30 minutes for lunch and a few 5 minute breaks).

It was already dark when we reached campsite one, "Henry's Camp" (you would have liked it - it was on top of a bed of flowers!). The sky was beautiful that night. We could see all the stars (cloudless, moonless night)! We pitched the tents rather quickly (sabik na raw matulog eh!). But before we slept, the rest of the group drank gin to stay warm. I was exempted coz I'm allergic to alcohol. The problem was almost everyone got drunk...including one of my tentmates, aka "Malakas"! She was hugging and massaging everyone and when we slept she wouldn't let go of my arm (actually okey lang yon sa akin kasi extra body heat din yun noh!). With the soft flower bed beneath my tent and a drunk girl holding my arm, I had a good sleep.

The second day was the hardest. It would still be a whole-day mountain range trek, but this time the applicants would have to go without assistance from the members (they intentionally went ahead of us). There would be no one to help us, no one to show us the right path. It was up to the group to figure out the correct trail (based on trail signs the members left). Oh, and the trail - unlike the 1st day it was dark, damp, steeper, full of @#$&! insects, and much more dangerous. We were deep inside mountain woods.

Although the conditions were miserable, the exotic flora and fauna made it a little interesting. There were blue and red spiders, bright yellow birds, HUGE ants, weird trees and big, fat vines. We almost got lost several times. We passed through knee-deep streams and climbed up muddy inclines. There was even a part where the trail was only less than a foot wide and if you fall to the side you'd literally fall hundreds of feet down the mountainside. The view from the highest point of the trek was incredible: you could look down on all the smaller mountains and clouds that passed by. Somehow later that day the group of 8 was divided into two; the last four got left behind. I was in the lead four. By the time we reached campsite two, "Inuman", it was 7pm concluding another 8-hour hike. The second team arrived about an hour later. We were all physically and mentally drained. I didn't even have the strength to take off my pack! I just lied down on it and fell asleep (for a couple of hours). That night I took the role of camp medic (coz I had the most complete 1st aid kit, or rather, mini-pharmacy!). The group suffered from only minor injuries - a few scratches and bruises. But muscular pain and fatigue really got us (thank God for Advil!). It was a small and crowded campsite - at the starting point of our Matulid River trail!

From that point onward there would be no more climbs - it was all downstream from there...the thought relieved us all. All in all we had been hiking for 16 hours for the past two days (not counting breaks and rest-stops). Oh yeah, for those times we had to take a dump, there were designated areas far from camp we called 'jebsites'. Hehe. Due to lack of space, I couldn't pitch my tent so all 8 applicants had to sleep sardine-packed in JP's tent. The other members had tents of their own.

DAY 3 - Shooting the Rapids!

The third day was both fun and painful. After eating a good breakfast, everyone spent several minutes water-proofing our backpacks. The only way down the river was THROUGH it - we had to ride the currents! But since we weren't crazy enough to haul kayaks through the mountains the past days, the only option was to ride our own BACKPACKS. It served a double purpose: to keep most of our bodies above the freezing water and to protect us from the jagged rocks beneath the waves. Of course, there were other precautions: we had lifevests and knee-pads. Because the current was strong, we adopted the buddy system coz the older members wouldn't have enough time to help us all.

Me and my daring tentmate, Ciel, were the first pair to go downstream after the members. We led our co-applicants! So there we were, all in the water floating with the current. It was very relaxing at first (like a boat ride in a carnival), but then came the rapids. It was soooo fast and wild! It truly was a white-water experience: foam and bubbles flying everywhere, sometimes we couldn't even see the river beyond it! There were times we were swallowed by the current and thrown off our packs. That's where we started to get LOTS of injuries. The rocks below scratched against our legs and we hit big rocks sometimes. For extra protection I wrapped the fly-sheet (2nd roof-layer) of my tent around my groin (now we know why it's called a 'fly-sheet'!). One time I thought I was going to drown when I was swallowed by the current. Our upper bodies were fine (we had lifevests and our backpacks to protect us), but our lower bodies took all the damage. My knees were okay (I had knee-pads!) but my cargo pants and shoes were shredded (not to mention my hips, butt, and shins)! Kawawa talaga yung mga nag-leggings tsaka shorts! One of the girls (Joy "White") who wore shorts and didn't have any leg protection suffered the worst.

