Climbed the Leech-Infested Mt. Mandalagan while Having a Foot Injury

Hello everyone!

In today's episode of being crazy, I think my title gives everything away. I'm not the type who backs out on anything if I set my mind on it, but as they say, there's a thin line between determination and insanity. I trod that line last weekend when I climbed Mt. Mandalagan while having a foot injury. Well, I'm back to tell the tale and I'm probably crazier than ever!

I will have a separate post about Mt. Mandalagan itself, but that will be a few months from now. I still have a lot of pending places to post, but I decided to have this one because I don't want to miss any detail. This is one for the books!

It started with a plan to have a staycation somewhere here in Cebu City with my friends to celebrate our August birthdays. The plan was polished and everything seemed to go according to what was planned. But then I was triggered by something that I decided to back out. I don't want to pretend that everything's okay even if it's not. I'm not the people-pleaser kind, so I'm usually very blunt about what I say. Since I backed out, I initially planned to prepare for our trip to Manila this weekend. But then I was invited at the last minute to join my usual mountaineering buddies to climb Mt. Mandalagan. I didn't hesitate for one second. I desired to climb that mountain since I knew about it back when I was still working. There were a lot of requirements to meet to set foot on that mountain that I initially thought I would never make it. Good thing people are extremely helpful.

The climb was scheduled for August 20-21, 2022, but since Mt. Mandalagan is located in Silay City, Negros Occidental and we have to travel via land, we scheduled our meet-up at 3:00 PM on Friday at Cebu City North Bus Terminal to catch that 5:00 PM trip to Bacolod.

On Thursday afternoon, I bought a new sleeping bag because, for some reason, I lost my old sleeping bag. I decided to buy the other essentials on Friday morning and have the preparation at the last minute. Wrong move as always. I woke up late on Friday morning and hurriedly take a shower to buy the remaining essentials that I should have. I still lacked the batteries for my headlight, trail snacks, long socks to prevent the leeches from sucking my blood, sunblock, dry tissue since wet wipes are not allowed in Mt. Mandalagan, medicines, garbage bags, and pain relief patches.

As I got out of the bathroom, I slipped from the wooden plank and my left foot got twisted. At that moment I knew things have gone bad. I think the midfoot joints (metatarsal and tarsal joints) were affected. I was already limping, but I tried to walk straight to assess if I could still push through with the climb. I still went to the nearby mall to buy the lacking essentials. As I got home, I still packed my bag and took another shower before going to the terminal. By the time I was about to put on my shoes, I knew I might not be able to make it to the climb. It hurt so bad and it started to swell.

I still went to SM City Cebu and had an early dinner before heading to the terminal. I wanted to go home, but my friends told me to have my injury assessed first by a physical therapist who's also climbing with us. He instructed us to buy a bandage and another set of pain relief patches. I had difficulty walking normally because of the weight of my bag plus my foot hurts. When we reached the terminal, they were already waiting for us. The physical therapist guy asked if I heard a crack when I slipped and I said I didn't but it hurt. He said it might have no broken bones, but the ligaments might have been strained. He said the swelling might get severe the next day. That's when I should decide to push through with the climb or not. It means I might stay in Silay City while they climb. He put the pain relief patch on the affected part and then have my foot bandaged. It was extremely painful putting on my shoes back.

While I was on the bus, it felt so constricting to have my shoes on. I knew the swelling had gone worse. I removed my shoes and while we were halfway to Tabuelan, I removed the bandage because I felt my toes going numb. The physical therapist instructed me to just elevate my foot to lessen the swelling. I was worried that I might be a burden to them if I'll still climb.

With little to no sleep, we reached Silay City at around 3:00 AM. I think I slept for 2 hours while we were on the bus. It was so noisy on the barge that I wasn't able to sleep. In Silay proper, a jeep that we hired was waiting for us to take us to Barangay Patag where the jump-off is located. We had an early breakfast at 7-Eleven in Silay, bought some meat at the market, and then head immediately to Patag. It was a long and chilly ride. We reached Patag at around 6:00 AM.

We started the climb at around 7:00 AM after a very strict assessment, orientation, and checking of our bags. They're uncompromising when it comes to waste. They will check every single plastic that you bring to make sure you will not litter on the mountain. The porter brought my tent and water, so my bag was not as heavy, but I was still limping. I changed the pain reliever patches, had it bandaged, and then I took a pain killer before starting the climb. It was still swollen, but I felt much better, so I pushed through with the climb. It might be because of the excitement that it didn't hurt as much as the day before. I know the bandage and pain reliever patches helped a lot, but I think the adrenaline rush was the main reason.

The weather was fine when we started the climb. It was surprisingly calm considering that it has been raining nonstop here for almost a month already. It was the first time in my major climb that we were not greeted by rain. I was happy because it would not be so difficult. Rain would definitely make any climb a lot more complicated. At first, we passed by a lot of mountain resorts and the road was paved. I had fun even if my foot was still hurting. And then we diverged from the main road to start the real climb - no signs of leeches at first.

