Showing posts with label Mt. Pulag. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mt. Pulag. Show all posts

Take a Peak at Mt.Pulag

click here for PART 1.

Off to Camp 2. The trail is much better. I really
felt I was in the middle of a forest. Temperature was colder too. Grasses and trees are green, unlike the trail I've seen going to Camp1, everything was brown and dry. I enjoyed trekking at Camp 2 more.

trekking inside the forest

I requested to rest twice. I felt it's getting hard to breathe. Im OK but I dont know how long this walking would take so I need to conserve the energy I have.

and more reminders for the trekkers

After an hour I think, I reached Camp 2! Woohoo!
It's not that hard after all. I overcome the cold and hot temperature and the pagod, combined all together. More than the endurance, it's the will power to finish the climb is the key.


Camp 2 - Woohoo!

The place is very foggy. All of us felt the fog
passed us. Temperature dropped to 10degrees!

Everybody panicked when it started to rain. We
haven't setup our tents yet. I just made sure my camera wouldnt be wet. Thank God the rain didn't last long, it only took 5 mins. Pinakaba lang kaming lahat. Hihi

All of us immediately setup
our tents.

it's warmer to pinch the tents near the grasses

At this time I put on my 2 jackets, my gloves, and socks. I stayed inside the tent and slept for 2 hours. After experiencing to sleep in the open without any tents at all, I dont have any difficulties sleeping anywhere now. Ü

I woke up and dinner was being prepared.
Everything was improvised. Galing!

dinner in the mountain

While waiting for dinner, all of us noticed the
sea of clouds near the other end of the camp site. Amazing! I only see these when Im in the airplane! Also, all of us awaited for the sun to set.

sea of clouds

majestic sunset in the mountains

The temperature dropped to 8 degrees while we
were eating. At 6pm it's already that cold. So after dinner I put another jacket which I bought in ukay ukay. Yung pang antarctica jacket na iniisip nating lahat kung sino bibili ngayong summer time. Well me! Hihi

I decided to sleep again right after dinner. I stayed warm under 1 shirt, 2 jackets, and 1 pang antarctica jacket. Im also wearing a bonnet, 2 mufflers, 2 levels of gloves, 4 levels of socks, and 3 levels of pants. Seriously, may ganito kalamig sa Pinas! I didn't use my camera too to conserve the battery. I wrapped it in a cloth, then put it inside a plastic, then I put it inside my bag. I heard everything gonna moist in the middle of the night, ayoko masira si Harvey.

Come night time, I still felt the cold but I
didnt mind. I was asleep from 7.30pm-2am I think. Tagos hanggang buto yung lamig but I dont care, mas ramdam ko yung antok. Btw, the word GINAW is insufficient to describe how cold it became. CHILLING is the right word. My lower body, hands, and feet became numb. My friend Jacq and all others werent able to sleep at all because they got fever and headache. Well, I heard almost everyone in Camp 2 complaining about the freezing temperature.

At 3am we started to prepare for the summit climb. 1 of our groupmate decided not to pursue the climb at all. Eto pa, my 2 flashlights batteries got drained! Omg, how am I gonna reach the summit with the steep trail without any light?! Good thing BJ and Rina helped me. Thank you talaga. You are very kind. Pati Gatorade mo shinare mo sakin. Sweet! Hihi


The trek to the summit is the hardest I think. Aside from I dont have a flashlight (dahil jan mga 10x akong nadapa), the temperature is very cold, mas nakakahingal na yung trek, at nakakapressure na umabot sa summit before the sun rises. Sukatan ng endurance and I think will power to reach the summit on time.


Thank God we reached Luzon's highest peak on time! My victory shot while wearing the hilarious levels of clothing. Ü

my first summit shot!

Okay, laugh out loud. I look funny and wasted. Haha But I dont care, Im having fun on top! Ü

Few minutes later, we finally saw the sunrise. Wow, ganito kaganda ang sunrise sa bundok!

Majestic!

who ways it's lonely to be on top?

It was a very fulfilling moment for all of the climbers specially those who took the killer trail, it took them 3 days of trekking to get on top. Whew! I may not understand their passion for mountain climbing pero saludo ako sa kanila. This is not easy.

big cheers to the mountain climbers!

Haay, the worst part is walking through that same trail again to go back. Kakapagod na adventure indeed. Wala bang giant slide pabalik ng Ranger station? *winks*

Now meet my new found friends: Mt.Pulag edition
.

