Climbing the stairway to heaven

It felt like hell along the way, but we made it to the top.

There's some hikers who know there's a long way to go
And they're climbing the stairway to heaven
When the get there they know they'll have sweat-soaked clothes
But they'll gain the sweet views that they came for

And they're climbing the stairway to heaven

Someone claimed it's a thousand steps, but we couldn't be sure
Because it seems no one has ever really counted
As we climbed our way up the locals thought we must be nuts
Because who goes that way if they don't have to

Ooh, and it makes me wonder
Ooh, and it makes me wonder

There's a feeling I get, that seems like regret
As my lungs they are crying for breathing
In my thoughts I have said this makes me feel dead
And I'm climbing these steps for the last time

And it makes me wonder

But then we make it to the top
And see our town down there below
And we can't help but let it show
How glad we are that we did go
We took each step and didn't stop
And though the hike was very hard
And we weren't moving very fast
We were all for fun and fun for all
We tripped on rocks but did not roll

We were climbing the stairway to heaven

(apologies to Led Zepplin and everyone who just read those butchered lyrics)

Alrighty then. Yesterday, our Friday group caught a Jeepney to Olongapo City and hiked back to Barretto by going up and over Kalaklan ridge using the path that has been dubbed “the stairway to heaven.” It’s been a long time since we’ve taken that route up and yesterday was a good reminder of why–it’s a tough bitch. I don’t know if it is really a thousand stair steps, but it was a 235-meter climb. But we got it done, and that brings with it a special sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Maybe for the last time.

Our path. A jeepney ride, a 1K road walk, a hard climb to the top of the ridge, then back down to Barretto town. We finished with some lunch at John’s place.
Our Friday group of hikers.
Our two newest members, Heidi on the left and Lydell on the right, seemed to enjoy themselves.
A bit of highway walking at the start.
This made me think of Kevin Kim’s unfortunate encounter with a horny driver during his Jeju island hike in South Korea.
Then up an inclined street.
I’m inclined to like what I see.
And there it is–the stairway to heaven!
A seemingly endless staircase testing our endurance.
Onward!
Upward!
Name shame in taking a water stop along the way.
And still, we climb the seemingly endless stair steps.
A brief horizontal interlude.
On and on and on we go.
Tired yet, Scott?
Almost there, don’t give up yet!
So, I’m on the stairway to heaven. Looking down, I see Olongapo City. Does that mean it’s hell?
A little diversion on the climb.
At last, the end of the climb. “What took you so long, old man?”
Way up here, all by itself, sits this abandoned house. There must be a story here. Maybe the hubby sent his wife down the stairs for beer one time too many.
Regrouping on the ridgeline road.
How’s that for a spider, Kevin?
Let’s take a break.
You can see my little slice of heaven from here!
Even has angels!
Movin’ out.
Passing through the rooster farm.
And walking the Great Wall of Barretto.
Easter mountain as seen from the Great Wall.
The Olongapo side of the bay.
Let’s go home.
Going down.
And more down.
Almost there.
Back on flat ground and refreshments at the sari-sari store.
Counting flowers on the wall that don’t bother me at all.
Heidi and Lydell had enough energy to play pool while waiting for lunch to be served.
I just took in the view.
Ah, yes, pulled pork for me!
The girls had bulgogi…
And Korean-style chicken wings.

And that was my daytime trip to heaven.

Last night I did attend the SOB at Whiskey Girl. I met one of the Whiskey Girl girls, and she joined me for a few drinks before the show.

Say hello to Jah Jah, a 27-year-old cutie. We are now Facebook friends.

I wound up not going to the Aftermath and made it a relatively early evening. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll

And she's buying a stairway to Heaven

2 thoughts on “Climbing the stairway to heaven

  1. 1. Gorgeous spider! Do you know what species it is?

    2. In the picture captioned “Going down,” the girl in the foreground grew a second pair of eyes. I thought I was seeing things at first, but she really seems to have four eyes.

    3. Your pulled-pork sandwich looks a lot better than the one I recently ate. In my case, the burger joint formed the pulled pork into a patty, then melted cheese around it to reinforce the patty’s shape. Weird. Yours looks the way such a sandwich is supposed to look.

    4. Namsan’s main staircase has over 1100 steps. How does your Stairway to Heaven compare?

  2. Kev,
    1. No idea what kind of spider that might be. I’ve never seen one quite like it.

    2. I had to go back and look again, but yeah, it almost looks like that under-eye face paint some athletes wear to minimize sunlight impact. Obviously, she wasn’t wearing any in the other pics, so it must have just been some weird shadow effect. I also didn’t realize the double entendre of a caption saying “going down” in a photo featuring a young woman.

    3. Yeah, when I saw that picture of your recent pulled pork sandwich, I was thinking, what kind of meat is that? Didn’t realize it was melted cheese, but I don’t think I’ve ever had cheese on pulled pork, either. John definitely has the best-tasting pulled pork in town.

    4. Namsan’s stairs were always challenging, but I don’t recall them feeling as never-ending as the ones on the Stairway to Heaven. Of course, I was younger back then, and it probably wasn’t as hot. Your mention of Namsan brings back a ton of nice memories, though.

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