We’re back in Manabu Peak for a fun climb and BMC (Basic Mountaineering Course) for the new members of our mountaineering club (SMB Mountaineers). It was the same time last year when we did a dayhike at Manabu Peak as sort of continuation of our Basic Mountaineering Course.

Of the 14 climbers this year, 4 including me were returnees, and the rest were first time Manabu Peak climbers. Joining us is an expat couple from Canada, 3 first time climbers and 3 fairly newbies.

The group converged at the Fiesta Mall in Lipa City, Batangas at around 9:30AM, we did our last minute shopping and were off to the jump-off point at Sulok, Bgy. Sta. Cruz, Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

At the jump-off point, we did the first part of the Basic Mountaineering Course, which was (1) How to pack & Basic mountaineering equipment (2) Trail Management & LNT (Leave no trace), then we had our lunch and started our hike at around noon.

Manabu Peak is relatively an “easy” mountain to hike, trekking it would only take an hour and a half to 2 hours depending on the skills and experience of the climbers.

We are scheduled to take the Grotto trail going up then via the old trail in our descent, but we missed seeing the fork crossing, instead we took the old trail going up, I suspected that the new hut being built at station 4 has blocked the view of the fork crossing. It was a blessing in disguise, at least for me, at least I can now experience both trails.

After an hour of climbing, we reached the famous “coffee shop” at station 5 where we rested, had a refreshing buko juice and what else, freshly brewed coffee. The buko costs 10 Pesos a piece and the coffee, it was for free! The hut owner sells Alamid (Civet cat) coffee and the coffee was for tasting purposes.

The rest at station 5 was long, it was more than an hour, based on our calculation, we might reach the campsite in 30 minutes which will be hot during the mid-day or early afternoon.

We resumed the trek at around 2:30PM, it was when the inclined assault started, the rest didn’t help at all, I need to really warm up again to revive the momentum. It took around 15 minutes to regain my momentum and 15 more minutes and we’ve reached the campsite.

Unlike last year, the campsite was almost empty this year, there were at least 2 groups that were pitching their tents. We picked the more secluded campsite, a very good one. We pitched our tent and waited until 5:00PM before assaulting the summit.

It was less than 10 minutes from the campsite to the summit, although I’ve been there before, but each time, the views and experience differs. This only proves that you see something new each time you visit the mountain. The refreshing view of the nearby mountains surely makes the return to this peak worthwhile.

We went back to the campsite before sunset, it was time to prepare dinner, rice, spam, spicy mix veggies, corned beef, fried dried squid and meatballs spaghetti (c/o our expat companions) is what we feasted on. Chow was good, then it’s time for some fun time, while the shot glass (of Mojito Tequila) is being passed, it was time for introduction and feedbacks regarding the climb, followed by an informal discussion on camp management & trail management.

The cold was bearable, although I would admit that I regret not bringing my jacket. But not even the almost freezing cold would stop us from enjoying the night. It was only when we downed the 2 bottles of Mojito Tequila that we have to call it a night.

I slept well during the night, the cold and windy weather didn’t bother me at all. I was the first to get up the next morning, it was around 6:00AM, the rest of the group were still soundly sleeping. I boiled the water for my coffee and enjoyed it while just enjoying the beauty of the new morning.

Half an hour have passed and most of the team woke up, it was breakfast time, noodles and bread was served. After breakfast, it was time to break the camp and prepare for descent. Before going down, some final tips on trail management and a primer on radio communication was conducted.

We started the descent by going back to the summit for our group photo and went down using the grotto trail. It started to drizzle which made us a little bit worried, thank God it was just a short drizzle.

It took us at least an hour before we reached the grotto, we briefly rested there and continued on towards the jump-off point. We reached the jump-off area, waiting for us was a hefty lunch, native chicken tinola and pinakbet that we asked from the locals to cook for us.

The lunch was great, it made me feel sleepy. But not yet, I need to freshen up and head home to do my sleeping there. By 2:30PM, everybody was ready to head home.

Manabu Peak maybe considered an easy mountain to scale, it may not be as challenging as other mountains but every journey offers different experience, different people and a different kind of fun.

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I first heard of Mount Pulag from a former co-worker, he posted a video of his trip on facebook and I was stunned.

It was about the same period last year when I saw it, fresh from our Kairukan Falls trek in Mount Silangan, I was looking into coming back to mountain climbing, Mount Pulag became my dream destination.

I inquired about the trip and he suggested an agency that handles trip to destinations like Mount Pulag. I contacted the agency and booked for the December 16-18, 2011 schedule, it was for Ambangeg – Ambangeg trail. Unfortunately, the trip was cancelled due to typhoon (I believe it was Sendong). Since then, Pulag has been an elusive dream until SMB Mountaineers planned a climb for December of 2011.

Day 0 – November 29, 2012

I left home around 4:00PM, meet up time at the Victory Liner Pasay terminal was scheduled at 7:00PM, I’ve anticipated a long travel from home, it was the last day of work since Friday, November 30 (Bonifacio Day) was a holiday.

I was right, it was a perishing 35 kilometer travel, traffic was so bad that it took me more than 3 hours to reach my destination. Upon arrival at the terminal, it was jam-packed, Sir Jim, Sir Jay-R and Ma’am Dottie was there having dinner at the nearby resto, I joined them and took my dinner as well.

Our bus was scheduled to leave for Baguio at 9:00PM, we have at least 2 hours to prepare ourselves mentally and physically. Slowly, all of the 13 participants arrived, we boarded our bus and at exactly 9:00PM, we are rolling.

As expected, the trip took about 6 and a half hours, we met up with the driver of our rented jeep in front of the 7-11 outlet near the terminal and in a few minutes we’re on our way to the DENR office at Barangay Ambangeg.

Day 1 – Baguio – DENR (Ambangeg) – Akiki

We were scheduled to stop at Ambuklao Dam view point but it was still dark when we reached the place, we let go of the plan and continued on with our journey, our next stop was at Jang Jang eatery, there we had our breakfast and bought our packed lunch.

From Jang Jang Eatery, we headed to the DENR Office in Barangay Ambangeg for registration and briefing, it was a 15 minutes video presentation and another 20 minutes or so talk about the conservation efforts in Mount Pulag. Most of the almost 100 attendees in our batch will take the Ambangeg trail, we will be taking the “killer” trail in Akiki. Kudos to DENR for a great presentation.

Since majority of Mount Pulag National Park is situated in the town of Kabayan in the province of Benguet, 2 other provinces shares its borders with Mount Pulag, Nueva Vizcaya and Ifugao. It is the [still being debated] the 3rd highest mountain in the country and the highest in Luzon at 2,922 meters above sea level.

After completing the orientation, we traveled 2 hours of bumpy and dusty road to the Akiki jump-off point in Barangay Duacan. The initial trail was a 5 minutes cardio trail to the visitor’s center, we registered, secured a guide and 3 porters, then we took an early light lunch before initiating the climb.

From the visitor’s center, it was a continuous uphill trek, the air is getting thin, my watch recorded the jump-off point to be 1,300+ MASL. It was past 10:00AM, a bit warm yet I’m not perspiring, to add to that the cold weather is worsening my colds.

