What Carol Wants...: The Mighty Mount Pulag

The view from here was magnificent but the story before conquering it has its story. I went to Mt. Pulag for several reasons. It has been a long time dream. I first saw a picture of someone who went there years ago with the clouds as their back drop and I said I will not leave the Philippines without going to that mountain. And now that I am aiming to leave the country and the invitation arrived for a climb, I contemplated and said, "God, is this the sign?" and so I went. The other reasons will be discussed as I go on.

" A journey to a thousand miles begins with a single step." And before embarking on that step, one must invest on a good pair of shoes, whatever brand that is as long as it is comfortable then you should be fine. Pack light and pack right! That's one thing I learned too late. It is very important for a first timer to know that when you go there, you wouldn't have the luxury of the moment to take a shower, not even wash your face so you actually don't need to bring a lot of things. I wore a long sleeve air cool shirt when I climbed. It was good because it protected my arms from sun burn while air continuously circulates all over my body. Jogging pants or leggings is recommended because they are light weight and it protects your skin from the sharp edges of the bush. Pack some thermal wears to warm you as you go up. The weather gets colder as you go higher. Some say that the weather gets unpredictable along the way, the day before our journey, the hikers experienced hail storm but in our case it was warm all the way to the camp site except for some occasional drizzles. It is best to be ready though so bring some raincoats and garbage bags to be used during those rainy moments. Bring sunglasses and a cap to cover your face from the rays of the sun. My favorites were my sun block and wet tissue, trust me they're very important!

We started at around 3:30 am from Baguio City with our self-drive-rented jeepney. Our boss, sir Ton became our driver for the trip. He was the anointed king of the road because it was his first time to drive a jeep but then he was lucky to bring us home alive and kicking. LOL! As of this writing, the rate of jeep rental to and from Baguio-Bokod is about P8,000 to P8,500. We got ours for just P5,000 because the driver's fee is gratis. :-)

I lost track of the exact time but maybe after about two hours, we stopped by a restaurant along the way to eat our very early, too early breakfast. My role while still on the road was to take the shots, I am a trying hard photographer so I had to leave the chair empty so I could document.

The choices were abundant but untimely. A 5:30am breakfast is not my cup of tea.

After an hour more from that restaurant, we arrived at the DENR office. We followed the standard procedure of registering ourselves for a fee of P200.

A lecture on the rules of the park was discussed and a short video clip about Mt. Pulag was shown. See that man with a crutch? He said he is having a gout that time but he still managed to go up. What a drive he has, inspiring!

From this road to the foot of the mountain is another one hour walk. :-( The road is being concreted at this time so vehicles cannot pass through, but once all is done, it would be one hour easier for the future hikers.

Take advantage of the scenes. Capture as much as you could.

We haven't reached the foot of the mountain yet here we were taking a full rest.hehe

Walk more...harder...higher...

And another rest....

Make sure to have at least a week exercise before climbing and at least you should be well-rested a day before "The Day". In my case, I got sick while going up. I didn't have enough sleep and my mind was with my children who were left behind and to my husband who will just be arriving from work on the day of our hike. I got dehydrated, the problem was there were no accessible toilets anywhere where one can go comfortably. I had to contain and be patient. I almost gave up in the middle but I thought of the man who has the crutch, I thought of my long time dream, I thought of the sacrifice of living my family behind , I though of my other purpose of going there...of being with my father and so I said I have to finish the fight. It is also important to climb with a good company. My team showed concern while I was not feeling well. I have to say that these guys are fantastic freelancers! :-D

At last, after four long hours of ascending, we reached the camping ground where we set up our tents. It was getting darker and colder. The rain starts to pour so we had to quickly accomplish everything from putting up the tents to cooking our dinner. It was good we were in the company of I-Sagada men lead by Frauline's boyfriend, Kevin, who had the initiative to do everything while I quickly went inside the tent to rest my tired and sick body. We had some medicines but the one for diarrhea was missed so my team did their best to look for some, for me to feel better. I salute them for that. Luckily, nurse Glaiza got me one. Yahoo!! Gracias!

The tents were up. During this day, according to our guide, there were about 500 campers in all. It's summer time and it is at its peak.

Glaiza and I, together with Emerald who was not in the picture were tentmates.

Our dinner is a famous local dish called pinikpikan. It was hot and delicious but I don't recommend future hikers to bring complicated food for a hike.It was too much to carry. Some cup noodles and easy to fry meals will do. Everybody will be too tired to even move. Ours was precooked but still the weight of it took a toll on us. Portable easy to carry butane powered stove is a must. Who could survive without hot coffee? I assure you, food is more delectable and appreciated up there. I should not forget to tell that chocolates, cookies, energy drinks and drinking water are essentials while walking. These things saved me from hypoglycemia.

At 2:30 am the next day, I woke my two tent mates up. Without a second call, they were jumping out of the tent suddenly excited to reach the summit. It was another long hike, this time the pathways are narrower and steeper. We only had our flashlights to light our way. There is no room for being clumsy or else you will fall down the deep unknown. I was in full gear at first but due to the difficulty, I had to remove my thick coat and my bonnet because I was feeling too hot. Remember, I wasn’t still feeling well from the day before this summit ascend. I am again grateful to Sir Vic, the couple- Teacher Amy and Sir Ton for rallying behind me making sure I was okay. An hour and a half after, we reached the summit! Too exhausted to say anything, I dropped myself on the ground and dozed-off for a few minutes. It was still dark when we reached the top. I think that was 5am. I can see trail of lights coming up, they were like giant fireflies from below and they were the other campers rushing to beat the sunrise. The climate was so cold. We were wearing thick gloves but the cold still could creep in and freezes our fingers.

As we all wait for the sunrise. I settled on a comfortable spot, I sat there quietly, just looking around, contemplating on something. There I was above the clouds, finally. I was looking down while imagining what my father sees everyday. It will be his 3^rd death anniversary a few days after this climb, and it is just timely to be at least closer to him at this moment. I am happy to see how magnificent his view from here is. This climb is for you papa. I miss you so much!

It is time. The sun is coming out and everyone around is getting ready to witness the spectacular view. The sea of clouds amazed me the most, if only I could jump into it and roll over just like the one I see in the fairy tales.
Feel free to feast with the following pictures:

How great is the ARCHITECT who made all of these!

Girls on top!

Trying to audition for a shampoo commercial? hahah

Every beginning has its end. We now have to go down to pack our things from the camp site. It will still be another long hours of ascend. This time my heart is aching to go home to my family. I have fulfilled a dream…it’s more of a mission for me and all I wanted was to go share it with them. The climb is like our life. We get excited, we get determined, in the middle we meet some road blocks but it’s up to the person whether to turn back or find some ways to go on. Just like in our life, it’s okay to take a rest but we must move on until we reach our goals.