May 13, 2023

I’m back with another long-overdue post. This day hike trip happened five months ago, on May 13th. It was yet another planned trip arranged by my EG family. My last hike was at Mount Balagbag, and it was still with the same people. This time, they chose Mount Purro Nature Reserve, located in Antipolo, and more people from work joined.

Mount Purro Nature Reserve is a family-run eco-park tucked away in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, near Metro Manila. It is a simple yet distinct sustainable travel destination. It advocates a lifestyle of stewardship, simplicity, and sharing. Moreover, it highlights God, Nature, and People as the true measures of personal and community development. Along with its partner, MPNR Foundation, it pursues the dream of rehabilitating the Upper Marikina Watershed and empowering the communities living within, especially the indigenous Dumagat tribe.

I was really looking forward to this day. They said it was an easy hike, but as someone who is not in the best shape, I would rate this one 8/10 in terms of difficulty. I really struggled. The trail was all muddy, slippery, and steep, as it had been raining for days before. To make things even worse, my thighs were killing me because we had just started our hobby program, Rave Cycle. I could hardly bend my knees, and each step was pure pain. But they said to keep moving to loosen up the stiffness of the muscles, so I pushed myself.

Some of us found the difficulty level too challenging and decided not to continue to the peak (since most of us were first-time hikers), but I, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity, carried on. I was with the last group, the slower hikers, and we took it easy, going at our own pace to reach the top. After a short break on the peak for group photos, we hiked back down to the mini-conference area, our starting point. I was exhausted and starving, but just in time, lunch was served! Thankfully, the food included in our day trip package from Loli’s Kitchen was delish!

After our meal and a brief rest, we proceeded to the second part of our day trip: the River Walk. The trek was quite long. To be honest, I felt a bit disappointed as we approached the river. I understand that people live in the area, but I had hoped they would maintain its cleanliness. There was litter everywhere, and the smell was far from pleasant. The mountain hike was beautiful, with no litter in sight, and I wished they’d taken the same care with the river.

Anyway, it was quite a day – another memorable memory with my EG tribe. Too bad we weren’t able to meet the Dumagats due to COVID restrictions.

Grateful for the new memories we’ve made.