Elusive! That’s what I called Mount Apo. The tallest peak in the Philippines at 9,692 feet, located on the island of Mindanao, and has been a popular destination for mountain climbers.

We began moving into our new house in 1972 at the newly developed GSIS heights subdivision.  The west facing house gave us a majestic view of the mountain. The view became even more majestic with the morning sun rising and shining its rays on its broad mountainside. That was in 1972 when the wires from the electrical posts were not yet obstructing the view. The houses were new and uniform in design.  Vegetations were young and the surrounding looked very aesthetic.

Fast forward to 2018.  The houses were older and most had been replaced by concrete and steel.  The vegetations were taller and lacked trimming.  The electrical posts were looking burdened with tangled electrical wires.  Mount Apo was nowhere to be seen, even from the rooftop, and the once clear morning view has turned to haze.

I never really devoted much thought about this mountain peak. It has always been there. It was only when my high school classmates, the social climbers, started posting on social media about their mountain climbs that my interest was ignited.  I knew that I can never have enough time to get myself in shape for a climb so I set out to take a nice panoramic photograph.

It was vacation time and we were spending a night at Sitio Maupot in Magpet, North Cotabato. I knew that Magpet was west of Mount Apo and I was hoping to get a decent view. It was unfortunate that my best view was the foothills of Mount Apo. My consolation was a panoramic view of Kabacan River in the valley.

Later that week, we were in Kapatagan, Davao del Sur. Mount Apo was north of Kapatagan and I was really hoping for more luck at taking a photograph of the mountain. It was unfortunately very cloudy and overcast.

I was given a second chance to be in Kapatagan at a later date but it only resulted to the same cloud cover and overcast sky.  Maybe, at another time, Mount Apo will reward me with her majestic view.