Hiking for 40-year-olds

Joseph Guerrero in Tips and Advices

Sep 18, 2019 • 2 min Read

For someone who is never really into sports, hiking is an ambitious idea. Too much walking, scrambling rocks, getting filthy and sweaty, and getting exposed to a harsh sun are not actually attractive to ladies who prefer books over sports. Or so I thought.

In 2015, a friend urged me to give hiking a try. I gave in because I was Gardo Versoza (haggard to straight people) and I needed to be engaged in an activity that offered a special kind of kick. So the first thing I did was to buy a pair of walking shoes and I thought, “Merrell!” These shoes were gorgeous and expensive. Pikitmata na binili ko ang shoes. Then I scouted for a medium-sized backpack to hold my baon, extra shirt, valuables, and umbrella. A girl had to be prepared, you know. Oh, and some sunblock. It is necessary to have sunblock for sensitive skin.

On my first try, there was a moment when I thought my knees and my chin would meet. I felt so short. I thought I was about to kiss the earth. This was because the trail was so steep. I can barely put one foot in front of the other. There was just too much weight on my feet that I could not go further up the trail. Still, I made it halfway to the summit of Mt. Parawagan in Montalban, Rizal after hours of walking.

I climbed my first mountain about a week after—and failed because I almost fainted. I stayed at the first pit stop for 30 minutes due to giddiness. Two weeks went and I tried again and reached my first summit. The trick was to rub menthol on my nostrils every now and then. I reached the summit of Mt. Binicayan (still in Montalban) at a very slow pace but with a big smile on my face. I was officially addicted.

Weeks after my Binicayan experience, I reached the summits of three more Montalban mountains; Hapunang Banoi, Sipit Ulang, and Ayaas. The third summit was on an extremely hot day.

Hiking is not easy for people like me—no exercise, a bit heavy, hypertensive, lampa, hindi masyado nai-expose sa haring araw, and tamad maglakad. BUT! I got addicted to hiking the first time I smelled the grass, the clean air, the pungent soil, and saw the beauty of nature—sometimes untouched, and sometimes wounded by man. Yes, “wounded” by man. It pains me to see mountains destroyed—but that is another story.

It is never too late to do things one only reads about. I was 45 and hypertensive when I reached my first summit. Maybe when I turn 60, I would have conquered a few more summits. Ambitious? Yes. Doable? Definitely.