Mt. Ulap and Baguio Sepanx

05 March 2016

Hi Ram!

I am so excited to tell you about this group that added me on Facebook. They have this goal called 40/40. Which means they aim to reach 40 summits before they turn 40. Cool, eh? I just hope my legs and my knees won't fail me. Hahaha

Anyway, lemme tell you about this mountain in Benguet that I've recently climbed. So I was browsing climb events on Facebook when I stumble upon this hike nga sa Mt. Ulap. I tried googling the difficulty of the trail since I wasn't a professional mountain climber YET. 3/9 trail difficulty ain't bad so I gave it a go.

We met up at McDonald's Quezon Avenue at around 11pm and when we have completed the participants, we headed off to Benguet. Of course, I took advantage of the time and slept during the trip so I can save as much energy as I can.

We arrived at Barangay Ampucao in Itogon, Benguet at around 4 or 5 in the morning. It was cold and I had to wear gloves. We had some light breakfast, prepped our things up, registered our names, secured guides and then we were ready for the climb.

Here is me at the barangay hall.

We took a traverse hike from Philex Ridge.

Fog and me at the start of the trail.

Start of trail

We passed by an old man who sells makeshift poles/tungkod made from trees.

Flowers on the trail

We had a "take 5" to marvel at the rising sun (and take pictures too).

Sunrise amidst fog.

Silhouette shot.

More silhouette shot.

Even more silhouettes!

And then we were back at the trail again.

The Gate. (I don't know why there's a gate here.)

And from this point on, it was soooooo foggy!

We had another stop on one of the rocky cliffs where we had more photo ops.

Then off we went to Gungal Rock, the highlight of Mt. Ulap.

The queue.

Ah, finally. A pic at the rock.

But of course, the "buwis-buhay" shot.

Group pic!

And then we ate our packed lunch under the shade of trees not far from the Gungal Rock. We rested for a bit and then we were back at the trail before we know it.

Who's happy?

Man bun boys: Jude, Francis and Me

Of course, the jump shot where not everyone's in the air.

Cow dung everywhere!

P-E-A-C-E.

Tired from our pictorial, we rested at a grassy place after reaching the summit where we had some snack and coffee (yes, there's a makeshift stall nearby that sells coffee and noodles).

And since it's a traverse climb, we went down through a different trail where we saw ancient wooden coffins on caves. It was actually an ancient burial practice of the Cordillera people.

They said "no pictures", though. I'm sorry. :(

And then we went all the way down.

A graffiti on a rock.

A hanging bridge.

Groupie on the bridge. I'm pretty sure I'm quiet drunk here. Meh.

And this is the most exciting part. Since we didn't take the same way we went up, we arrived at a place that's kinda far from where we parked our vans. We had to get on a jeepney that would take us back to Ampucao Barangay Hall. And that was my first time toploading on a jeep!

It was really fun and the view was magnificent. Those are one of those moments that make you wanna close your eyes and thank God for His creations.

We reached the barangay hall and we washed up and changed clothes before getting on the van that would take us back to Baguio for our sidetrip.

Voila! A still crowded session road.

We had steak at Sizzling Plate in Session Road before going to the local market to buy pasalubong before we headed back to Manila.

I know I still have a long way to go before I reach that 40 summits. But I hope God will still give me strength to climb mountains and marvel at how magnificently He created the world.

Oh, you're 50 now right?

Were you able to accomplish that 40/40? Oh I know you. You must've climbed more than that noh?

I hope to hear from you. Till next time.

-RAM