Mt. Mayon Climb

It took over 14 hours to climb Mt. Mayon. The day started at 5:30am in the hotel lobby where I was greeted by my guide from Bicol Adventures, Aldrin. I was in good hands. Aldrin, an experienced guide, had climbed Mt. Mayon over 100 times.

After introductions, we drove to the foot of Mt. Mayon, where the trail to Camp 1 started. The walk to Camp 1 was flat and littered with tall, overgrown grass. We arrived at Camp 1 unscathed in an hour and half. We started the upward trek to Camp 2 after a quick sip of water from the waterfall. The trek to Camp 2 was on hardened rock, and lava. The slope of the trail to Camp 2 was steep, but manageable. The midday heat and humidity started to increase significantly. Drenched in sweat, we were at Camp 2 an hour and half later. We were making great time. When we set off from Camp 2, the clouds started to roll in, and wind started to pick up on our final ascent to the top of the volcano. There is no trail to the summit from Camp 2, so I followed Aldrin closely. The ascent was the toughest part of the climb. The ascent was steep, and inundated with volcanic sand and loose rock. We spent the time crawling to make it to the top. I became overstressed trying to make sure I didn’t slip off the steep slope of the mountain. We spent the next 3 hours climbing. We should have been at the top in an hour and half. At the summit, we were sitting on the crater of Mt. Mayon watching the smoke bellow from volcano. We had a great view of Legapsi, and the valley below.

The climb down from the summit was sketchy. If I was stressed on my way up, I was going crazy on the way down. We slowly crawled down on our backs against the mountain trying to make sure we didn’t fall off the steep slope. I slid down the volcano most of the time, and ripped my shorts in the process. The descent took longer than any of us anticipated. We noticed we were descending too slowly, and realized that we would have to hike through the jungle in the dark. Aldrin was prepared though. He had two headlights for the both of us. The hike back in the jungle felt like an eternity. I wanted to ask how close we were to the end; I didn’t bother to help curb my disappointment. We reached the foot of the mountain in the dark at 8pm. I rushed back to the hotel for much needed sleep, and rest my poor legs.