SEA OF CLOUDS

There is nothing like celebrating the holiday season high up in the mountain where the scent of fresh pine trees fills you with the yuletide spirit.

After hearing and reading about it, I registered in Trail Adventours trip to Mt. Pulag, at 2,963m the second highest mountain in the country to Mt. Apo.  Although they advertised an easier “Executive” trail to the summit, I chose the trail with a more challenging climb – and a more scenic route. 

Packed with a light alpine sleeping bag and foam mat, a homemade tarpaulin pop tent, 4 liters of drinking water, sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, trail mix, light cold weather clothes, spare shoes, flashlight, hygiene items, Swiss knife, and other essentials my old external framed back-pack weighed almost 25kg. 

We were a Team of 12: Our team leader was Guido Sarreal, Assistant Justin Gui, Bea Pascual, Debbie Gundaya, Mary Signori from Peru, Lester Canapi,  Abed Sygui, Jaime Alberto, Irwin Legaspi, C Y Hwang from Hong Kong, our Ifugao guide/porter Sales, and myself.  

Our journey started at the Victory Liner terminal at Pasay City. Our bus left Manila past 10PM and arrived in Baguio around 4AM the next day. We transferred to a long-bed

Jeepney parked at the nearby Caltex station. Around 5AM we took the Pacdal Road towards Ambuklao Dam. Still dark, the winding road and the exhaust fumes seeping inside the jeep made some of us nauseated, so we had to make a brief stop to catch our breath and regain our bearings. We then made a breakfast stop and buy packed lunch at Pinkan Jo Eatery along the Ambuklao road.  Their turo-turo style food was quite good and freshly cooked.  The place was already packed with a long queue of eager Mt. Pulag visitors and more were arriving as we were leaving. Half of our team decided to sit on top of our jeepney to savor the fresh mountain air and view.  As much as I wanted to join them, the drizzling weather, our driver’s racing speed and cushionless roof rack prevented me from doing so.  

We made another quick stop at the Ambuklao Dam View Deck to take a few photos. Moving on, one could see the vast lake held back by the dam littered with tilapia fish cages.

Upon reaching the DENR station at Ambangeg, our Team Leader registered us as we queued

 up to attend an hour long orientation about Mt. Pulag and a few rules to observe while inside the National Park.  Surprisingly, the briefing room was already maxed out of about 100 people so we had to wait for our batch’s turn.  We were later met by Sales, our Ifugao guide and three other porters for hire who carried the prepared food, water, cookware, tent, and a couple of our team member’s back-packs.

At around 10AM we boarded our Jeep which dropped us off at the Akiki Trail Registration Center at Doacan, 1,350 meters above sea level.  The stairway leading to the Center was a wake-up climb reminding us of the steep terrain up ahead.  From here onwards the more experienced team climbers were up front while the slower ones behind them. 

The first 4 hours was along 40-50 degree inclines and drops. Lengthy stretches of galvanized steel and black PVC water pipes ran alongside the trail, carrying mountain spring water to nearby farm communities.  The pathways also served as trails for the karabao that grazed nearby, and left their droppings to continue the circle of nature. 

As I had expected, the route was breathtaking and the scent of fresh pine was invigorating. We stopped to have our lunch on a small clearing beside the Eddet River’s hanging bridge.  Everyone enjoyed their meal under the young pine trees, the loud gushing sound of the river water and the cool drizzling weather. We refilled our water bottles from the river to make sure we had enough for the climb ahead.

 

 

 

From there on it was a 2km 60 degree climb. Fortunately, the old pine tree roots served as an erosion stopper forming natural stair steps. Less than halfway up, Debbie started to get cramps on her left thigh. With frequent short stops to stretch and massage her legs, she was able to continue on with the climb. We overtook another group who also had a

team member experiencing a leg cramp. Soon after, Abed’s left knee started to ache.

After covering almost 7km and 6 hours of climb we reached the “Marlboro” camp site, a small clearing (triple terrace) nestled at 2,170 meters above sea level with a spectacular view named after the landscape from its namesake advertisements. With the sun rapidly setting, we hurriedly pitched our tents with the help of our head lamps while Guido warmed the ready-made dinner for the starving team.  Surprisingly there was cellular phone reception in the camp.

We broke camp past 9AM refilling our water bottles from a nearby water pipe fed by a natural spring. I was amazed to see three cows at this altitude, confirming my observation that they were sharing our trail.

The team began the climb to a higher elevation distinctly marked by a beautiful cloud forest. Thriving from moisture brought regularly by the clouds and fog, the subtropical vegetation was covered with moss. Noticeable was the absence of Pine trees. There were two or three more variants of birds chirping, but were very elusive to see. Immediately past the tree line was the grassland mixed with waist high miniature bamboos. A few dead pine trees stand eerie with moss dangling from their leafless branches with passing clouds as a backdrop.

 We were basically trekking on a very narrow pathway on top of the hilly mountains which were no longer as steep. After about 3 hours and 2.7km of hiking, we finally reached the Saddle Camp nestled barely a hundred meters below Mt. Pulag’s peak.
  
