Guiting-guiting Exploration Day 1 - Welcome to Kabit-tubi

We arrived in Romblon, Romblon around 4 in the morning. I had some trouble sleeping past midnight, when the crew brought down the tarpaulin sheets (to protect passengers from sea spray), effectively suffocating everyone with stale, warm air. The ferry connection to Magdiwang arrives around 7 in the morning, so we had time to kill. We took advantage of the power outlets at the port terminal to recharge our phones. Levi and Bunny ventured out to buy the famous Boknoy's siopao, while I sleep and guard our things.

It was a Friday, and MV Maria Querubin was at standing-room capacity. We found a quiet and shaded corner at the top deck, and took turns dozing off. Bunny busied himself sewing the heck out of his Brooks Cascadia; a veteran of countless expeditions. The sun spoiled our quiet moments not long after the ferry left the port. We were hard-pressed to find some protection from the scorching rays as we wait for the ship to move eastward, thus bringing back the blessed shade.

Guiting-guiting Exploration - One of the last great problems

Ever since Mt. Guiting-guiting's summit was first reached in 1982, the serrated ridge from which Guiting-guiting gets its name ("gunting-gunting") has fascinated mountaineers. The desire to cross this ridge from end to end has only grown stronger through the years, but only a couple of legitimate attempts has been recorded. A year after the summit was reached, Bubut Tan-Torres, Mon Ruiz and Fred Jamili hacked and climbed their way, but the expedition got cut short when water got scarce (their rappel down to Cantingas River and subsequent 2-day river trek in itself was already epic). Almost thirty years after, in 2012, a team led by Jong Narciso tried again. But because of days of bad weather, the only got to scale the gateway peak, which they named in honor of Manong Lee Tansiongco. Both attempts started along the traditional route going to the summit from Magdiwang. 

The serrated ridge in 2009