Mount Pulag Climb

One of the reasons I run is to guide people on the outdoors. I like the outdoors and I like to enjoy nature at its rawest form. I like making itineraries and organizing climbs and my climb last weekend was one of them.

After 6 hours bus ride and 5 hours of jeepney ride and the 30 minutes fun orientation by PASU Mering Tamiray, we finally arrived at Babadak Ranger Station, the jump off point of Mount Pulag via the Ambangeg trail. We talked to the Ranger and arranged for our guides and porters and started our trek.

I knew I was prepared for this climb, but the first 100 meters was intense. I could hear my heart beating and my lungs were gasping for air, this is because we are about 2,000+ meters above sea level. The air pressure is lesser making the air thinner. Lucky for me the others were moving slower, so my rest and my gasp for air looked more like waiting than a rest stop.

After many rest stops and a lot of conversations we were already at our desired campsite. Excited as I am to rest, I still have to pitch tents and tell where they will be staying first.  The reason for this is for my body not to cool down while resting and then pitching tent to warm it up again.

And when night was near the temperature slowly dropped as everyone else were increasing the number of layers of clothing they had. According to Saysay’s watch, the temperature dropped below zero during the early morning. Good thing we were well prepared for the cold weather that time.

At 2:30 AM we woke up and made hot drinks to warm our bodies and started our trek to the peak for the sunrise. The weather was good and as we looked up the sky we could see the stars shining, this is a good sign. The beauty of the Mount Pulag sunrise is not always 100% when you get there. Last time I went there last February 2009 we had a foggy sunrise. But the clear skies showed us that this was a sunrise to remember.

After 1 hour and 45 minutes of trekking we arrived at the summit of Mount Pulag and waited for the sunrise.

This is my 2nd time witnessing this type of sunrise in Mount Pulag, the first one was 2006 and I am still amazed by the beauty of God’s creation in its rawest form.

We had a lot of pictures at the peak even though it was a little bit crowded we still managed to get one of the best spots to see the sunrise.

And after the pictorial it was time to go back to the campsite. Passing by again the grassy lands that felt like a much better version of Teletubby land. The dwarf bamboo shoots was also enjoyable also the view of the other mountains.

The most enjoyable part of the trip was actually the people I was with. Most of them I’ve only met for the first time because of this trip, I really had a great time knowing each one of them. There were consultants, IT professionals, some in marketing, one was a lawyer and there was a yoga teacher too. Mixed them altogether, you get one crazy group with a lot unique stories to choose from.

When we got back at the campsite we cooked our breakfast, ate and broke camp. The trek back was easier since we are going down and the trail setting was very dynamic. Some were covered forests.

Some were grassy.

Some trails were on the side of a cliff.

And some were exposed.

When we were back on the Ranger Station we opted not to have lunch since we were really lagging on our bus schedule, so we rode back to our hired jeepney to baguio and took the bumpy ride 1 hour and 3 hours winding road to Baguio.

If you ask me will I ever go back again to Mount Pulag, my answer would be a definite yes. If you also ask me if I want to have a trip with my new found friends in Pulag, my answer would also be a definite yes. Hiking is not all about getting there, nor is it the hardship of the climb but it’s also the people that you were with when it happened.

Pulag please wait for us.

Thank you to all the guides (Alonzo and Ramirez), porters, rangers, the staff of the PAWB and to PASU Mering Tamiray for continually preserving Mount Pulag at the rawest form it can be. I am happy with what you are doing even though you had to get through a lot of sacrifices just to preserve and make the visitors happy. I’ll pray be praying for you. God bless.

Thanks also to my super training buddy Cat, for being the medic and also the tail for the climb. =)

To Blessie, Donna, Fed, Giezl, Joji, Jon, Karl, Lyndree, Mhyke, Nikki, Saysay, Sharon and Sheryll, thank you for being such wonderful climbing buddies. I hope to see you in future trips and runs. =)