There was a 2 level permanent shelter on the east side of the camp. The lower half had open sides built of concrete frame where campers could prepare food while the upper level had corrugated metal sheet walls reserved for guides and porters to sleep. The shelter’s shape reminded me of an Igorot hut. Two makeshift roofless outhouses were on the North end of the camp where running water carries out the wastes.  The tent site was in a clearing divided in 3 sections by chest high miniature bamboos and grass borders. The ground felt like a compacted compost of grassland layered over the decades.

Mid-afternoon, the wind and rain started to fall in the camp keeping us all in the tent praying for the sun to shine again. Although, we planned to make an assault to the summit before sunset, Guido decided otherwise due to the dim weather and slippery trail.

Keeping the team sprit alive, we played a few card games like Monkey (originally Old Maid) and Pusoy Dos before dinner.  

The rain brought in the near freezing weather, but we came prepared with layered clothing and cuddled up in our tents keeping dry and warm. Before turning in for the night, everyone prayed privately for a better weather for our sunset assault.

 Our Team Leader woke us up at around 4AM for our final trek to the summit. With the clouds blanketing the camp and trail, we pushed up ahead with our head lamps guiding our steps on the muddy trail. There were moments when the thick clouds prevented us from seeing our nearest team member.  But after 20 minutes we finally reached the top of Mt. Pulag. There were a number of climbers already there with half-dazed looks on their faces, not believing they had scaled the summit.

 It also took me a while to realize that I was already on the summit myself, taking in the 360-degree panoramic view.  A sea of thick white clouds softly illuminated by the moon floated off the west face, while the east side featured a silhouette of the adjoining mountain range, decorated with glimmering lights from the head lamps of more pilgrims coming from the Ambangeg trail.  Scattered high above were the distant stars sparkling like minute diamonds. Past the horizon were clouds and more mountains silently waiting for the break of dawn.

Mt. Pulag’s summit was already filled with both young and old people mostly Filipinos all eager and smiling with their camera shutters incessantly catching unforgettable moments before the dawn. Suddenly, the westerly winds brought clouds up and over the summit, adding excitement to the vigil. 

Finally, at 6:30 the sun’s rays broke the horizon painting the eastern mountain range with brilliant golden light. The moon hung around us on the opposite side as we could see the shadow of Mt. Pulag’s peak cast down on our camp below.

After hours of absorbing and feel the magnificence of Mt. Pulag’s magical beauty, we contentedly went back down to break camp and head back home. We packed our things, took our last group photo in the camp and started our trek back via the Ambangeg trail. 

Passing through mostly gradual downhill pathways, the trek was similarly challenging since the trail was very muddy and slippery due to the rainfall the day before. Our shoes were mud soaked. Fresh trails were everywhere alongside the old path carved by climbers avoiding the muddy route. The landscape was filled with rolling hills lush with miniature bamboo, grass and tiny grass hoppers. 

We passed through Camp 1 and another cloud forest with trimmed pathways. Sadly the trail improvements was not carefully thought off with irregular shaped blocks of rock and trunks of dead giant ferns that could easily cause sprained ankles or similar injuries. At the end was Camp 2 where the Ifugao farm communities grow radish, broccoli, carrots and other vegetables. 

After 3.5 hours covering 7.85km we finally caught up with the rest of our group waiting at the Jeep rendezvous area.  Sad news was that Jaime injured his knee while negotiating the slippery trail. 

We boarded the same Jeepney that brought us to the Akiki Trail and headed for a lunch stop less than an hour away. Some of us took a long, cold shower while some preferred just to rinse off mud and tidy up before the warm meal. The homeowner prepared a delicious Tinolang Manok cooked with native chicken, mixed green vegetables from her garden and mountain rice. 

Feeling physically drained and full of flashbacks of the memorable experience, we left at 1:30pm headed back to Baguio reaching the City of Pine around 4PM.  Gui and I took the 5PM bus back to Manila while the rest of the group decided to hang around the city and take the 9PM bus. 

I finally arrived home at midnight, eager to take a warm shower, brush teeth and sleep on a nice and soft bed. 

In retrospect, I recall being advised not to litter. However traces of non-biodegradable items can be found littered around the campsites. The park management, DENR, DOT, and the LGU should review and have well-thought-of restrictions that they should strictly implement, in consideration to ecology and safety. In order for nature to recover and retain its natural bounty the number of visitors should be limited within a certain time period. Special trails should be established with safer foot paths and serve as the only place for visitors to leave their footprints, and education on Mt. Pulag’s flora and fauna should be included with the cultural education provided by the trail leaders and guides as their guests traverse the trail. 

The trip to Mt. Pulag was definitely a very rewarding experience and well worth the extensive preparation.  Nearly senior in age, my weekly workout allowed me to endure carrying my pack on Mt. Pulag’s steep and muddy trails at lengthy hours. As with any organized tour, don’t expect much time to rest or space to wander off for your own photo ops. That said, Mt. Pulag should be one of the main destinations in every list of the adventurous Filipino.