There was this instance that I actually did not want to hike anymore. As much as I fell in love with my Mt. Manalmon trek in October 2015, my 2nd trek, Mt. Daraitan in January 2016 traumatized me. Holy shit, I do not understand why that hike is considered a beginner's trek. The terrain killed me and my knees. The exhaustion after was nothing like I've ever felt before. I had to use the porter as a human trekking pole because I couldn't stand on my own any longer with my jelly legs. The trek was so difficult that I completely got turned off from hiking.

 

One day, my Dad learned that I had taken Baby Sis hiking. Something lit up in him and with a curious enthusiasm he asked, “Puwede ako sumama sa next hike mo?” [“May I join you on your next hike?”] My Dad and I never had any activities together, and here he was initiating something. I happily said, "Of course!"

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On the night of New Year's Eve of 2016, just like that, Dad asked,“Gusto mo mag EBC?” [“Would you like to do EBC?”]

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I really couldn't tell if he was joking or not. But the idea was too exciting! "GAME!" I said.

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He beamed it was part of his bucket list. He wanted to accomplish something grand before he hit 60 years old. It was such a beautiful and adorable thing. I saw it also as a chasing-after-his-youth kind of thing. Going all out while he still can. Post-Life (not quarter-life anymore) Crisis of some sort, haha.

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"Let's start training", Dad said. So I happily booked us a hike in Mt. Tibig in July 2016 with Baby Sis, praying it would be a far more gentle hike that Mt. Daraitan. (Notice the 7-month gap from Mt. Daraitan? Haha. And notice that the idea of EBC came first even before Dad's first local hike.) Oh man, he loved it. Even if he struggled, swear Dad has this after-hike glow wherein he’s just smiling for hours after.

 

And so our condition for the expedition kicked off from there.

 

We hiked a mountain once a month from July 2016 to December 2016. Then doubled our training come 2017, trekking almost every weekend.

 

Today is 4 April 2017. Tomorrow, we embark for Nepal.

 

 

 

Read next: My Expectations for EBC  > > > >

 

 

Training for EBC  >

Packing for EBC >