Behind Every Crevice and Holds; Climbing Mt. Espadang Bato

“.. coupled with the fear of not knowing what’s lurking behind every crevice and holds. An army of ants, a rare bird’s nest or worse, a snake.“

Mt. Espadang Bato, Rodriguez, Rizal | Philippines

My hands are not ladylike. They used to be but too much playing under the sun outdoor, weekly climbing, and bouldering forced me to ditch the well-maintained fingernails in exchange for calloused liberated hands. The latter seems more worthy of exciting stories and lessons.

Admittedly, climbing Mt. Espadang Bato holds a special place in my adventurous heart for that very reason. The place has a lot of interesting rock formations that made me feel giddy as a child by pointing at them. Like seeing fun playgrounds and wanting to get a hold of everything be it those nasty rocks for my bare hands. And free solo we did! Ah that bliss!

I felt weirdly elated; coupled with the fear of not knowing what’s lurking behind every crevice and holds. An army of ants, a rare bird’s nest or worse, a snake. One loose rock too and it could be the end of my outdoor mischief.

On my attempt to climb atop that pointed and daunting rock formation deemed as the summit, one of us nervously asked, “What if I fall? What’s on the other side?”

“Heaven!” I heard.

And the mocking jagged rocks stared at us. But I didn’t care. I’m always testing limits. Because at times, it’s not about successfully doing the act. It’s in the attempt.

Amidst jelly legs, weak heart, and all.

PS. Of course, I did it!