19 March 2016

Hi Ram!

Hope all is well. I'm super stoked to tell you about my supposed twin hike. ''Supposed", yeah. Alright, details later. Again, this is one of those events organized by my friends from Sabit Wanderer.

So we met up at around 4am in Jollibee Farmer's Cubao and waited for an hour for all the participants to arrive. Then we headed straight to Rodriguez, Rizal where the 2 mountains are located. Of course I was sleeping in the Van. Hahaha! We arrived at the jump off at around 7am.

I left some of my things in the van to lighten my bag only to regret it later dahil bumiyahe pa pala yung van and, sadly, I lost some of my things. Moving forward, we registered at the jump off point, secured guides and off we went! The first mountain was Mt. Binacayan.

The trail was rocky especially during the first part.

And since I was among those who were at the start of the line, I got the chance to take a pic of the group as they crawl their way up the rocks.

And a panorama of nature:

As we go higher, the view becomes more & more spectacular!

And when we reached the "pre-summit", what? Of course, PICTURES!!!

After our photoshoot, we started our descent back to the jump off point and had our lunch.

Now this is where I am going to explain to you why the "Twin Hike" didn't happen. After lunch, everyone was feeling tired. I myself was feeling tired, too. Specifically the soles of my feet. The rocky trail must've taken its toll. So the group decided if they still wanna push through with the second mountain. Unfortunately, majority decided not to pursue it anymore. Not to mention that most of the participants are beginners and first-timers.

Well as for me, I still had strength pa naman to climb Mt. Pamitinan. But it was almost dusk and I worried that if I push through with it, I might not be able to experience Wawa Dam anymore.

So what happened is that majority of the group headed to Wawa Dam na while the rest decided to climb Pamitinan. Pam led the Pamitinan group & Ardie headed the majority of us to Wawa Dam.

And of course, mawawala ba ang inuman?

Now, let's get wet:

And then we headed back to the jump-off, washed off & continued the inuman session there while we waited for the group who climbed Pamitinan.

While we were enjoying our drinks from our table, there was a group of Manongs on the other table who were apparently celebrating one of their friends' birthday. Guess what? They gave us some of their pulutans!

After the group that we were waiting for arrived, we waited for them to finish washing up while we took turns in the videoke. Oh please, you know I don't sing. Haha!

And then we headed home.

I was happy & sad at the same time.
Happy because I gained new experiences & new friends again.
Sad, because I wasn't able to achieve what could've been my first twin hike :(

Well, there is still a lot of mountains out there. Who knows, I might be able to do a Pentalogy someday.

How bout you?

I bet you're on your 100th mountain now, aren't you?

xoxo

-RAM

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.

We took a traverse hike from Philex Ridge.

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!

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