I conquered Mt Pulag!

"Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb." -- Greg Child, Australian rock-climber

I thought, nope! I just wanted to climb a mountain, get it over with, and cross one off from my bucket list.

That was what I was thinking when my friend offered to organize a climb with some people from work one weekend in the summer. With no (physical) preparations whatsoever, I braved the climb to Luzon's highest peak (3rd highest mountain in the Philippines) at 2,922 meters above sea level.

Mt Pulag map (courtesy of Trail Master Teddy R.)

We started to climb around noon on a Friday, when the sun was ominously ablaze. But true to what my trail master Teddy said, you will not feel the heat burn your skin because of the cool weather in Baguio. I was so giddy during the first 30 minutes of our trek. So giddy that I was gawking and oooh-ing at the first sight of the mountain ranges we passed by. I was so giddy that I didn't mind the heavy pack I was carrying (yes yes, I DIDN'T carry my sleeping bag and 1 liter of water, but I carried everything else, okay?). I was so giddy that I didn't realize I was already starting to sweat like a pig halfway to the first campsite.

Then it started.

Part of the trail leading to Camp Site 1

The trek we took on, Ambangeg-Ambangeg was the "easiest" trek in Pulag. However, with my less than 100-pound frame, <> pound pack, and no training at all, I started to pant. And to wheeze. And to feel my back stiffen. Me and my friends (save for the 2 sweepers) started to be quiet, not talk to each other and just walk. And walk. And walk.

You have to understand the trek to the first campsite. We didn't tread on plain grounds. I'm talking about series of inclines here (mostly ascending, obviously), very very similar to climbing stairs. Imagine doing that in a trail with combination of soil, dirt and rocks. I don't know why I didn't expect it, but my legs and thighs started to burn. And with the air thinning as we continued to ascend, my breath started to shorten. To make matters more surprising to me, it rained.



Pam as the happy camper during the trek



The steep incline cannot really be captured by the camera. But it really is steep!

Welcome to Mt Pulag Camp Site 2!

..and then it rained..

Soaked with minimal visibility

It rained hard while we were on the way to the third campsite. This was when we had to walk on a trail literally fit for just 1 person. It even got to a point when the trail wasn’t big enough to fit both feet side by side. The dirt and soil started to turn into mud. The trail became more inclined. More more more inclined. The air got thinner. And because of the rain and fog, our visibility lessened to just a couple of meters. My legs burned more. My breath turned to regular pants. I tripped often, and fell on my butt. So, that's when I started to think.. Is this really worth it?

And I saw that it was.

When we got to our campsite, my friends immediately setup camp, cooked hot soup, and made sure me and my co-first timers were as comfortable as one can be given the situation. We were all freezing in camp, but the friends I was with didn’t mind (or maybe they did, it just didn’t show J). They cooked dinner for all of us too! Our mountain gourmet dinner menu consisted of perfectly-cooked white rice, yummy dinuguan and a lot of paksiw. Our neighbours also gave us chicken and locust which tasted like pusit. Oh wait. It was actually pusit. Anyway, very shortly after dinner, my friends still gamely had ‘socials.’ Inuman sa bundok. I just had 2 shots of I-didn’t-bother-to-ask-what-that-was. No, one shot. I don’t know. I was dead tired that I silently crept to our tent after I saw my friends Mark and Gerry slip away from the group to call it a night too! I wanted to stay out longer because the fog was starting to clear up and hundreds of stars were starting to grace us with their presence. But I felt like it was 2AM already, and I needed to get some shuteye. It was only 8 in the evening.

I was inside the blue tent while my friends starting setting up camp. It was freezing. :(

From L-R: Teddy the Trail Master, Me!, Mon the Asst Trail Master/Sweeper, James the cook/barista, co-first timers: Markab, Gerry

I didn't realize it will be that cold at night (miner's headlamp c/o Ice V, thanks!)

The next morning, Mon, the other veteran in the group woke us up for my anticipated summit assault. From where we camped out (Saddle camp), the summit was roughly just 15-minutes away. It took me 25. Because the assault was insane! Remember the inclined treks earlier? It was triple that! The slopes ranged from 30 to almost 70 degrees of pure incline! Needless to say, my thighs burned again. I panted again. And I stopped in the middle of the trek again. But when I saw that the sun was starting to rise, I mustered all the strength I had in me to go on, move up and never stop until I reached the peak.

And there it was.. The glorious sun peeking out of the clouds with the mountains just below it. I have no words to describe it because “amazing” is an understatement. At one point, I unconsciously blocked off the rest of the mountaineers in the summit and just watched the sun. It was truly unbelievable. The ceiling consisted of a clear sky painted with pastel hues and the carpet was endless mountain ranges as far as I can see. It’s something I’d want all my family and friends to see.. to experience.. to feel..

the magnificent sunrise!

i can't tell where the pretty sky and mountain ranges meet..

I did it!!!

Everything you see at the Summit is just spectacular!

The 2011 Pulag team (James opted to stay in camp, masakit daw tuhod.)

I'm not THAT small.

Mon's idea. We were supposed to have "sprouted" from the bushes.

while trying to have a yoga moment in Mt Pulag..

We spent a good 2 hours at the summit and after a very joyful and entertaining time, we went back to break-camp. My friends once again, prepared our gourmet breakfast which consisted of Vienna sausage (!!!!), noodles (spilled, thank you James!), corned beef and ginawang-unan-na-bread. It was gourmet indeed!

Our descent from our campsite proved to be as marvellous as our ascent experience. The grass fields, the mountain views we weren’t able to see because of the rain and fog the previous day, were experiences in themselves. Even though I wasn’t tired from all the hike back we were doing, I can’t help but to often stop and stare at everything in wonder. I even wanted to cry (I tried my hardest not to, or else I wouldn't have heard the end of it from the people I was with). I’d think to myself: “Why can’t everyone experience this? Why can't this beauty be shared to everyone else?” You know how sometimes, when you own something so superb that you want to show it off to others? It’s exactly like that!

One of the most stunning views: grasslands

one of the few moments when I and my co-first timers Mark and Gerry all goofed off during the trail.

amazing people I was with =)

The mountain, the sunrise, the grasslands, the company I was with were all amazing. I couldn't imagine having done it any other way.

So, to cap of my first ever climb experience, let me share with you some tips which your own guides might not remember to give:

1)     Train! Climb at least 20 flights of stairs at least thrice, weeks before your climb. I would’ve enjoyed the experience more had I not felt the fierce burning sensation in my thighs during the trek.

2)     Don’t look up. My climber friends (conveniently!!!) told us after our climb that the peak is always further than it looks. Save the disappointment, don’t look up.

3)     Bawal mag-english sa bundok. Oo na, oo na, shaddap!

4)     And last, but not the least.. during your trek, stop for awhile. If you don’t feel like taking pictures, then don’t. Just stop, look at the mountains and see its majestic stand and all its grandness. Close your eyes for a moment and feel the wind gush over you. Take it all in. Take in the grandness of everything and feel the calm. At this point, you’d know that no matter what happens, that moment with a great mountain is yours.. and you will always remember it. I know, I did.

As I started this journal with a quote, allow me to end with another. A certain Miley Cyrus said: “Ain't about how fast I get there, ain't about what's waiting on the other side.. It's the climb...!”

It is indeed!

when: May 20, 2011

where: Mt Pulag, Benguet