We continued on to our trek until we reached a waiting shed, it is where we had a brief rest. I’m impressed by the strength being shown by husband and wife team, Sir Ed & Ma’am Ethel, despite their age, they still took the challenge of what Akiki trail has to offer.

“Age is just a number and people need to get over it.” – Betty White

From there, it was a continuous 3.5 hours trek to the campsite near the Eddet River. The team settled at the campsite, I took a brief rest while others were exploring the small falls nearby, I needed that “power nap,” I didn’t get much sleep on the bus ride.

After 30 minutes sleep, it was my time to take a dip on the cold waters of Eddet River, it was too friggin’ cold, well what would you expect when you’re 1,300 meters above sea level. I went back at the camp site chilling, they were preparing dinner, it’s only 4:00PM and it’s about to get dark.

We prepared and ate dinner at about 6:00PM and had our socials, a few shot of booze is necessary to relieve the chills of the cold winds. It was lights off at 9:00PM, wake-up time was set at 4:00AM, next day’s activity will be an eight straight hours of continuous uphill trek to saddle camp.

When I was about to lie down, I felt the pain in my left eye, the pain gets worst when I lied down, my whole left frontal lobe is now aching, I grabbed my first aid kit and took a tablet of paracetamol. The pain continued until I went black out.

Day 2 – Eddet River to Saddle Camp Grounds

The next morning, I woke up not feeling the pain anymore. The team are all awake at 4:00AM, we had our breakfast and prepared for a day full of hiking.

The hike up to the “helipad” is my longest uphill climb ever, it was about 2 hours of steep assault, Sir Jim’s tip was to take it slow with frequent breath-catching rest, it was effective. I did a 30-40 steps and rest for a few seconds, a good enough time to catch some breath.

From the helipad, it was another long trek up towards the “Cow Country” or “Marlboro Country” there, we took our lunch and rested for about an hour.

Just about noon, we started our hike towards the mossy forest, I can now understand why it is called the “enchanted forest,” the air inside the forest is cooler and misty during the afternoon. At more than 2,000 MASL, the air is thinner inside the forest, I felt the shortness of breath whenever I’m taking and uphill trek, surely my age is taking toll on me.

Finally after 2 hours, we exited the mossy forest and entered an open trail of grass land. The trail was hot with chilling winds hitting every exposed skins in my in my body. The grass land trail was a combination of steep uphill trek with a long rolling trail towards the Saddle Camping grounds.

Mount Pulag is now within sight, it looks near yet it was far, from the top of the hill, I saw the view of the camp site, some of the team members were already nearing the camp site. Sir Albert, Jay-R and me forms the sweeper of the team, and as expected we will be the last to arrive.

We reached the campsite at around 4:30, we pitched our tent and rested for a while before preparing our dinner. Headache hit me again, the vision in my left eye is blurring and I’m starting to get dizzy.

We had our dinner at 6 o’clock in the evening, the pain was unbearable at that point, I took my meds and excused myself to the team, I did not join the socials that night. My sleep attempt was unsuccessful, the noise in the nearby camp kept me awake until 3 in the morning, the memory of the annoyance we experienced at Pico de Loro flashed back in my mind, I wanted to get up and curse those people, but it’ll just be an exercise of futility.

Day 3 – Assault to the summit and sunrise viewing
I got up at 4:00AM feeling dizzy and trying to fight the cold weather, we are scheduled to assault the summit at 4:30AM, I didn’t eat anything, just coffee to relieve the chill.

At 4:30AM, everyone was prepared for the summit assault, it only took us less than 20 minutes to reach Mount Pulag’s summit. It was an overwhelming feeling, finally I conquered the highest peak in Luzon, a dream came true. Everything else that follows will be a great bonus.

We were the first group to reach the summit, thus giving us the opportunity to pick the best place to view the sunrise. The next view silenced me, the wondrous spectacle was breathtaking. I just watched in awe to the views that unfolds before my eyes.

We left the summit in high spirits, it’s now time to prepare for our descent, we had our breakfast, broke our camp and left Saddle camping grounds at 9:00AM. It was a misty (foggy) morning, my tent was still wet when I packed it.

Descent to Ambangeg and Babadak Ranger Station
The descent was relatively easy, it was an hour and a half of open rolling hill trail to Ambangeg camp 2, followed by an hour of level walk inside another mossy forest, there were about 2 (if I’m not mistaken) water source inside the mossy forest.

While walking along the open grassland, I noticed that there were several trails created, I can’t help but felt sorry to the dwarf bamboos that were killed just to create those unnecessary additional trails.

From the ranger station, it was about an hour drive to Ms. Gina Epe’s house (our transport contact), there we had our (late) lunch and cleaned up. My lips were hurting but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the authentic Pinikpikan and chopsuey.

When everyone has cleaned up, we headed our way to Baguio City, it was another couple of hours or so of road travel. Again we missed viewing the Ambuklao Dam, maybe some other time. In Baguio, we took our dinner and then made our way to the Victory Liner bus terminal, we are scheduled to take the 11:20PM bus ride to Manila. We arrived in Manila (Pasay Terminal) 6 hours later.

Post Script

For the first time, I never felt any post climb pain (with the exception of my cracked lips due to wind burn), I can attribute that to a relatively easy descent.

Mount Pulag was my 10th climb for this year, 11th with SMB Mountaineers, I can’t believe that I completed 4 major climbs this year. Plans are being plotted for next year’s climb, Mount Napulauan, Mount Kinabalu and return to Mount Amuyao might be included in the plan. I’m hoping that I still have the strength to continue exploring this mountains.

SMB Mountaineers, you guys rocks!

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Prelude

Mount Ugu is part of the great traverses of the Coldilleras trilogy, the other two (2) being Mount Amuyao and Mount Napulauan.

After completing the Mount Amuyao Traverse, we insisted on doing 1 of the 2 remaining traverse before the year ends and the remaining will be taken early next year. Mount Ugu being the easier of the 2 got the nod of everyone, the schedule was finalized before we did our Camiguin Adventure.

Two of the 7 Amuyao peeps went ahead in conquering Mount Ugu, 1 will not be able to join the climb due to personal matters, that leaves the 4 (Sirs Jim, Albert, Ryan & me) of us to do the climb. Joining us were 6 other climbers, She, Joanne, Rheign, Jayson, Roshan & Bavan.

Day 0 – Manila to Baguio

It was All Souls Day, a very long weekend is about to end, our trip to Baguio was originally scheduled at 3:00PM, but it was moved to 6:00PM to give way to those who spent All Saints Day in the province.

Unsurprisingly, the traffic was light, there’s not much people at the Pasay Terminal of Victory Liner, undoubtedly, it was the best time to travel to Baguio. I arrived at the terminal at around 3:30PM, I found Sir Jim & Ma’am Joanne already waiting at the terminal, shortly after, the other participants arrived at the terminal in time for our departure.

I didn’t had any sleep during the travel, I’m not really fond of sleeping in travel most especially when taking public transportation. I was wide awake and enjoying the flickering headlights until we reached our first stop at Tarlac City and second stop at Sison, Pangasinan.

