We're Not Done Yet | Climbing Kalbasaan Peak

In my previous post, I shared about a special trek that happened in 2018. We climbed Puting Bato (White Rock) Peak in Toledo and I thought that our day was over after descending the mountain.

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_{Climb to Forget, to See, to Conquer, to Feel, to Heal, to Remember | Climbing Puting Bato (White Rock) Peak in Toledo}

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But when we returned to our starting point, Lyn told me that there was still another mountain in our itinerary and we had to travel a bit farther because it was on the other side of the city.

I thought I was already tired after the first trek but there was nothing else to do but to go for more climbing. We were headed for Kalbasaan Peak which was located in a separate town but we still started from Toledo City.

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A GLOOMY START

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We took a motorcycle to bring us to the other side of the city and we had lunch before heading to the starting point of our next trekking adventure. Before we left Puting Bato, the sky was growing dark and there was a drizzle. When we started our second trek, the sky was still a bit dark and we feared the rain would pour down hard. But we stayed optimistic and so we began.

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After a few minutes of upward assault, our optimism was paying off as we saw the sky turning clearer and brighter. I could see one side of the mountain free from trees but overgrown with grass.

We reached the top of the mountain we were climbing and when I looked back, I saw the valley below and a big mountain covered with trees on the other side. I was alive again from the view of nature. There was so much to see and enjoy!

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REST AND RECHARGE

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On top of the mountain, we decided to rest and recharge. The trek wasn't that long but the clearing at the top and the views called for us to stop. The ground was a bit wet but we didn't mind. We sat down and took in the breathtaking landscapes. There were rolling hills that looked like they belonged to a movie.

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We took turns taking each other's pictures. My companions wanted to have a jump shot and I volunteered to take the photos. It was fun having them jump around a couple of times to get the money shot.

My iPhone 6 had HDR but the clouds still looked overexposed in the photos. What mattered was that I caught my friends' happy faces while they were suspended in the air.

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IS THIS IT?

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After resting, we continued with our journey because we weren't done. We still were not in Kalbasaan Peak. It was still early in the afternoon and we had plenty of time to keep on exploring. Again, none of us knew the exact way except for a general direction. We asked people we met along the way if we were headed in the right direction.

We trekked over to the other side of the mountain and there we saw the views of the mountains. We could see clearly the rolling hills on one side and on the other side, there were mountains that were so green. The sky also was turning into this beautiful blue shade.

We asked each other if this was it because the views from our location were so good. What was the point of moving forward if what we had was already spectacular? But we weren't done. We still were not in Kalbasaan Peak. People along the way told us that we needed to cross another mountain to get there.

In the photo below, if you could see that big bushy tree in the middle of the mountain across, that was our destination. We still had to go around the mountain to get there.

We still had so much energy and motivation to keep going and so we moved on. We followed the path and along the way, a family was celebrating a birthday and we were invited to join. One of my companions had a friend in the household and we were obliged to stop for a while and have a meal with them. There was so much food and I filled my stomach that I was afraid I'd have a hard time continuing the trek.

After expressing our gratitude to the family, we continued with our journey, and true enough, our pace was slower because we were all full from the food we ate. We allowed our bodies to digest our food before picking up our pace and climbed closer to our destination.

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GOING FOR MORE

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Going for more distance paid off as we reached Kalbasaan Peak. We were surprised to see the east side of Cebu. Toledo City is located on the west side which meant that we crossed the island of Cebu from one side to the other. We could see sprawling cities near the sea.

The peak was also grassland with a few trees and a bunch of long-leafed plants. If you look at the right photo below, those bamboos were the trees that we saw from the other side of the mountain. It amazed me to be up close after being so far away from it.

There was a road that went down from the peak and we wondered if we followed it, would it lead us to the city proper of Minglanilla. That would bring us closer to our hometowns. But we didn't know the way and we were in Kalbasaan Peak, finally! We enjoyed our time and marveled at the mountains before us. Those mountains ran along the center of the island separating the east and the west.

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Again, my phone could not do justice to the amazing views that our eyes saw at that time. The afternoon sun illuminated the mountains as we sat down to rest and enjoy our efforts.

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WE DID IT!

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We did it! We climbed our second mountain and the views fulfilled all our efforts. We were tired and we spent our time sharing our heartbreak stories, taking more jump shots, and shooting more photos.

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RACING THE SUNSET

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It was getting late in the afternoon and we still had to make our way back. We could see that it was getting darker. Rested and recharged, we doubled our pace in our journey going back. We found a faster route although it involved avoiding some angry Carabaos and crossing narrow bridges.

We saw that on the west side, the sun was setting. We ran/walked towards a tall tree near the starting point to get a better view of it. We were chasing the sunset to enjoy it and also to avoid being in the dark.

What a gift to end our trek with such a lovely sight. The sky was orange and the clouds were on fire as we neared our starting point. There was still enough light for us when we arrived at the main road. We went to one of our companion's house to freshen up before taking a ride back to Cebu City and to our homes.

I was so tired when I arrived home. But I was glad I spent my weekend fulfilled and with nature. I still had to face my problems but I had a fresher and stronger mind after the two-mountain trek in Toledo City.

That's it! This was a joy to write. I miss climbing. It would be a while before I could climb again because of the recent Super Typhoon that hit Cebu and because of the rising cases of COVID (Omicron variant). But when I do, I'll be sure to share it here with you. See you in the next post. Cheers!

_{He’s a dreamer and a thinker. He tends to sensationalize a lot of things. He got that from his mother. He’s also a bit melodramatic. Must be from his father. Bear with him as he shares his thoughts and experiences about his travels, dreams, and the variety of things he’s trying to learn and improve (personal development, writing, cryptocurrency, fitness, etc.). If you like this article please give it an upvote and if for some reason you’re interested in more future content, please don’t hesitate to follow.}