She used to have nice, white legs, but after the rapids it was bleeding all over from countless scratches and wounds. Medic Ian to the rescue! Another friend (Janis) got a wound so deep, that white fat layers were coming out. (Okay, forget the band-aids. She's beyond help now!). Basically, that's what we went through the ENTIRE DAY. Rapids, rapids and more rapids. Actually I got pretty good at it! My buddy and I were at the lead most of the way (masyadong daring kasi eh!). By the time we reached campsite three ("Talangka") it was already dark. We were all cold and soaking wet. We camped on a small sand bar on the riverside. The group drank gin again to stay warm (they needed it more than ever!). I wore two layers of shirts and kept my vest on for warmth. A friend of mine (Ana) reacted really weird when she got drunk. She took me along and we went hunting for talangka (crablets). There were hundreds of them on the shore, and we caught enough to fill a pot (more snacks for the night!). She caught them with lightning speed, didn't care about getting wet, sang songs the whole time, gave the crabs names, and INSISTED that she wasn't drunk. Not drunk my ass! She fell asleep right after that and woke up the next morning not remembering a single word she said that night (which was all in English, by the way).

DAY 4 - Induction Night

The fourth day was similar to the third in the sense that we'd spend the whole day on the water. The only difference was now, we had FUN! We weren't afraid of rapids anymore and got used to the pain in our legs. There were difficult parts, but we seemed to enjoy the ride anyway. Well, except for maybe one girl who couldn't swim (Val). I was taking pictures of the group as they shot through the rapids. I went ahead of the rest and had time to swim ashore and get my camera...

VAL (out of control, struggling to stay afloat): IAN IAN!!! **gulp**ugghh** TULONG!!!!

IAN: **click!**

Got a good shot! She was really mad at me when we met further down stream! In the afternoon we reached a beautiful part of the river. The water was green, gently flowing and there were high stone walls on both sides. Ang ganda talaga! Our voices echoed and we could talk to each other even if we were separated by several meters. After thirty minutes of that wonderful gorge, siyempre, rapids na naman!

I was following our team leader as he shot the rapids when he was thrown off his pack and cartwheeled in the water (legs up, head underwater!). I was next so I held on to my pack like hell! Buti na lang the currents took me on a safer path. We reached campsite four ("Tarango") at around 5pm. Then came the SECOND group - 10 mountaineers who came upstream to assist in the induction rites and help us get home safely (coz the fifth day of rapids was going to be the hardest). There was celebration and a lot of picture taking. That night was induction night - the big one! It all started at around 11pm.

All the applicants had to perform for the members (a thing we call 'socials'). Sobrang laughtrip! While the girls sang, the boys danced to the tune of the Seiko Wallet theme, Beam Toothpaste theme, YC Bikini Briefs theme and Argentina Cornedbeef theme - without breaking a smile (para daw may effect!). You can imagine how humiliating that was! After that we were all blindfolded and made to do several hard and ridiculous tasks. I was made to carry a BIG rock while rapping a stupid song. Some of my co-applicants danced, others screamed Xmas tunes and others took a bath in sand and cold water (me included). Then we were all led into the river where we each had to kiss (or eat) a stone underwater and pledge an oath to the organization and, more importantly, to nature. Members na kami! Hooray! No need for hazing (the rapids took care of that!).

We were given hot soup and food. Kaso lang, before we could celebrate with the other members, it began to rain really hard. Back into the tents! We patched up our wounds and slept in wet clothes and sleeping bags. It was a very cold night, but we all felt good and proud of ourselves. From inside our tents, we heard several landslides (of course, that terrified us). We found out the next morning that one of those landslides happened right behind us, but it stopped before it reached the campsite. Our guardian angels must've been working overtime!

DAY 5 - Break Camp!

We woke up 6am that morning. My feet were already in water. The rain was still beating at our tents, but worst of all, the water level rose several feet - and was still rising fast! Flash flood! The water was no longer clear but muddy and full of debris (logs, branches, etc.). I clearly heard someone say "BREAK CAMP!!".