The journey continues with me taking short naps in between every stops, it was a little past 2:00AM when we reached Baguio City, the rented jeepney will be arriving at 3:00AM, the group decided to stay at the terminal to rest and do some final preparations.

Day 1: Baguio City to Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya

We were at a 7-11 outlet when the rented jeepney arrives, we were told that it’s gonna be [at least] a 4 hour drive from Baguio City to Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya, that would be an opportunity for me to get some much needed sleep.

It was a restful sleep until the jeepney stopped, it was a “pit stop” at Pingkan ni Jo where we took our breakfast. The next 3 hours or so of travel was a struggle to get a good position to rest.

We arrived at the beautiful town of Kayapa a little past 7:00PM, we paid a visit to the local police station to register. We also asked for guides but unfortunately, no one is available. The officer on desk told us there 3 other groups climbed Ugu the day before, thus all the guides were already been hired.

Photo by Shery Apostol

We are about to do the climb on our own, Sir Jim has climb Ugu and very well familiar with the trail.

While waiting outside, a guy approached me offering his service as a guide, he told me that he lives in Sitio Domolpos, about an hour and a half away from the summit of Mount Ugu.

It was good news, Pedro’s knowledge of the trail will definitely help us. From the Kayapa Municipal Hall, we hiked about 200 meters to the jump-off, Sir Jim gave us the some final words and prayed for the guidance.

Time to Climb

Opening the climb was a steep climb passing through a village, my cardio was once tested. I was breathing heavily, I was waiting for my sweat to come out, the high altitude and relatively cold weather prevented it to come out.

The trek continued on until we reached the first pine forest, it was time to take our first “take five.” The air was cool and the shed created by the gigantic pine trees made that stop worth taking. Several locals passed us by and they were to polite to greet and wish us good luck.

We resumed our climb, we exited the pine forest and entered into a long open trail, it was hot and a bit humid, this time I was sweating hard. I was a bit concern about my water supply, I only have about 2 liters of water when we started trekking, the nearest water source was about 2 hours away and my first waster was about to run dry.

Rest Stop at Bgy. Indupit

Our next stop and rest was at Bgy. Indupit where the water source is located, it was longer than 5 minutes. We refilled our water bottle, took our merienda and rested. It was around 11:00AM, another 1 hour of walking in an open trail and we’ll reach our lunch stop at Mount Sarmiento.

The trail seems to be an endless trek to the long and winding open trail, we were walking on the side of the mountain offering a good view of the vast Cordillera mountain range. I must admit that it was tiring, the scorching heat of the sun adds up to the agony that I’m experiencing for walking long distance.

Lunch Break at Mount Sarmiento

A few more hundred steps and we’ve reached Mount Sarmiento “pit stop.” There we had our lunch, we were given hour to rest, I took time to close my eyes to get some much needed rest. The other team members just enjoyed the wondrous view that is surrounding us.

Photo by Albert Onod

Photo by Rheigh Samson

At 1:00PM sharp, we’re back on the road, our next stop will be at Sitio Domolpos, a couple of hours away from Mount Sarmiento. It was a long even terrain with some rolling (up & down) trail going to Sito Domolpos, the trail was carved along the side of the mountains.

Halfway to Sitio Domolpos when Bavan twisted his knee, from then on, he was limping, it did slow us down but I never hear him complaining about it.

It took us about 2 and a half hours to reach the gate leading to Sitio Domolpos, Pedro informed us that we need to secure a permit prior to entering the village, it’s their way of keeping privacy and security in the village. We don’t have much time to secure a permit, instead of going down we rested near the water source, that was our last rest stop before we assault the summit.

Sitio Domolpos and Summit Assault

Not far from us was the summit, it’s gonna be a long and hard uphill trek, the assault to the summit was estimated to take another 2 hours.

Well rested and eager to reach the summit, we pushed our way to summit. It was a hard tiring hike, after about an hour, we reached the first camp site, Pedro suggested that we pitch our tent on the summit. After passing the camp site, it was now a more manageable trail towards the summit.

Photo by Shery Apostol

This sight welcomed us in the summit, it may not be the best sunset in the world but I tell you, it made stop and just stare in her beauty.

The temperature started dropping, it was about 16°c when we reached the summit, we immediately set up our tent and cooked our dinner. I excused myself from cooking, my body was dead tired to do anything, after pitching my tent, I hurriedly lied down and slept.

They woke me up when the dinner was ready, it was cold, I was told that the temperature dropped to 8°c, my appetite was gone, I took a few bites and excused myself again, sleep is what I needed. From then on, it was a peaceful slumber from me.

The chuckling noise woke me up at around 1:00AM, I didn’t bother to get up, I carried on with my sleep. By 3:00AM, I can’t sleep anymore, I stayed inside my tent until 5:00AM.

Day 2: Good Morning Ugu

It was time to get up, well that’s what the itinerary stated, but it seems that most of us stayed up late and I’m the only one awake. It’s my time alone with nature, it was time to enjoy the beautiful sunrise, breathe the fresh air and capture every moment there is.

An hour have passed and one by one, people are getting out of their tents, I’ve done boiling water for my coffee and instant noodles.

We had our breakfast while enjoying the views at the summit, by 7:00AM we broke camp then these visitors unexpectedly appeared. Everyone dropped whatever they are doing and started shooting photos like seeing a famous celebrity.

Going Down is Mandatory

By 8:00AM, we are ready to go down, the feeling was bitter-sweet, as much as we want to stay, we need to leave the place and continue on with our lives away from it.

Going down was a steady difficult downhill trek, it’s gonna be a long 16 kilometers of open trail to Barangay Tinongdan, Itogon, Benguet. The next water source will be at Sitio Lisod which was 3 hours away from the summit.

I would admit that I hate going down, for me it’s the most difficult part of any climb, it’s when I [always] feel the pain in my legs and knees.

The trail to Lisod was long yet manageable passing through some open trail and pine forest, oh how I love the pine forest, the air is cooler there.

Though hard, I could say that the trek to Lisod is quite enjoyable, the varying vista of cascading mountains and rice terraces will keep you going.

We’ve reached Lisod before noon, there we cooked and had our lunch, the group also rested there, before leaving the village, we filled up our water bottles, the next water source will be 4 hours away at Barangay Tinongdan.

Final Stretch

While resting at Lisod an elderly man approached me, he started asking question about us which I gladly replied. He told me lots of story most of which were stories about the war. Before leaving, he told me that the trek to “Barangay” [Tinongdan proper] will take just 2 hours. That maybe true for the locals but for us, it’s gonna be doubled.

There’s not much difference in the trail, it was a rolling uphill & downhill trail, there were portions of really steep stony track which were difficult.

There were also confusing trails, we need to wait for our guide to show us the correct trail.

Finally, Sitio Cayoco was in sight, my adrenaline rushes through, it’s crunch time! What I need to find now is the long hanging bridge that Sir Jim was telling us, that would mark that we’re nearing the finish line.

We’ve reached Sitio Cayoco and no bridge was in sight. Sir Jim was way ahead of us and all we can do is to ask for direction, it was early afternoon and harvest time so most of the people are out in the fields harvesting their crops.

