Mt. Apo (via Kapatagan)

My first time on Mt. Apo (3D & 2N) and only my second major hike.

I'll be honest, I was a little nervous going in. Not about the mountain, but about the people. I'm not from Mindanao, I don't speak Bisaya, and I wasn't sure how well I'd fit in with a group of strangers. But the organizer's crew made that worry disappear fast. They would cracked jokes, pulled everyone into the conversation, and kept the energy light even on the toughest stretches of trail.

The food genuinely surprised me. It was plated beautifully, like something out of a restaurant, not a campsite. It sounds like a small thing, but it made every rest feel like a reward.

One of my memorable moments was showing up at the peak in my full tiger outfit and getting a lot of smiles and a few laughs. But the moment that really stuck with me was the last night. After two days of grinding through rough trails and boulders together, something had shifted. The strangers I started the trip with didn't feel like strangers anymore. We sat around with drinks, laughed until it got late, and nobody wanted the night to end.

It was honestly just an amazing experiencing and I am absolutely doing it again.