Pico De Loro hike

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I went on a hiking trip in Cavite with my teen students in my Sabbath school class in church. We left at 4am on what looked like a dump truck! It was horrible. But that was the best thing those kids could come up with and im very proud of them for organizing the trip without much help from the adults. But yes, it was uncomfortable.

Pico De Loro is two hour drive from Manila. And it takes two and a half hours to get to the top. I didnt have breakfast, i dont think anyone did. We also didnt get much sleep. Which is bad. I should have been the responsible adult to tell them to sleep early. But since i didnt get to sleep much and have breakfast my energy was running out after just 20 minutes of hiking. We came across a station where there was running water coming from the mountain so we filled our bottles. Good thing there was a lady there who was selling fruits so i had papaya for breakfast.

It was a very difficult climb for me. Pico De Loro is very steep. My legs hurt like hell. Emie was her usual energizer bunny self I couldnt keep up with that girl. Although im the one who gets regular excercise. We had to stop a couple of times coz i just couldnt keep going anymore. Its a bit embarrassing but theres nothing i can do when my legs fail. Then i saw a man who had a bad case of polio on his way down and i suddenly found the energy to walk again. If this man with disability can make it to the top well so can I. He was actually clubfooted. Not Polio. Then we had to stop again coz i just couldnt walk anymore although i was telling myself repeatedly that "I can do this!"
But the adrenalin rush of reaching the summit gave me the energy when we were near the top and i forgot that im tired. Suddenly i felt refreshed.

It was an even more difficult climb to the summit. You cant take pictures on your way up coz its very very steep. Maybe like 75 degrees. You only hold on to the grass to keep you from falling. When it was time to eat the sardines i brought with me tasted like heaven. Thats what i love about hiking. You appreciate the littlest comforts. Like Milo and Sardines. My legs hurt for three days after this trip.

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