I asked for direction on how to get to the Barangay Hall, the good man replied “derecho lang kayo d’yan, yung Barangay Hall andun sa taas ng bundok.” How frustrating, this only mean that we need to climb up again.

Feeling that we’re kinda lost, a group of men offered their help in showing us the direction, with them leading the way, we walked another 15 minutes before finally reaching the Coyaco Hanging Bridge. We crossed the 90.8 meter long Cayoco Hanging Bridge that was built across the Agno River and headed towards the waiting shed.

From the foot of the bridge to the waiting shed was an estimated 1 kilometer of hot open trail uphill trek with the view of the Sitio Cayoco on my left.

It was a non-stop trek for me until I reached the KM 0.0 mark, what a relief, my heart was pounding hard, I’m dead tired. I sat on the shed and rested, Sirs Jim, Rheign and Jayson were waiting for us there.

The rest of the group arrived before 4:00PM, we waited for a few minutes more before the rented jeepney arrived. He brought us to the Barangay Hall which was situated on top of a mountain about 1.7 kilometers from the waiting shed. We paid P100.00 each for the environmental fee and were issued certificate of completion, we took our bath and headed to Baguio City.

It took us less than an hour before we reached Baguio City, we wanted take our dinner at 50′s Diner but the place was full and we’re less than 2 hours away from our scheduled bus trip.

We ate our dinner in a nearby diner, bought some pasalubong and went to Victory Liner terminal. Our bus left Baguio at exactly 8:30PM and arrived in Manila before 3:00AM the next morning.

It was another enjoyable climb with SMB Mountaineers, looking forward to our Mount Pulag climb late this month…

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The team was excited for the tour, although the climb of Mount Hibok-hibok made us really tired, everyone seems to be energetic for the last leg of our adventure.

By 8:00AM we are on the road, we headed first to Bgy. Agoho in Mambajao town for a boat ride to White Island, upon arrival, the “gate” leading to the banca port is closed, the waves are too big for any boats to sail going to the island. Our driver suggested that we go to Mantigue Island first and try our luck at White Island in the afternoon.

The trip from Mambajao to Mahinog took about 45 minutes, the waves there are a little calmer and we were given a go signal to sail. The boat ride costs P500 per boat, the boat carries a maximum of 6 passengers, overloading is strictly prohibited, the trip took less than half an hour.

The island has an area of about 4 hectares, aside from its beach, visitors can explore its forest. Everyone seems to be more excited in dipping in its water rather than exploring the forest. Our stay is limited to 4 hours only, too short to explore the whole island.

The beach was so beautiful to ignore, I took a dip in its water, I rented a snorkel for me to see what’s under it. It was not extra-ordinary, I was told that the diving site is located about half kilometer off shore, some of the team member rented a boat to go there, I didn’t bother joining, instead I rested on a hammock and just enjoy the cool breeze of the island.

By the time I woke up, it was chow time, clams cooked in 2 different ways, grilled and boiled with ginger and green onions in it. I’m used to eating clams, but that was my first time to eat that variety, it was good, I loved the soup of the boiled clams.

After lunch, it was time to leave the beautiful island and head to White Island, but before that, we decided to take a detour to Katibawasan Falls. The falls is located about 20 minutes away from Mahinog, it stands about 250 feet and her water was so damn cold. I took a refreshing dip on her pool to rinse the sea water off my body.

It was about 4:00PM when we received a text message, it was a good news, the waves at Agoho is now calm and it is now possible to visit White Island.

We immediately hit the road and head our way to Bgy. Agoho, it was a quick 30 minutes drive from Katibawasan Falls to the boat port in Barangay Agoho. At first glance, I was disappointed, the island seems to be too small from afar. I was hesitant in riding the boat, but after a few more minutes of staring at the island, I’m convinced, I wanna set my foot on it.

It was a 45 minutes boat ride costing us P600 per boat, just like the Mantigue Island boats, the boats here only carries 6 passengers. On my estimation, the island is less than an acre of white sand floating above the water, no vegetation, the driver told me that there was once a tree living there, too bad it died.

It was about dusk when we arrived at the island, which to me is a good thing, I can’t imagine myself staying there during during the hot afternoon, it was bare and it offers no shade.

It was getting dark, no matter how enjoyable White Island can be, we need to sail back to shore before the lights went out. We bid farewell to the tiny island and head our way to our “home.” We bathe and ask our driver to bring us to Luna Ristorante for our dinner, it was an Italian feast, we order pizza and pasta, I had a spicy Penne which I really loved.

Like what they say, some good thing never lasts. The next morning, it was time to leave Camiguin and face reality. It was an adventure filled trip, Camiguin didn’t disappoint me, looking forward to seeing you again.

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Mount Hibok-hibok will be my 8th summit this year, first climb outside Luzon (first in Mindanao) and second major climb. The mountain stands majestically at 1,332 MASL, it’s height may not be considered as major but the trail is a bit difficult so I still consider it as a major climb.

Hibok-hibok is not really a mountain, it’s a volcano, in fact it is the most active in the province, she last erupted in 1951 killing at least 3,000 people.

We need to be at the jump-off point at 6:00AM, our guide Sir Ronald will be waiting for us in Bgy. Yumbing (Mambajao Town), wake up time is at 4:30AM, there just 1 bathroom in the house so I just took a quick shower.

We are composed of 9 persons, 2 were newbies, 3 occasional climbers, 3 hardcores and me, I don’t know how to categorize myself, honestly I wasn’t prepared for the climb, although the warn up climb (walkway to the old volcano) helped in setting my pace, I felt that I could have done more preparation for the climb.

We left the house shortly before 6:00AM, it was just a short ride to Bgy. Yumbing, our guide, Sir Ronald Rabile was there waiting for us at the jump-off. After our usual ritual of stretching, photo-ops and prayer for guidance, it’s time to trek.

Photo ops at the jump-off

Opening the trek was a gradual hike passing a series of tall coconut trees and houses with domesticated animals tied on some trees.

After a few minutes of trekking, we arrived at the first (and only water source), it was a perpetual supply of “soda water” which is refreshing and what locals believe to have healing powers. My bottles are full, I just tasted it and honestly, it didn’t taste different.

It was a relatively easy trek until we reached our first pit stop, we rested on what looks to me as old “deconstructed house.” Everybody were still in high spirit, laughing and sharing trail foods with each other. The trek was scheduled for 7 hours, 4 hours to reach the summit and 3 to descent. Almost an hour have past and we still have a long way to go.

The next phase was into the mossy forest, along the trail, several interesting species are available, Sir Ronald let us taste the wild berries that grows there, I tasted the one which looks like a tiny strawberry.

There’s more in the forest than berries, there are lots of interesting species inside that beautiful forest, but the best thing I’ve seen was the view of the famous White Island, i told myself, “pupuntahan ka namin bukas.

A good view of the White Island from the top

Three hours have passed and haven’t reached halfway of the trail, the trek became more difficult when fogs covered the forest, visibility was low, the fog also moisten the soil which made it a bit slippery.

