Just very recently, I was invited by a good childhood friend of mine to a fun hike to Nopol Hill. Specifically, it’s called the Leyson Park which is becoming more and more popular for hikers because of its view of the city lights at night. Before this trip, I have already heard good things about this park especially from my friends. Therefore, I felt very privileged to come and see the beautiful scenery of the city from the top of the hill myself.
Nopol Hill
To get to Nopol Hill, you will need to head to Brgy Mabuhay, General Santos City by car. Motorcycles and tricycles are also another way of transportation to reach the start of the hike. From there, the trek will take 2-3 hours depending on your pace. In our case, the group I was with has a couple of men carrying these huge bags with tents and food inside. Because of this, we stopped almost every 15-20 minutes to rest.
This is how the trail looks like.
Hike in the Dark
The most interesting part of this trek for me was the fact that since we started trekking late in the afternoon, the dark caught upon us very quickly. It was a first for me trekking in the dark with only a headlight on. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. I think one big factor is because I was in a group with mostly men with us.
In addition to that, the bats in a nearby cave were out and about too. At first, I thought they were birds but later on realized they weren’t. It was incredible seeing them so free flying above us.
This is incredible to see.
It was almost 7 pm when we got to the top of the hill and many other campers have already set their tent up. There was an estimate of over 300 participants that evening who came to attend the social event. This event, by the way, is the 5th Mindano Mountaineering Federation Meeting. As I understand from my friend, who is a member of a group, it is an event that happened annually so that groups of mountaineers from our region get together and socialize.
Everyone was given ID but mine’s a freelance since I’m not a member of any group. However, I think my friend’s group will adopt me soon. =)
At night time, the party started with live bands until midnight. For me, it was an early sleep though because I was a little bit tired from work that day. So, not so much party on my part, unfortunately. Ha! Anyways, I didn’t come for that. I came to spend time with my close friend. =)
Day 2
By the next morning, it was foggy at the park but it wasn’t very cold compared to Lake Holon and Mount Matutum camping sites. We began hiking down at 9 am after a quick breakfast of pancit canton and bread. =)
I could barely see anything with the thick fog covering us.
It was indeed a short trekking weekend activity perfect for everybody. The trail isn’t that steep, mostly in the plain field.
Great Bonding Activity
I am grateful for the invite and the time that I got to spend with my friend. This friend, just so all of you know, is a very close friend of mine from daycare until grade 6 and even until now that we’re adults. I remember when we were younger playing games in school, all sweaty and dirty but we didn’t care because we were just kids. Now, we have bigger responsibilities taking care of our own famiy for him or just thriving for me. =)
If you have friends like that in your life, go find time despite your busy schedule to hang out with them in a healthy way like trekking, strolling around or exercising. In that way you get to catch up with each other’s life and in way become fit too.
Finally, this is me with the city lights in my background. And oh, if you can also see someone’s doing something very important. Haha. =)
