Just an hour away from Commonwealth Avenue is Wawa Dam in Montalban, Rizal. It's easy enough to get to, since for the most part there are signs pointing the way. At the end of the road is a large parking area right in front of the tourism office, and that's where we waited for the rest of the group, while gawking at this view:
We assembled at one of the carinderias nearby where some of us had lugaw with hard-boiled egg and coffee for breakfast before heading out to the climbing site, which was 15-20 minutes away. There was a lot of scrambling over boulders, hopping from rock to rock and gaping at waterfalls.
The Playground
According to our guides, there's a grading system that's used to assess the difficulty in ascending the terrain, going from Class 1, which was easiest, all the way up to Class 6. They had prepared four different setups for us (from 5.4 to 5.8), and apparently none of them were for beginning beginners. When I had geared up all they said was, "o, akyat na!". So much for Rock Climbing 101; but I loved every teeth-gritting minute of it.
To my beginner's mind, I guess what makes this a lot more challenging than indoor wall climbing is that here, you have no idea where your next hold is going to be. I was constantly feeling the rock face for every possible hold and found I had to make do with jamming a toe into a little hole or hanging on with the tips of my fingers. I especially had fun sliding my way up a "chimney" at one point.
I was able to scale the 5.5 and 5.7 grade walls, and Kuya said that my advantage was that I had a good strength to weight ratio. Maybe he's right. But i think that determination (ie fear of failure and embarrassment) also had plenty to do with it.
A Gourmet Lunch
Among our companions was my brother's close friend, JB, who had lugged his cooking gear all the way to the Playground to prepare lunch for us. Prior to this the best outdoor meal I'd had was sourdough bread and manchego cheese that had sweated in my backpack on the way to the summit of Pico de Loro. Good, but not as yummy and satisfying as Chef JB's freshly cooked fusilli with garlic cream and mushrooms, served with herbed bread. Our guides had trekked back to buy us some drinks, so we enjoyed the pasta with ice-cold Coke and Royal. Aaaahhh.
Shortly after lunch I found myself a nice wide boulder, shut my eyes and took a nap.
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Down with DOMS
While Dex and my brothers had sore arms and were complaining about losing their grip strength that day, I felt perfectly fine. But I knew that - as it always did - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness would get me in the morning.
Many of us are familiar with those leg cramps that have you clutching your calves in pain in the middle of the night. This time though, it was arm cramps that had me whimpering in the wee hours of the morning. So much for strength to weight ratio and chugging down liters of gatorade and water. This only means one thing... I have to go back and try again.
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What to Bring to the Playground
- lots of water and energy drinks
- a change of clothes and a towel
- sunblock
- baby wipes (every mountaineer's friend)
- the Adventure Chef (http://regalikitchen.multiply.com/). JB can also put you in touch with the climbing guides, who will provide all the gear you need.
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