Just as the fog went down, the trail gets harder, it was here that we encountered a 2 meter 90 degree vertical climb with only rocks and tree roots to step (or hold) on. Honestly, my heart [almost] stop pumping when I faced that feat.

One more hour and we reached 1,200 MASL, nope it’s not the summit yet, we were just reached the mouth of the crater, what we need to do next is to hike down 300 meters down to reach the crater.

A vast plain area welcomed us at the crater, there were grass, trees and a lake within the crater of Hibok-hibok, what caught my attention were the guava trees, Sir Ronald started picking them and gave some to us. I went on picking myself, it was one of the sweetest guava that I’ve ever tasted.

We stayed a while at the crater, the group rested conserving much needed energy for the summit assault and the hard descent.

After the much needed rest at the crater, it’s time to move up, we have to reach to more peaks before finally reaching the summit of Mount Hibok-hibok. It was a hard uphill climb all through out, the ascent was made more difficult when it started raining, the chilling wind and the skin piercing rain slowed us down.

At around 12NN, we finally reached the summit, the sky was filled with clouds and visibility was bad, there’s no place in the summit to take our lunch. Sir Ronald suggested that we go down to find a place to dine where there’s not much wind and we can sit comfortably.

There was no comfort at all, we had our lunch in a tight space. Lunch was quick but filling.

It was still drizzling when we started our descent. It was a series of almost 90° downhill descent followed by a long rolling slopes inside a mossy forest. An hour have passed and finally the sun showed up, the trail became manageable, in time for a long level plain of trekking trail.

After about 3 hours, we reached the mid-way of our descent, we took a much needed rest at the PHILVOLCS (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology) observation deck.

From the observation deck, we continued on to our trek until the sun sets, it was a long trek inside a wooded area, I’m beginning to feel the pain in my knees and I nearly succumbed to fatigue. What kept me going were the stories told by our guide, it entertained me throughout the hard ordeal.

It was pitch dark and we’re still walking, it was another series of long 90° descent, after surviving that, a tiny light can now be seen from afar, Sir Ronald told me, “Yun na ang Ardent”, finally our goal is within reach.

Finally, after 13 hours of hike, we reached Ardent Hot Spring Resort! What was estimated to only take 7 hours of hike has almost doubled. Several factors affected our climb, not everyone has prepared well for the climb, we also have newbies joining the trek.

What I’m most thankful of is that we finished the climb with no major injury.

We had our dinner in a restaurant inside the Ardent Hot Spring Resort, then the much awaited dip into the hot spring water of Ardent.

It was a refreshing bath after a tiring day of hike. I didn’t stayed longer in the pool, after just a few minutes, I left the pool and went straight to our rented jeepney to rest.

It was more than what I expected, I had fun doing the climb, I’m amazed of what Hibok-hibok has to offer and Sir Ronald Rabile was so patient to us, if you happen to take the Hibok-hibok adventure or would want to explore the beautiful province of Camiguin, call him in his phone +63.910.659.3349.

We ended the night with a few bottles of beer, our next adventure will be a visit to Mantugue and White Islands plus a side trip to Katibawasan Falls.

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We asked our guide to bring us directly to Agora Mall where the bus station is also located, we will be taking a bus from Agora in CDO to our next destination, the port of Balingoan in Misamis Oriental. The jeepney driver agreed but with an additional PhP200 extra charge, the original agreement was to bring us to CDO city center which is quite far from Agora.

Upon arrival at Agora, the next thing we need to do is to eat dinner. Several people approached us for van service going to Balingoan Port, but that was not in our mind yet, all we need is something to fill our hungry stomach.

For dinner, we ate in a ihaw-ihaw stall, nothing beats a local sugba paired with puso (rice wrapped in coconut leaves). Not only that it was cheap, it’s delicious!

After dinner, it’s time to arrange our transpo to Balingoan Port, a guy offered us a van ride for PhP100/passenger, that’s quite a bargain, a bus ride to Balingoan Port costs more than PhP150.

It was a long road trip, the road improvements in the area added another 2 hours to the original 2 hours trip. We arrived at Balingoan Port at around 10:30PM.

The first ferry ride to Camiguin will be at 4:00AM, we spent the night in a pension house which charge us PhP150/person per night.

Albert, Ron & I had 2 liters of Red Horse to end the night. It was around 2:00AM when I heard a loud clanking noise paired with loud wind wind sound. It sounded like there’s a storm hitting us, this will definitely delay our trip to Camiguin.

My suspicion was a reality, the strong winds prevented the ferries from sailing from Balingoan to Camiguin, the Coast Guard grounded all ships until the wind had weaken, we were [finally] allowed to ship around 8:15AM.

The ride was kinda bumpy, the sea was a little rough and honestly, I felt a little dizzy during the cruise. The usual 1 hour cruise to Benoni Port became an almost 1 and 45 minutes of bumpy ferry ride.

Finally at around 10:10AM, we reached Benoni Port in Mahinog, Camiguin. Our rented jeep was waiting for us since 7:00AM, the storm has affected our itinerary for the day, the driver brought us to our rented house to organize our things. We also harvested a Lanzones tree and feasted on it, my first taste of the famous lanzones from Camiguin, it was sweeter than any lanzones that I have tasted before.

A few more minutes and we’re on the road, the first thing on our mind is lunch, we never had a decent breakfast while waiting for our ferry to sail. Our pit stop was in a carinderia, there we had our brunch, it was nothing fancy, but it was good enough to keep us going throughout our busy afternoon schedule.

Our first stop was in a viewpoint where you can see the Old Volcano (Mount Vulcan), this volcano last erupted in 1875 and brought great devastation to the town of Catarman.

Next stop was a bridge with a great view of the Tres Marias, it’s the three little peaks near Mount Hibok-Hibok & Mount Vulcan.

From the Tres Marias view point, we drove South (I guess) to the famous Sto. Niño Cold Spring Resort, as advertised, the water is frigging cold! I took a dip and tested my new camera (Panasonic Lumix TS4) for some underwater shot.

We stayed there for about an hour, plus another half an hour for some souvenir shopping. I bought 2 t-shirts and a couple of fridge magnets.

Then we’re on the road again, we now headed to Bura Soda Water Park, I was told that it got it’s name from its bubbly water and the water actually taste like soda, I don’t know if they were joking, I was not able to prove it since we didn’t enter the park, we had experienced enough water since day 1.

From the Bura Soda Water Park, our driver/guide brought us to the Old Church Ruins in Bonbon, Catarman town. The church was destroyed during the eruption of Mount Vulcan in May 13, 1871. What’s left was part of the main tabernacle, bell tower and what used to be the convent.

Behind the ruins are gigantic trees and the great view of the ocean.

A few minutes drive from there was the famous Sunken Cemetery we all wanted to ride the banca to come closer to the cross but it was getting dark and we still have some place to go. We spent only a few minutes taking pictures and had our photos taken with a good view of the cross.

From the Sunken Cemetery, we were brought to the Walkway to the Old Volcano and Stations of the Cross, it was a trail leading to the peak of the Old Volcano with large icons that depict the way of the cross.

