On the trail to Mt. Makiling A climb with friends, lematics, and sprays of magic formula

THE OUTDOOR GROUP of La Salle Greenhills ’70. From left: Lito Nazareno; Bambi Guevara; Kaloy Velhagen; the author, Rey Adriano; and Jude de Vera.

Mt. Makiling is one of the few mountains accessible by a two-hour drive from Manila. This was the climb chosen by the Outdoor Group of La Salle Greenhills Class '70 in lieu of Mt. Maculot in Batangas. Kaloy Velhagen felt Mt. Maculot has now been relegated to a ''been there, done that'' activity.

Saturday, June 9, 6:30 a.m. found me at Kaloy’s house loading my gear into the Toyota Revo that heroically took on Sagada last year. It was a pleasant surprise that Mayanne, Kaloy’s wife and his two kids, Katrise and Kiko were coming along for this trip.

We met up with Bambi Guevara, Jude de Vera and Lito Nazareno at the McDonald’s outlet within the Petron Service Station along the South Super highway at about 7 a.m. A breakfast of pancakes, coffee and juice jump-started our day. Bambi, Lito and Jude thought of lunch and bought the group’s perennial favorite McDo burgers as “baon”.

Kaloy and I, in the Revo, left ahead and made our way through the detour inside Calamba. We were at the entrance of the UP Los Baños campus by 8 a.m.

Later, as we followed Bambi’s car inside the campus, the sprawling grounds of the university brought back memories for most of us.

The Pook ni Mariang Makiling Resort was a “must-see” tourist destination in the ‘70s. And why not? It was a hideaway amid a forest teeming with flora and fauna, and had amenities such as a large swimming pool with its cool and inviting water, a 160-plus step cement deck with its breathtaking view of Laguna Bay, and those charming cottages that could hold numerous parties within its generous accommodations.

We dropped Mayanne and the kids at the resort but a quick survey brought dismay to most of us. The place looked quite seedy and was obviously in need of repairs. However, the surrounding trees and forest sounds made up for these dispointing points.

We took off for the Makiling Forest Park, part of the reserve, about three kilometers away from the resort. Since this was a protected area, the trees were taller, the trunks larger and the vegetation was denser.

We parked Kaloy’s Revo and Bambi’s Honda Civic at the staging area for hikers. There, we asked the locals about distances to the peak and estimated time for us to reach it. Someone said that the trail could still be negotiated by a vehicle, so we decided to take the Revo further into the forest to conserve some of our energies for the main climb. This decision proved to be the right choice.

After traveling for about 15 minutes through a forest trail that could easily challenge a 4x4, we arrived at a clearing where a few sari-sari stores waited for climbers to refresh themselves. Bambi was able to contract the services of Edwin, a local, to be our guide for the day.

Fortified with fresh coconut juice drank from its shell, which were sold in the sari-sari stores, we loaded our daypacks and started up the trail.

Our hike was a pleasant one. The trail was well defined amid tall trees, which protected us from the sun. It was not as warm as we expected since the weather that day was truly great.

Our conversation drifted from Bambi sounding us off on his decision to join the Basic Mountaineer Course of the Ayala Mountaineer Club (AMCI) to his burning desire to make it to the base camp of Mount Everest in Nepal (Wow!).

As we progressed up the trail, which Edwin the Guide estimated would take us two solid hours, two young climbers joined us with enough gear and equipment for an overnight stay.

The trail started to tighten and the surface became sodden and muddy. We entered a portion of the trail abounding with lematics, a kind of leech. They were as long as sewing needles and looked like tiny worms on Viagra as they stood up waiting for their next host.

They were everywhere. On rocks, on the wet and muddy ground, fallen leaves, branches and on fallen tree trunks. We brought our magic formulas to combat these insidious creatures: Alcohol in spray dispensers and dried tobacco leaves. The alcohol was supposed to be sprayed on the leech to loosen its grip, while the crushed tobacco leaves were to be generously rubbed on the arms, legs and exposed body parts to discourage them from drawing blood. (What more could you ask: alcohol, tobacco, firearms … did any one bring peanuts?)

I had the misfortune of being the first to have a lematic seriously attach itself to my chest. This created quite a stir among us, particularly for me since I honestly didn’t know what to do! (Someone wanted to take a snapshot as a souvenir.)

Edwin the guide removed it from my shirt without ceremony and was doing this almost throughout the climb. All of us had these creatures trying to attach themselves to our pants, hiking boots, backpack bottoms. We started to get the hang of flicking them away, pushing them with a stick, balling them between fingers and tossing them, scraping them from one boot with the other boot (and doing a jig in the process). We simply had to look out for them, checking ourselves as well as the hiker in front of us.

It’s rather odd that the trail markers read like those of a tennis match. Peak Two, our goal, would have read “Lob Set 30” while all through the trail, Lob Set Whatever was evident. As we got closer to our determined spot, the trail narrowed with a slight ascent similar to the surface we encountered in Mt. Banahaw, minus the tree roots.

It was challenging since none of us wanted to slip and fall into a whole colony of eager lematics waiting to feast on our sorry asses.

We got to Lob Set 18 at 12.30 p.m. where a group of four campers were cooking their lunch of longganisa. This was just a clearing nestled among the trees. There wasn’t any view of the lake or anything for that matter. We couldn’t sit down while having lunch for fear that the leeches will likewise have their delicious smorgasbord.

Lunch for Kaloy consisted of rice and fried chicken; Bambi and Lito ate their McDo burgers; while Judes and me shared a small can of Shoestring Potatoes and Quaker Oats energy bars. It was not heavy but satisfying, giving us sufficient energy to make it down.

After 30 minutes, we decided to turn back, foregoing an additional 30-minute trek to get to Peak 2 or Lob Set 30. We would have hiked a total of six hours, sufficient to achieve the workout we planned.

After saying goodbyes and good lucks to the other campers, we trekked down the same path, passing again through the dreaded lematic-infested areas.

We smoked the trail. We moved quite fast, stopping only to remove leeches from our boots and clothes. We encountered more hikers on our way down, some of them carrying only water, obviously on a day trip.

It took only an hour-and-a-half to reach the sari-sari stores where we had another round of fresh buco juice. Amazingly, as we reached the store, it began to rain. Thankfully we were able to get inside the Revo and drive back to “Pook” without getting wet.

Reaching the cottage, we regaled Mayanne with our adventure while sipping cold Cokes and San Miguel Lights, courtesy of Kaloy. Our bragging rights at this point included how each of us squeamishly handled the lematics and who among us became Pearl Shakes or Zagu. Kaloy was bitten in the shin, while I got mine above my right ankle. It was a bit alarming that once bitten, the wound did not immediately close nor did the blood coagulate. Freaky.

In all, it was a pleasant hike through a well-defined trail. The encounter with the lematics made us pause and re-think our plan to take on Mt. Halcon (known to be teeming with this infernal creatures). It made us appreciate how a protected forest can yield a biodiversified area that can be shared and enjoyed for generations.

(Reprinted from Cruising, August 2001 issue.)