^yes, I agree. Guys, please behave. No bickering in my thread, pls. I try to be neutral and not side with anyone/ any group. There's so much infighting that I can't keep track of who's against who.
@malmomike - hey, the dish came with 2 scoops of rice! But yeah, I ate 1.5 scoops of rice. Hungry Katie.
@willy - nope, I didn't take front shots. Back shots are enough. Some of the girls wear elaborately designed sports bras so that they look better in pics.
@bsnub - we call them leggings here. Don't know the term 'gaiters'. I sometimes wear trek pants (the ones with zipper at the lower part to be converted to shorts) for major/ difficult hikes. Then I wear a knee support thingy underneath.
So far, my most difficult mountain has been Mt Napulauan, a 7/9 mountain in the Cordillera highlands (near Baguio city). I did that in Feb 2019. It took me (and other girls) around 12 hours to reach the summit / campsite. The more fit & athletic guys did it in 10 hrs, I think. My group pitched tents and we spent the night at the summit. We saw the sunrise and a sea of clouds.
There are some super athletic people who do hexalogies (6 mountains in one day). There is also an undecalogy (11 mountains). I've seen the adverts on FB looking for joiners of those events. I doubt that I'll be able to do the undecalogy!
The advantage of hiking the difficult mountains is that since it's difficult, there are fewer people climbing it. No "sea of crowds". Less competition for camping space and spots for IG/FB worthy pics! (heh)
i suppose it depends what you are doing it for. Me, its always been more about the journey and scenery rather than ragging myself. Nepal was the most challenging place i trekked for pleasure and even then due to the terrain and altitude there were days when you finished and thought i don't remember much of anywhere as it was head down one foot in front of the other all day- you can say you did it but you can't say what you saw.....
Gaitors are bottoms of pants only to protect your ankles.
^ You get hiking gaiters you strap over trousers and boot tops to stop your legs getting wet, protect from thorns etc and to stop leeches.
Well done Katie!!!!
It's honestly nice to seeing things getting back to normal. What about the covid stuff, did you have to show immunization stuff before piling into the van?
Snubs is talking out of his 1.2m wide arse Katie. Gaiters zip round your ankles and calfs. What you are wearing are leggings in anybody's lingo.
Never have I ever eaten a cold Mickey D's
A filipine-cuisine delight added to the cullinary bucket list
A fine tradition!
Are you not a millenial Katie? I always thought you were in that age group.
Looks like she has got an Emperor Tud elbow-web tattoo on her shoulder
Good to see you out and about on your hiking expeditions!
Tip top pics.
That one above is very zen like!
Thanks for the greets and greens.
@malmomike - I think for the guys who do the hexalogies or undecalogies, it's to prove to themselves that they can do it. The views, the feeling of exhilaration - they are pluses. The posting on FB/IG is just secondary.
I deactivated my FB acct for a long time. Soc med became toxic for me. I just re-entered recently to look for hikes that I may be interested in.
There are hexalogies being done for mountains in Rizal province and in Zambales (near Subic bay). I would like to do a hexalogy in future, as well as the harder Pinatubo trail. There are other mountains that I want to climb too. For international, I want to do Mt Kinabalu and Mt Fan si pan (Vietnam) or Yushan (Taiwan). Of course, all that would mean training & preparation (including $$$), but one can dream.
@topper - in the advert of the hike event, it said that vax card & ID were required. However, the organizer didn't check anymore. But anyway, all of us were vaxxed. Most of the group work in Metro Manila and it's kinda required to be vaxxed there, else you can't enter malls, use public transport, etc. I brought my vax card but it wasn't checked in the MRT or a mall that I entered.
@looper - cold McD burgers are bleh, but they get the job done. I once brought rice (for packed lunch) but it got spoiled by lunchtime since it was cooked the previous day & was exposed to the hot sun inside my backpack. Btw, I'm a xenial (between Gen X & m'nial).
@joe - yes, being zen was the purpose of her pic
@willy - I searched for pics of gaiters. I haven't seen them being worn around here. Maybe they're more common in cold climate countries?
You might find them in a running clothing store? Marathons etc.
^thanks, willy. The ones that I saw on Google images are similar.
However, I haven't seen anyone wear them here (in PH). Usually if the mountain has river crossings, the hikers change into (trek) sandals. We also wear the sandals/ flip flops on the way home (after washing up) to allow our feet to breathe - especially if it's an organized hike & the organizer gives us a list of stuff to bring.
Time for another update to this thread...
Last weekend, I joined another organised hike. This time, it was to Mt. Kasahingan in the village/ barangay of Burgos, town of Carranglan. This town is the northernmost municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija.
Mt Kasahingan is nestled in the Caraballo Mountain range. It's classified as a minor climb with a difficulty of 4/9, trail classes 1 to 3. The name Kasahingan is probably derived from the word "saling", meaning pine tree in the Ilocano language. Height at the summit is ~800+ MASL (meters above sea level). On the way back, we passed by several waterfalls.
Source:
Mt. Kasahingan Loop Trail – Highland Reflections: Kaisipan, Karanasan, at Kamalayan
Location of Burgos, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija.
We arrived around 0540H at the barangay (village) hall, which is the jump-off point for the hike. Here are a few pics of the surrounds.
Village hall of Burgos, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija
Sari-sari store (mom & pop store) where you can buy food & drinks. You can also buy hot (instant) coffee or instant ramen (cup) noodles.
The community & the small stores were grateful to us hikers/ tourists because we provide income to them. Hikers also need to register at the village hall & pay a small "environmental" fee. I don't know how much it was, since the guide & environment fees were included in the tour/ hike package.
For this hike, I wore leggings and trek sandals, since there were lots of river/ stream crossings. The organizer advised us that it's better to wear sandals than hiking shoes. We don't wear "gaiters" here - I haven't seen anybody use them.
The 1st river/stream crossing
I was happy with myself that for this hike, I was in the lead group. My pre-climb training (jogging, squats, push-ups) paid off. My legs didn't ache much the morning after (just a mild ache).
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