We didn’t actually reached the peak of the Mount Vulcan, our trail ended at the 15th Station (The Resurrection), my camera’s battery died on 7th station! The trail took us about an hour to finish, it was a good warm-up trek to prepare for Mount Hibok-Hibok.

From there, we had our dinner at Northern Lights Restaurant, the meal was good and the serving is huge, the place is known for its pizza and great ambiance. A must go place whenever you visit Camiguin.

After dinner, it was time to call it a night, we need to rest and prepare for our hike to the summit of Mount Hibok-Hibok.

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The team woke up before the break of dawn, everyone seems energized, probably because of a more comfortable sleep and a hefty dinner. Ahead of us was a 2 hour trek to Batad and another couple of hours to finally reach Saddle Ranch.

This is it! This will be the final leg of our expedition, one thing saddened us though, the side trip to Tappiyah Falls was scratched out.

We had our breakfast made out of the remaining pre-cooked meals, canned goods and rice, for me a cup of coffee was an additional power booster.

See you Batad in 2 Hours

We bid farewell to Cambulo, its beautiful scenery and their welcoming people determined to reach our destination in time. As always, we uttered a short prayer for guidance and extra strength.

The guides told us that it’s a relatively easy trail, they were correct, it was a long rolling trek of uphill and downhill slopes, the uphill climb is not enough to loose your breath, what makes this part of the trek is the breathtaking view that you will encounter, including the view of Cambulo Village from afar. I made several stops not to catch some breath but rather enjoy the beautiful creation that surrounds me.

Finally, Batad!

Time flies so fast, I didn’t feel much strain on my legs, and without knowing it, we finally reached Batad! It was an image that I wanted to see for a long time. The morning trek really done well (at least for me), I can’t imagine how it’ll be if we pushed through trekking it during the night.

We enjoyed much of what Batad has to offer, never missing any angle of the place while shooting for photos. We also took time to relax, fill-up and drink Coke to prepare for our final ascent to Saddle Ranch.

As I have told, the Tappiyah Falls trip has been cancelled so we did went down to Batad proper, instead we took an easy alternative route to Saddle Ranch, along the way we’ve met with tourists both foreign and locals alike. When asked where we came from, we proudly say, “Galing kami ng Barlig! Pang-apat na araw na namin itong naglalakad!”

It was something to be proud of, something that we could carry on our belt a trophy of sort. I myself couldn’t imagine finishing it, it’s not merely a physical feat, it’s the determination and spirit to complete the task.

From then on, it’s all uphill climb, the sugar from the Coke in a way energized me. There are times I feel the dryness of my throat and catching for air, yet I pushed on, this is the final stretch, this is not the time to give up. Every step makes the Saddle Ranch closer and closer to us, I told myself, “that’s where I’m heading.”

An hour and several take 5′s have passed and we reached (what I call) the one thousand steps to heaven, the final stretch to Saddle Ranch. It was a steep concrete steps that leads to Saddle Ranch, where we will meet with our rented jeep. It was a difficult one considering how exhausted we were, even those whom I considered strong was overwhelmed by the impending task.

We survived the 1,000 steps to heaven and reached Saddle Ranch 15 minutes (or more) earlier than we expected. I ordered 1 fresh buko juiced and sipped it all the way, bottoms up! While waiting for our jeep to arrive, we haggled on the souvenir shops, I was able to buy a few things, including a t-shirt and a pendant.

Thirty minutes have passed and our jeepney arrived, we bid farewell to our porters and guides and went on to our journey back to Banaue.

I can see the relief on each participant’s face, we made it!

We arrived at the Las Vegas Inn shortly after noon, the inn prepared their specialty, Las Vegas Rice for our lunch.

After filling-up our stomach and freshening up, we went down to downtown Banaue to roam around, we still have 4 hours to spare for our last minute shopping. Our backpack are already secured on the bus’ cargo compartment which made it even better for us.

It was a shopping spree, consuming every remaining cent on our pocket (or maybe not), items from t-shirt, Tapuy (rice wine), bags and other local produce, I even bought a kilo of local rice and local blend of coffee.

By 5:00PM, we had our dinner at Green View Lodge and Restaurant, it was a feast! The servings were big enough to share with everybody, to celebrate our victory (of sorts) we ordered a round of beer, we’ve waited there until almost 6:30PM, the bus was scheduled to leave at 7:00PM, enough time for us to settle on our designated seats.

Stranded

Confusions hounded our trip back to Manila, we were tossed between two buses, what was then bus number 1 was changed to bus number 2, since we already loaded our bags there, we have to transfer it to the new bus number 1. OK fine, we can now settle to our new bus assignment, it was almost 7:00PM and passengers are filling up the bus, yet, the driver hasn’t started its engine.

Eager to go home, we inquired, apparently, there was a huge landslide in O-ong, a Barangay in the municipality of Hingyon, the road is not passable and since it’s a Sunday, no workers are available to do the clearing operation. We were instructed to stay overnight in an inn and comeback early the next morning.

I was as p*ssed as the others, but I know this is not the time to be level headed and deal the matter positively, besides nobody wanted for the landslide to happen, it’s an act of God, maybe nature’s way of reminding us that she still in control of us.

Good thing Sir Jim has enough connection in Banaue, we got our rooms and we can safely and soundly sleep for the night and hope that tomorrow, we will be back in Manila.

We had our way of turning what others may think as misfortune positively, the night was young and it’s time to party! We had a good time spent at the other Las Vegas Restaurant in downtown Banaue, the owner even joined us while singing and drinking. We also did our post climb meeting there, it was shortly before midnight when some of us headed to our rooms to rest.

The morning broke up and we prepared for our expected trip back to Manila, although uncertain, we went up to the Ohayami bus staion hoping that the landslide has already been cleared, and it was! We are heading back to Manila.

We were the first to load our backpacks in the compartment and settled in our designated seats eagerly waiting for the bus to roll. Then the bus started to be filled-up and shortly after 7:00AM we were rolling.

Eleven hours and several stops later, we reached Manila safe and sound.

I’ve learned a lot of lessons in this trip, in fact it’s too many that I might write another article to impart to my readers. It was hard, dangerous and tiresome adventure but one thing’s for sure, it was enjoyable and worth doing. Should you ask me if I’m gonna do it again? Hmmm…. I need to think twice!

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It was 5:30AM when I got up of the bed, it was not the most comfortable bed that I slept on but it was good enough to comfort my tired body. As far as I could remember, it was around 9:00PM when I went to sleep, I couldn’t remember when was the last time I slept this long.

I went down from the native house and found out that the sun has already risen, and other team members are already preparing our breakfast. Me, I just stood in front of what I consider as the most amazing works man could ever do. It feels different seeing this terraces in person, I’m not being mellow-dramatic about it, but to me it’s a work of art, a piece of masterfully engineered structure.

We are on no rush of leaving Pat-yay, the trek was to start at 8:00AM, it was estimated to take about 6 hours. So after having my breakfast, I took sometime to immerse myself in the community, it’s my way of reaching out to them. For me mountaineering is not just conquering a mountain nor just seeing how beautiful a place could be, it’s also learning the culture, practices and most importantly knowing the people who lives there.