We passed by a lot of small streams before heading to the protected area of the forest. It was really amazing just to be there. They say that Mt. Mandalagan is part of the largest water source in the country. I still have to verify that one, but it's not far from reality because crystal clear water seems to ooze from the ground. You can drink straight from the streams. There was no problem with water except on the higher parts of the trail.

About an hour into the trail and it was the start that we noticed some wiggling tiny leeches. They fall from the trees and some were already at the rotten leaves along the trail. I noticed that those from the trees and leaves have a bluish green tinge in their bodies while those on the ground are brownish gray. Some leeches have orange underbelly. I was initially afraid of them at first because I had a trauma of leeches when I was young. When I visited my grandparents in Negros, I tried to help in planting water spinach, but I got so afraid of five leeches swimming toward me the moment I stepped on the mud. I was afraid of leeches since then. But those in Mt. Mandalagan are so much smaller compared to those in rice paddies. I just made sure they won't enter my ears and eyes. My exposed skin were covered so I was so confident I won't get bitten by those suckers. Or so I thought!

We had lunch along the trail while the leeches were wiggling at our feet. The technique is to walk continuously because you'll get swarmed if you stop just for a moment, but that's so difficult considering that the trail is going up. You have to rest and catch your breath. Somewhere along the way, I didn't notice that they were already inside my shoes and some made their way to my skin. We reached Tinagong Dagat at around 1:30 PM. It was a relatively easy climb for me considering my foot injury and I didn't have practice.

Tinagong Dagat was immaculate! Those imposing walls of the caldera will welcome you as you reach the campsite. We were basically camping at the caldera of a potentially active complex volcano! I will post more photos as soon as I sort out the photos from my GoPro. All I can say is that the place is worth the climb even with my injury. The fog drifting down from the mouth of the caldera added so much mystery to the whole place.

As I was about the settle down, that was when I noticed blood on the bandage of my left foot. Good thing my tent was already pitched by our very helpful guides. As I removed my shoes and inspected my feet, I noticed four areas where blood continuously oozed out. I didn't panic though. I sprayed alcohol on one leech that was still sucking blood from my right foot. It fall off and the guide took it away. There was no pain, but the blood will not stop because of the anti-coagulant properties of the leech's mucus. I removed my bondage and socks and then got the wounds cleaned.

You're waiting for a photo of a leech, right? For some reason, I didn't take any photos of them. I don't know. Don't ask me. I asked for a photo from my friend and she sent me this photo below. That's already full of blood.

Blood was still oozing from the wounds, but I didn't mind them anymore. I felt I wouldn't die from blood loss or something. We started going down from the mountain at around 8:00 AM. It was not easy at first due to the rocky and very steep slope going down. The rocks were covered with moss so it was very slippery. It took a lot of our time on that part of the trail, but surprisingly, my foot didn't hurt as much as the day before. I was able to hold my footing really well. Good thing we didn't mind about those blood suckers anymore because that part of the traverse has no leeches. We were able to focus on our balance and make sure that we would not slip.

It took us around four hours from Tinagong Dagat to Campuestohan compared to six-and-a-half hours from Patag to Tinagong Dagat. Apart from the very steep and slippery part of the trail, it was easy compared to the major climbs I had. Overall, it was a chill climb for me. The weather was fine, the same as the day before, which really helped a lot.

We reached Campuestohan at around 11:45 AM, took a bath, changed clothes, arranged our bags, and then immediately head to Bacolod Terminal to catch the last bus trip to Cebu at 1:30 PM. We were not able to have lunch in Bacolod. I was expecting to have the famous grilled chicken and kansi (sour beef soup) at Manokan Country, but my friends wanted to go home early. We had our late lunch in Don Salvador, a bus stop along the way to San Carlos. From Bacolod, we reached San Carlos at around 4:00 PM and then Toledo Port at around 6:00 PM. I got home at around 9:00 PM. It was a very fruitful weekend for me.

During our socials night at Tinagong Dagat, we played a game where we would ask questions and one of the questions is: "Why do you climb mountains?". I just answered I really love adventure and I love mountains, but that question lingered in my mind considering I would have a staycation instead of a grueling climb. As I sipped an ice-cold soda in Campuestohan, I realized that I may be into mountain climbing to be reminded of the luxuries I have. Considering that mountain climbing is just having the basics to survive. Sometimes comfort is sacrificed because the basic goal is survival.

I think this is the end of a crazy tale of my weekend at Mt. Mandalagan. I'm stoked to climb another mountain as I felt I climb down a different person from when I climb up. It's humbling and emboldening at the same time.

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines). He's also a trying hard photographer so stay tuned as he shares his photos and his thought process while creating them.}

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