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Mountain lessons

2 lessons Mt. Talinis imparted to me:

1. It pays to LOOK BACK

When the whole group reached the outpost after 4 hours of hiking up and down, over rocks, across streams and swamps, they decided to settle there. However, Me and my classmate (bro Kyle Windsor) thought of attempting to continue the trail and hike all the way up to have a glimpse of the lake and eventually summit Mt. Talinis. Compared to what we've gone through from the bottom to outpost, the trail from that point to up was far difficult and challenging because the path gets too tricky. Your moves have to be cautioned according to the ascending climb and indeed it was no easy feat. My body especially my legs begun to ache. That was the time when the seemingly competition was between me and the one inside my head. "I'm not going to make it. I'm not strong enough." On the way up, it was so easy to give in to these anxiety demons and just stop the whole track. How I have overcome the mental chorus was by constantly reminding myself to "look up and look down." Yes, that was the secret! Look forward but occasionally look back to know where you have been so as to appreciate where you stand. 

2. It is okay to BACK OFF

The clock struck 12:30pm and we were still on our way up, hiking with as much speed as our bodies could allow. In the middle of the woods, we paused and sit for a while pondering together the pros and cons of continuing the trek. Bro kyle was not a first-timer in Mt. Talinis and in fact, he was the one who guided me in every step of the way. He told me the estimated time to reach the lake was between 3pm to 4pm then perhaps the peak at around 5pm if done fast-pace. I contemplated deeply about it. He knew that my ambitious goal was to reach the peak in one day and so he allowed me to decide but still reassured me that he's still good whether we will continue or not. Yes, it could be achieved but the problem was the going-down. It would mean a night trek in which as per observation along the way, the muddy trail was undeniably risky. Having all that in mind, I took a deep breath and told my buddy that it's best for us to back-off. We arrived back at the outpost at around 1:30pm. Fortunately, the whole group was still there, welcomed us and pat our shoulders for a job well done in attempting to reach the top. Manong, who is like a guardian of the mountain, told us us that we were almost there. Exhausted, we just smiled back at him to avoid further conversation. Both of us ate our lunch and rested a little while. I, myself, managed to walk a bit more to have a glimpse of the hidden falls. At exactly 3pm, the whole group left the outpost and at 6:30pm, we arrived safely at the bottom of the mountain. 

Sure, I only made it halfway but i believe halfway up the mountain is a million times better than not attempting to climb the mountain at all. I got an amazing and incredible view from it and more so, it gave me a chance to find out what I was capable of in that short amount of time. The day before the hike, I prepared my prn tabs of Lanoxin in case my heart will get stressed and i am just so elated of not having to consume one. That got me teary-eyed when we reached the bottom!

"Do not change the mountains. Let the mountains change you." Cliche as it may seem but it speaks exactly of what my whole experience was. It challenged me. It dared my limits. Most of all, it humbled me.

Be relentless in putting one foot in front of the other...in mountains and in life! 







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