It’s nice to know that despite modern day influences, the Ifugao’s have maintained a big part of their heritage. I noticed that they are still doing it the old way, there is no modern machinery to mill their harvest, instead they are pounding the rice using a huge mortar and pestle. I grew up seeing farmers doing the “pagbabayo” as away of separating the rice (bigas) from it’s husk (ipa) but it was my first time seeing a huge lusong made out of rock, what is normally being used here are wooden pestles.

“Ilang taon na yan Kuya Jose?” I asked, “Baka lagpas 100 years na.” he replied. “Eto, (holding the wooden mortar) lagpas 50 years na.” These people are great carvers, the circumference is almost perfect, and to think that this thing came from a large boulder and really heavy, I tried lifting it and I wasn’t able to lift it an inch from the ground.

I’m overwhelmed by the simplicity of life in Pat-yay, no store, no cellphone signal and a tiny 7 volts solar cell suffices their need for electricity. Will I be able to survive that kind of life?

Before I could ever come up with an answer, it was time for us to leave. Before leaving, I was asked if I would need a porter for my bag, without hesitation, I accepted the offer, it’s still a long way to go and I don’t wanna slow the group down.

It was an easy level trail to start our third day, we walked besides the rice terraces of Pat-yay for about half an hour, then it lead us to the foot of another mountain. I told myself, “Oh my God, when will this thing end.”

The uphill trek was a short yet stiff climb along the mountain’s ridge, good thing it wasn’t raining, it made the trail more manageable to us. It was a tiring 30 minutes cardiac ascend, upon reaching it’s peak, the team took a much needed rest, by this time we ascended for about 300 meters.

“Kuya Jose, anong tawag n’yo dito sa bundok na ito?” I asked, “May iba kaming tawag dito, pero yung isang grupo ng mountaineer bininyagan ito na Mount Umayao.” he replied. Everyone laughed, apparently, he guided a group who did a reverse traverse (Batad – Cambulo – Pat-yay – Mount Amuyao – Barlig), 4 members of the team backed out upon reaching this mountain. They requested the guides to accompany them back to Batad, the rest of the group went on, hence the mountain was named (by those mountaineers) as Mount Umayao.

The fun was short lived, upon leaving Mount Umayao’s peak, we went down into a forest, there comes the challenging downhill ascent comparable to the trail from the summit of Mount Amuyao. The trail rolls up and down inside the forest, noon time passed and we’re still far from our target, our hunger was temporarily satisfied by what’s left of our trail food. We didn’t find a good place to stop and cook our lunch, besides, with our pace slowing down, we fear that we might end up doing a night trek again, one thing that we don’t want to happen again.

Another hour or so have passed and finally we have a view of Cambulo Village but it was too far, on my own personal estimate, it would take a couple of hours to reach the village.

The trek continued on, another river welcomed us, the group that was ahead of us took a dip into the cold water, I don’t think I need any cold water to cool me down, I had enough rain water covering my whole body, in fact I was chilling. It was raining intermittently all throughout the trek, my body having a hard time adjusting to the temperature.

I pushed on, although no backpack hanging on my back, I was so cautious of every steps that I’m taking. Still, the memory of my fall hounds me throughout this trek.

The trek was manageable, although there were uphill and downhill trails, I find it easy to cross, the difficult part for me is whenever we walk besides the terraces, I need to think twice each time the trail requires me to step on a stone, my mind kept telling me that I could slip and fall 10 meters below.

Exhausted and starving, we continued pushing until we reached the final stretch, at last, Cambulo Village is within reach. What’s separating us from Cambulo Village was a stiff downhill concrete stair and a hanging bridge waiting for us to cross.

It was not the easiest part of the trek but I believe it was my fastest part to finish. Upon arrival at the village, we re-grouped at a covered basketball court to discuss our next move. It was already 4:00PM and since the trail to Batad would take us 2-3 hours, we decided not to push through with it, we don’t want to gamble trekking in the dark again.

We then proceeded to Cambulo Guest House to eat and spend the night.

Cambulo Village is much larger than Pat-yay, its rice terraces is also bigger, I regret the fact that I wasn’t able to capture photos of it, the rain prevented me from doing so, I guess I need a waterproof camera.

The moment I removed the socks on my left foot, I saw one limatik hanging on my ankle, it didn’t rattle me at all, I have a much bigger problem than worrying losing a pint of blood, one being my hunger.

For dinner, the inn’s owner prepared a large bowl full of chopsuey (one bowl per person) and almost unlimited supply of rice. It was filling, the sprinkling of dried chilli on the chopsuey made me crave for more rice and a can of Coca-Cola. The meal costs P90 for chopsuey and rice plus P50 for the Coke, a night stay at the guest house costs P200 per person per night, quite cheap. We requested the owner to cook rice for us in the morning, we still have enough provisions for our breakfast.

After dinner, it’s time to take a bath and sleep, it was a more comfortable place to sleep, the bed is cushioned with pillows and clean linen. Sometimes, this simple things are being taken fore-granted, but in times like this, this would mean a more sound(ful) sleep.

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The Morning After

The group woke up before 5:00AM, we broke camp, took a light breakfast and we are on our way to assaulting the summit of Mount Amuyao. The plan is to start the hike at 6:00AM, it will be a 2 hour climb, rest on the summit, take an early lunch and then proceed to Pat-yay Village.

The beginning of the climb was a constant cardiac assault passing the side of Mount Finaroy which leads you to the infamous Hamilok trail, a steep 85 degree trail leading to the Barlig View Point, and finally another 60 – 80 degree climb before reaching the summit.

Cramps and Limatik Attack

It was half-way through the Hamilok trail when our guide, Jim arrived, that’s good news. It was at that time when the cramps hits my left quadriceps femoris (another fancy name for upper leg muscle), I have to stop and recuperate. Two team members helped me, one took the backpack off my bag and another helped me to sit down, it was my first time to experience leg cramps, good thing they were there to assist me.

As I was sitting down, I noticed something odd crawling on my index finger, it was the infamous limatik (leech), good thing it hadn’t bitten me yet, or I thought so, I removed it and thew it away, then I felt an itch on the back of my hand, it was another limatik, this one had sucked blood from me. The limatik left a small wound with blood continuously flowing from it. What I’ve learned from the past is just to let the blood flowing until it clots, which I did, I just hope no other leeches crawling anywhere in my body.

Five minutes and the cramps was gone, we continued on with our assault until we reached the Barlig View Point, it was an hour of excruciating climb. It’s now time to assault the summit, the assault was another (more or less) hour steep assault varying from 60 – 85 degree angle, guiding you to the top was the ABS-CBN, PT&T & GMA relay antenna.

Finally, after two hours, I reached the summit of Mount Amuyao! The feeling was indescribable, by this time, we’ve climbed more than 1,400 meters of elevation. It was foggy when we reached the summit, everyone was waiting for the fog to subside and for the sea of clouds to appear.

We have almost to hours to spare, we took an early lunch, rested and enjoy the wondrous view that Mount Amuyao offered us. Everyone was so happy when the fog finally subsided, the sea of clouds appeared, it may not be as great as the sea of clouds in Mount Pulag but nonetheless, it’s a great spectacle.