We had to leave that place fast. We all got up and packed as fast as we could. Imagine. If we all woke up 8am like we were supposed to, we'd all be underwater! It was back-to-the-river for all of us. The problem was, the current was a lot stronger and we couldn't see beneath the surface. We'd be shooting the rapids blind! But what could we do? It's not as if we had a choice! The ride downstream that day proved to be the hardest. But it brought out the heroes in most of us. The rapids were faster and we actually encountered FALLS (small ones, but nevertheless enough to seriously hurt us!).

Many people got injured and went the wrong way, but many also performed rescues (three cheers for Gino, Citos, and Dodie!). The older, more experienced climbers went ahead to watch out for us and pull us to safer waters just in case we drifted away (which happened most of the time). I was able to help a girl (Mar) who wasn't wearing a vest, and couldn't keep balance on her pack. She drank too much river water and I could barely hear her call for help...

MAR (weakened voice): Tulong! **ugghh**gulp** Tulong!

IAN: Shit! (Ronald and I swam out to get her)

MAR (crying): Ayoko na! Ayoko na mag-rapids!

IAN: Just hold on. Hehe.........TANG-___!!!

We shot down another rapids section. I let go of my pack coz I couldn't hold on to it while holding on to someone else. I caught up with it afterwards. One of the older climbers came and took care of her when we reached calm waters. Then later, 6 people (Jasper, Joy, Gino, Mar, Tony, and I) were washed to the right side of the river - everyone else went to the left. Both groups stopped on the mountainsides opposite each other. After looking ahead, we found out we were on the WRONG side: it was too dangerous, and we'd get stuck in a whirlpool. It was a strange feeling to see the faces of those people on the other side of the river looking at us with blank expressions. They knew what kind of trouble we were in - and they couldn't do anything about it. They went ahead (except for Dodie and Manny) and waited for us further downstream. The 6 of us waited for an hour thinking about what we'd do. Luckily one of us was an experienced mountaineer (Gino) and he proposed we'd pull ourselves a little upstream (holding on to branches and vines) and SWIM across to the other side, fighting the current before we'd reach the rapids. We formed a human chain. Gino tied a rope around his waist and gave us the other end. Sabi ng isa, parang nakita niya to sa Rescue 911! After giving us a little pep talk which sounded more like 'last words',...we executed our crazy plan. He was butterflying his way to the left side while the rest of us struggled and kicked like there was no tomorrow! And we made it (barely)! He was the only one to reach the other side, but since he tied himself to our rope, he used it as a lifeline and pulled us in with the help of the two mountaineers who stayed behind. We all treated him like a hero after that. He saved our lives!

During those times I went ahead of the others, I contributed to the rescue efforts with the help of the pieces of rope I was carrying with me. I tied them all together, forming a long rope, and 'fished out' people who floated to the wrong side of the river. All those years as a boy scout finally paid off! Then there were times when the rapids looked dangerous and everyone "hacked" an alternative route on the mountainside. One of those times, Ciel and I were at the back of the line coz she had difficulty carrying her pack. We figured 'what the hell?' and decided to forget the trail and try the rapids despite Citos' orders to stay with the group. Hehe. It was funny to see the faces of the others when they saw two crazy people shooting the rapids while they trekked the safer route. It wasn't so bad after all (I mean, we didn't die or anything!). We just got a few extra wounds, but we didn't mind - we were in the lead once again! The older climbers were watching us both...just in case we pull another stunt like that! We did, actually, and all they could do was watch! At the end of our river ride there were two boats waiting to pick us up and bring us to drop-off point for the ride home. All in all, we'd been in the water for approx. 22 hours (not including rest and sleep)!

It was a 3-hour boat ride to drop-off point, but it was okay because again, it was a cloudless, moonless night. Stars everywhere! When we got to drop-off point we raided the nearest sari-sari store (happy si manang kasi maraming nabenta!). We drank hot soup, thanks to Korean climber Kim, ate lots of crackers and cookies, and treated more wounds. The other guys slept on the road while waiting for the jeepneys to pick us up. We arrived 1am in Quezon City on November 1.

UP ORG Batch 99: Jasper Ian JP Boggs Ciel Ana Val Ruby