Mountain- Err

“Ain’t no mountain high enough?”

The song by Diana Ross and the Supremes keeps on playing inside my head as our group of ten mountaineers snaked our way into the narrow and steep cliffs of Mt. Makiling amid strong winds and pouring rains.

The local radio station announced this morning that there is a tropical storm headed our way. In fact, it was already typhoon signal no. 1 when we left our boarding house in UPLB. We decided to push through with our mountain expedition despite the announcements of the approaching typhoon because we thought it was cool and nobody in our group has done hiking in this kind of weather before.

So with much pride and bravado as well as youthful fire and enthusiasm we continued walking and climbing through a narrow trail unmindful of the rain and the gusty wind.

“Ain’t no mountain high enough. “

We were already deep inside the forest when we realized that this was no ordinary tropical depression. In fact many of us now realized that it has the making of a super typhoon. It is just 10 o’clock in the morning and yet it was already very dark. Despite having our Coleman flashlight on, visibility was poor at five meters. The wind was strong and howling while the temperature was already freezing when the group decided to pitch tent at a nearby embankment.

The group was in a huge unexpected dilemma when some of the people in our group wanted to turn back and head for the lowlands. But the more seasoned mountaineers pointed out that since we were looking for adventure when we decided to become mountaineers then it is but logical to endure what nature has to offer us in search of that elusive glory that befits wanderlusts like us and by quoting that old cliché -" to separate the men from the boys" we prevailed on the “cowards” to stay and pass the night away right in the heart of the dense forest of Mt. Makiling.

It was a very dark and stormy night. The wind and rain continued without let up. As I tried to light a cigarette to ease the numbness brought out by cold and counter hypothermia, a thunder-like explosion caught us by surprise!

Suddenly, I felt being swept away by a very strong force of nature.

A flashflood!

Our worst nightmare has materialized as I struggled to regain my bearing amid the very strong pull of the rampaging body of water, I saw several of my buddies being carried away by the strong current downstream. I was about to pass out when I saw Samuel, my roommate in the dorm reaching out for me. After a short struggle he managed to grab my hand and pulled me off to safety behind the trunk of a very big Lauan tree.

As we were struggling to keep our balance and keep up our positions, that particular thought and urge again suddenly entered my mind and in a flash I lounged at him with all my might with my right fist landing a solid right cross to his temple. A look of disbelief flashed into his face as he fell and was eventually pulled down, carried away and swallowed by the rampaging murky river.

Another day has passed before a military rescue team reached us. Of the ten mountaineers, only 3 of us survive the ordeal.

The bodies of my mountaineering buddies including Samuel were found floating several kilometers away at the mouth of the river downstream. I knew right there and then that my secret will remain a secret until...