Aaron Lake [Mt. Hibok-Hibok Crater Lake]

Let's pick up from where I left.

Mt. Hibok-Hibok is a canopy trail with lush vegetation surrounding a single path leading to the crater. It was still raining as we are nearing to the volcano's mouth. A mixture of water and mud trickle down like a stream as we traversed the trail.

You know you're high up in the mountain when it's difficult to breath even if it's windy and the fog surrounded you in all directions.

We reached the mouth of the crater which was still a mossy forest with towering pandan shrubs. The altitude was 1107 meters above sea level. That's the highest point we got since our guide decided to cancel our assault to the summit due to the weather condition.

We never questioned the decision of our guide, but we hoped that the weather will cooperate once we reach the crater. We descended for about 100 meters to the crater.

The crater is a large swath of flat land with different kinds of grasses and shrubs. Pako, an edible fern, was also abundant at the crater so I had a fresh and crunchy morning snack. We continued walking in the middle of chest-length grasses until we reached the lake.

The crater lake was a result of water accumulation at the crater of a now dormant volcano. According to our guide, Mt. Hibok-Hibok last erupted in 1951.

The fog made the scene look surreal with the mouth of the crater appearing in silhouette at the background.

I will definitely be back next time for the summit, but I'm satisfied with the outcome.

We descended to the base after a few minutes in the crater. It took us 7 hours to complete the trail.

I will now prepare for another mountain to conquer. With proper preparations, I think I will be ready for a major climb. Keep posted!