Jacq, Me (unattentive), Rina, Bj, Ms.Tata, Sir Cheeks, Ms.Joy, and Ms.Pam

Nice meeting all of you. Im lucky kayo nakasama ko for this climb. Nabusog ako sa dami ng food! Ü

And opcors, I wont leave the summit without making a memorable shot. Since it's too risky to do a jumpshot, I thought of something else. I removed the layers and layers of clothing to feel the breeze on top of Luzon's peak. Tagos hanggang buto na lamig! Astig!

summer breeze on top of Luzon's highest peak
3rd highest mountain in Pinas
mind-freezing temperature with nothing but 1 level of clothing
palakasan ng trip! ♥

At Zero Degrees and Beyond

Have you noticed I included some more items in my To Do List? Pano naman 1st quarter palang of the year, almost half of it are done already. Since I wanted to challenge myself more, I included some items that are never planned at all.

One of these is mountain climbing. Im really not a fan. I admit Im never interested to do this. Last year I started making trips which are way out of my comfort zone - like Anawangin, Nagsasa, Capones, Pinatubo Trek, Sagada, and DIY Calaguas. Surprisingly, these trips are the most memorable and awesome adventures I ever had. Then maybe I should also include mountain climbing in my list. Probably I will also have another awesome experience.

my most viewed travel entries

To make it more exciting, I chose a place where the temperature becomes ZERO DEGREES. Oh yeah, freezing level coldness. Interesting, may ganyan kalamig na lugar sa Pinas! The mountain's name is Mt.Pulag. It's in Benguet.

Mt.Pulag is the third highest mountain in the Philippines. The highest
peak in Luzon. Acdg to http://www.pinoymountaineer.com's entry about the Philippine's highest mountains, Mt.Pulag (2922m) is only 34m short of Mt.Apo (2956m)! Had I known these facts earlier, I would choose a not so high mountain for my first ever climb. Ü

This blog always promotes Do It Yourself trips, ayoko ng package.
Those are only for people who dont have time to plan and research. Planning and researching are part of the travel, just so you know. But when I found out that it is way cheaper if you travel with a group, then it's time to join a group. Yes, I availed a tour package provided by Tripinas. They charge P3500 for an all in package but I think it's still expensive. But anyway since wala namang akong camping equipments, hmpf gola na!

Our group met in cubao and after we're introduced to each other we headed to the bus station. We arrived in Baguio at 5am. Kung dati "ngatog" ang mararamdaman mo, ngayon keri lang walang jacket. Mainit na talaga kahit saan. The rented jeep awaits us. This will take us to Benguet.


the ride to Pulag

Climbers must register and be briefed first at DENR station. We attended a short orientation here.


ready ka na ba?
andami palang mountaineering groups

After that, roadtrip ulit. Zigzag roads are fine, what I dont like is the rocky and dusty road. Jeepney windows are closed too kaya ang init. It's diffucult to breath and at the same time I felt like Im eating all the dust (artsy mode).

Finally after many stopover, we reached the ranger station. This is the drop off point for the Ambangeg trail. This is the easiest trail. Ambisyosa naman ako if I take Akiki "the Killer" trail.

ranger station with many climbers

After eating lunch provided by Tripinas, I changed my outfit for trekking and put some SPF70 sunblock provided by Ms.Joy. Sosyalin mga kasama ko. They are classmates in Spanish class. Sir Cheeks had a watch with a built in temperature and altitude reader. Sowsyal (social) climbing it is! Ü


Btw, porters are available for only P250 per way. Yes I availed it kahit magaan yung bag ko. I dont want my back to suffer after this weekend.


meet the lady porters

Gulat ka no? Yes, babae ang mga na-assigned saming porters. Kakaawa na sila magbibitbit ng bags namin pero at least I helped them earn money that day.


trek to Mt.Pulag is 7.5kms

Sounds easy but bare in mind this is not a flat surface. This is uphill climb. Inferness, for the last 3 weekends, I did some biking and running for preparation. Tara let's trek!


The view is gloomy. Forest fires are everywhere. The mountains are brown not green. The rivers are dry. Effect talaga ng El Nino. Sadness.

gloomy weather and gloomy view

Along the way, the local guide picked some blackberries. Ang alam ko lang na blackberry ay yung high end na phone. Ü

ms.Pam and the blackberries

Tuloy lang ang lakad. There are times nahihingal ako so I stopped. I had a trekking pole but I dont find it useful. Seriously. So tinapon ko.

signages along the way

reminds me that HIS burdens are light

After an hour, we reached Camp 1. Pahinga + harutan time with Jacq, Rina, and Bj.

few more steps to camp 1

the missing C

ahem, what's the hand sign for Gordon?

Camp 2 and Summit - next entry na yan. Ü


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