September 17, 2006 Sunday
Portaging to Mt. Ampacao
Ride Resumption
The last attempt
Steve,
Joey and
myself did to climb Mt. Ampacao on a mountain bike, the ride got aborted when Joey endo-ed (went over the handle bar) and dislocated his elbow. I've hiked Mt. Ampacao a couple of times with Aklay since then, but that's on foot. The mountain bike part had to be rescheduled til the weather allowed us. Pumped from the ride to Kiltepan the day before, Steve scheduled a resumption of the Mt. Ampacao ride, this time with additional riders,
Aklay and
Pete.
Portaging Galore
The ride started from Poblacion and went continuously up towards Danom Lake until the
waiting shed. By that time, we were all warmed up to veer-off the main dirt road and
portage the bike up a steep hiking trail. There were a
few rideable sections but they were far from sustained. Either the overgrowth was
too dense, or the trail was
too muddy or riding simply wasn't doable and the
bikes needed to be carried again....and
again.
Winded Out
The carrying took the wind out of me. My steering was getting twitchy - a telltale sign of fatigue. I had to step out of my ego and call for a
rest. Ignoring such sign could bring about catastrophic consequences. The hiking trail was challenging enough for a hiker with no load, let alone carry a mountain bike on your shoulder.
Frolicking the Grassy Top
Relief came upon reaching the
grassy top. No more portaging and sweet downhill from then on, all the way to the bottom. The ride took us along rocky sections that made for good hand-jarring. It was as much fun as it was scary. Before we knew it, we were at street level. That was it?
Ending Thoughts
I would have titled the story, Ride to Ampacao. However, as good as the downhill ride was on the rocky section, the lingering impression I had on that ride was the portaging. I knew there was a portaging component but I didn't realize it would be nearly all the way up to the grassy top. 2 things need to happen here - clear the trails with some machete work and wait for sustained dry spells to pack up the trail again.
--- TheLoneRider
Comments? Email webmaster@thelonerider.com
»» next story
»» back to Mountain Biking
»» back to Homepage
|
