Hunting Sticks on Mt. Makiling

Mt. Makiling is a dormant volcano just an hour south of Manila.
It has several peaks of which the highest is 1144 meters.
It always posed some special attraction to me.
At one point I even was about to purchase a piece of land at the slopes of Mt. Makiling when the "Asia Crisis" took care of any possible money I might have had to invest.

I love to hike and Mt. Makiling is a popular spot to do so.
What kept me from doing it was mainly the fact that I didn't know where to start and also that it seemed so much easier to spend my afternoon playing billiards and drinking beer than trying to run up and down dormant volcanoes.

One day I decided that I just had to do it.
I got up at 4 in the morning and drove southwards.
Arriving at UP Los Baños, the supposed starting point at about 6.30,
I looked for the trail. But I forgot to pass by a 7/11 to buy some water. Back to town, got some water and finally at 7.30, I was on the trail.

I was thrilled.

Mt. Makiling is part of the University of the Philippines Los Baños and thus has been preserved. It is one of the very few places in the Philippines where the original virgin rain forest is still preserved.
And that virgin part got me excited.

It starts off as a forest access road and gently winds itself up the hill. After half an hour one passes through a hundred year old Mahogany plantation.

 


A horse caravan coming down the trail of Mount Makiling.

 

Half an hour later the rain forest starts.
It was wonderful.
Oddly shaped plants, singing birds, hushing lizards and screaming teenagers.
I decided to let them pass and ducked into the jungle for some stick hunting exercise. Although the area was ideal for sticks I couldn't even find the trace of any biting marks. After half an hour I gave up.
The teenagers were well ahead and I was one with nature again.

You wouldn't believe the sounds some of those birds make when they think nobody listens to them.


Don't ask me what he is doing.

After about 3 hours I came to another area seemingly ideal for sticks. There was a lot low vegetation and also many bite marks.
Unfortunately I was to much occupied with trying to get some air into my lungs that I could have kept any attention to those shrubs.
At some point I decided to combine the search with a little rest.

I barely pried the first leaves apart and I found a stick.
In rapid succession I found 7 more.

Mt. Makiling sticks
See more of that species.

The plants I found them on were everywhere but curiously the sticks kept to themselves in this one spot.
I didn't find them anywhere else. (Later on a second trip I did find them in other locations)


Food plant
That is the only place I found them on.

I kept on climbing uphill. Until here it was an easy walk. Shortly after the path started to get steeper and steeper.
One had to use all ones limbs to be able to gain altitude. I was glad that I had good professional gear. It was very exhausting. The thing that kept me going was the fact that it couldn't be far anymore.

A leech
Those guys are sitting on the leaves left and right of the trek and are just waiting for a sucker (actually suckee) to pass by and hook on to. Some of them get 4 inches long.

I met a mountaineer coming down, who assured me that I am close to the peak.
A short while later I met another two who had their own cute way of assuring me of the peak's close proximity: "Not so far anymore, may be an hour. Nuh..., it took us an hour to get down, so may be two hours."
I wondered if they noticed the tears filling my eyes.
I made a mental bookmark to kick the first guy, who told me that it is very near now, in the butt if I ever see him again.

Red centipede
That is it's actual color. It is about 4 inches long

After, what felt like a year of hard labor, I made it to the peak.
But as always, once you are up there all hardship is forgotten. There are few sensations as great as standing on the peak of a mountain (with your clothes on) . I soaked up the warm sun rays and let the wind cool me down again.
The sandwiches I brought never tasted as good before. It was a hazy day and the view wasn't that spectacular but good enough. Too hazy to take a good picture though.

At the peak.
The man feeling pretty good about himself.

I rested for about an hour and then started to work myself down the hill again.
I felt great. I had mastered the mountain. Like a professional mountaineer I dodged spiky ferns swung on lianas and hang on roots for my dear life and most of the time I waded up to my knees in dark red mud.

While I was imagining myself as Indiana Jones, a large Filipino family with kids and grandmother in tow passed me by happily chatting.
Some of them were wearing sandals.

That's it. It's beer and billiards for me again. So much for you Mr. Mountaineer.

The way back and down was a lot longer then I remem