All good thing must come to an end as they say, it’s now time to leave the summit and trek our way to Pat-yay Village. From 2,700 MASL, we must go down to 1,400 MASL, the estimated trek time was 5-6 hours.

Opening the descent was a steep and muddy trail walking through a ridge. I would admit being scared seeing what seems to be an endless descending path. I was forewarned about this ordeal, yet I still went on joining, I must face the challenge.

Falling down and getting up

I lost count of how many times I fell, there’s one fall that I will remember the rest of my life, it was when I thought that I would die.

It was a steady downhill walk in a muddy & mossy trail, my knees were giving up, my leg muscles were already tired, I was negotiating a high step down, I doubt that the ground could hold my left foot yet I still went on, my left foot slid and rolled into the bushes, as I stopped rolling and regained consciousness, I cried for help, good thing Sir Jay-R and Sir Jim was there to help me.

It was a close call, my backpack and the bushes kept me from falling into a ravine. I was also thankful that I wasn’t injured.

Fighting Spirit

The near death experience affected me so much, my steps were more calculated and careful. As a result, my legs begins to give up and my knees loses its spring, adding to that is the draining energy, it was the time when I uttered “Sir, wala na kong tuhod, wala na kong lakas, fighting spirit na lang ito.”

True enough, it was almost 4:00PM and it’s still a long way to go. The stubborn spirit helped me through this ordeal, the sound of the river flowing freely kept me going, I wanna see it, I want to commune and take inspiration from her, I must be like her, I need to continue flowing despite the obstacles.

Seeing the river was a bitter-sweet feeling, for me it was an accomplishment but at the same time a sign of a more challenging trail ahead.

We crossed the river at least 4 times, it lead us to a level trail to the rice terraces of Pat-yay Village. The trail became treacherous, balancing my body while walking besides the rice terraces (we call it “pilapil” in Filipino or “tabon” in Bacoor). On my left was the river about 15 feet high, on the right was the rice field which to me is a more preferable place to fall.

I survived the pilapil path and into the final stretch, one more steep descent, another river crossing, a short “kiss the wall” and a long pilapil trail. It was pitch dark and my headlamp failed me, the battery is almost dead and I’m almost walking blindly on the trail

Mang Jose, a Pat-yay local met us after the “kiss the wall” trail, he offered to carry my bag which I gladly accepted. We then walked for another half an hour via the pilapil trail. This time I never gambled on walking on the pilapil, I took the irrigation path, I soaked my already wet feet (shoes & socks) to the almost ankle deep water and continued on.

It was past 7:00PM when we reached the village where Mang Jose is living. Tired, soaked up and already drained, I can’t even muster enough strength to even eat.

Mang Jose offered us to stay in the native house, that’s an offer that I would turn down. After dinner, I went up to the native house and took a much needed rest. I couldn’t believe that it was a 13 hour walk, for me, a great achievement.

Time to rest for tomorrow is another challenge awaiting to be completed.

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Ever since I went back to mountain climbing late last year, it was my dream to do a major climb. The first opportunity came when our Mountaineering Club organized the Mount Tapulao climb in late April, sadly, I was too sick to join the climb. I was so frustrated, I never imagined that there could be another chance for me to join another major climb.

Then came Mount Amuyao, the climb was planned for 2 months, a good time to prepare for what I believe to be one hard ordeal. Mount Amuyao is the 10^th highest mountain in the Philippines, it stands majestically at 2,702 MASL and included in the 3 great traverses of the Cordillera Region (Mounts Napulauan & Mount Ugu being the other 2).

After careful planning, 12 originally signed up for the climb, the list went down to 9 during the pre-climb, then 8 3 days before the actual climb.

The group prepared well for the climb, this includes a training hike at Mount Batulao and personal trainings. I personally was not able to train well physically for the climb, the daily rain prevented me to do my usual physical preparation i.e. biking and walking.

Day 0 – Travel to Banaue

Our Mount Amuyao expedition started with a trip from Sampaloc, Manila to Banaue, Ifugao via Ohayami Bus Line. On my way to Ohayami Bus terminal, I received a text from Sir Jim informing us that another team member backed-out of the expedition due to personal reasons, we are now down to 7 members.

The bus is scheduled to leave the terminal at 10:00PM but I decided to be there early, I arrived at the terminal shortly after 5:00PM. Two other members were there earlier, Sir Jim & Sir Jay-R. They need to be there before 4:00PM to pay the ticket, otherwise the reserved seats will be sold to others.

By 8:30PM, all the team members have arrived so as the other passengers. The bus left on time, the estimated travel time is 8 hours, unfortunately, there were several unscheduled stops made during the trip.

Day 1 – Banaue to Barlig and Mount Amuyao summit attempt

We reached Banaue at around 8:00AM, 2 hours late of our estimated time of arrival. We had our breakfast at the inn and did the final preparations before proceeding to Barlig via a rented jeepney.

On the way to Barlig, we passed by the Banaue Rice Terraces view point to enjoy the view and did some souvenir shopping.

We hit the road again, passing through Mount Polis and Bay-yo Rice Terraces view point. Another hour passed and we reached the intersection of Bontoc and Barlig, the road to Barlig was a long rough and muddy road with few sections of paved (and some sections are being paved) road. It was a tiring journey, just before lunch, we reached the jump-off point at Barlig Municipal Hall.

We decided to have lunch in nearby restaurant, I had a Papaitan (this one for my knee) and rice. After lunch we met up with Mr. Alex of the Barlig Tourism Officer, he gave us a short briefing about the town of Barlig and what to expect of the impending climb. Unfortunately, no guide was available, it was the harvest season and most of the locals are on the field harvesting.

We are now caught between pushing through and cancelling our day 1 itinerary, this would certainly affect the overall itinerary of our climb. Then Mr. Alex told us that should we decide to go on, he would be sending a guide the next morning, this provided a glimmer of hope us. It’s a go for us, we are committed to reach the summit in 5 or 6 hours.

It was 2:00PM when we started our hike, we passed through the Barangay and headed to the rice terraces tracing the way to the mountain. An hour passed when we thought that we are heading the wrong way, we went back to the Barangay to ask for help, it seems that no one is available to help us, until we found someone who told us that we are not lost, although the road we took earlier is also correct, he pointed us to another way to Mount Amuyao.

It was raining since 2:30PM, this made the trail wet & slippery, it was a series of steep ascent, with few rolling slopes circling around a hill and passing through the rice fields. Although the rain was falling hard, it was not enough to constrict the great view around us.

It was a almost 7:00PM when we reached the “waiting shed,” it was dark and still drizzling, Sir Jim told us that it’s still another 2 hours before we could reach the summit, without a guide, an attempt to reach the summit in that condition would be dangerous. We decided to build an emergency camp there and attempt to reach the summit early the next morning hoping that the guide would arrive while we are on our way to the summit.

We had our dinner of rice and pre-cooked Pork Adobo, Mushroom Adobo, Binagoongang Baboy and canned foods. To keep our body warn, a good dose of alcohol is just necessary. The night ended early, the next morning’s summit attempt was scheduled before the break of dawn.

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