The Mount Pulag Adventure

Just last weekend, I joined some of my friends in hiking the Philippines' second highest mountain Mount Pulag which is located in Benguet. I don't know what came over me to do such a crazy thing as I don't go to the gym or do any hardcore exercise. I only do badminton once a week, and there are even some weeks that the badminton sessions are cancelled. In short, I did not have enough training for this rigorous mountain climbing craziness. 

I can still say however that trekking up to the summit to watch the sunrise and look at the sea of clouds is one of the most worth it experiences I have to date. I finally have Mt. Pulag ticked off my bucket list yay!

My friends and I just took the shortest trail in Mt. Pulag which is the Ambangeg trail. This trail will take about 1 full day which includes 9-10 hours of trekking (depending on your pace) and 8 hours of camping and sleeping in a tent. I will be discussing the whole details below.

If you're planning to go to Mt. Pulag anytime soon, then I suggest you look for an expert tour operator first. We got Pilipinas Roadtrip for our tour guides, and we just paid them P2500 per person for the whole trip. Our official tour guide was Emman.

The P2500 includes:

- Victory Liner bus fare (Manila-Baguio-Manila)

- chartered 4x4 monster jeepney fare (Baguio-Ambangeg trail-Baguio)

- registration fee, climb fee, camping fee, local guide fee

- service of tour coordinator/ veteran mountaineer

- tax and surcharge

- tents (good for 4-5 pax per tent)

You will have to buy your own food for dinner and breakfast, but Pilipinas Roadtrip will be the ones to cook your food so no worries on this. You can also bring your own cook set if you want to do more elaborate dishes.

Before you leave for Mt. Pulag, be sure to pack light as you wouldn't want to be lugging a heavy backpack around while hiking, but you can always rent a porter to carry your bags for only P500 round trip with a max of 15 kilos per porter. 

Be ready to bring all these stuff below with you as the weather there is very cold especially at night where the temperature can even drop to negative.

Things to bring:

- Extra Money

- Camera (with extra batteries)

- Sleeping bag and ground mat/ insulation pad

- Extra Clothes (bring dri-fit shirt)

- Fleece Jacket/ Down Jacket

- Windbreaker

- Raingear/ Poncho

- Thermal Wear (Body, Socks, Legs)
- Face Mask

- Bonnet/ Hat/ Scarf/ Ear Muffs

- Sunblock/ Sunglasses

- Gloves/ Arm Sleeves

- Hand Warmers

- Waterproof Trekking Pants/ Jogging Pants

- Trekking Shoes with Traction/ Rubber Shoes

- Lip Balm/ Moisturizer

- Toiletries (like toothbrush, toothpaste, floss)

- Tissue Paper/ Wet Ones

- Alcohol/ Hand Sanitizer

- Personal Medicine and First Aid Kit (Salonpas Gel/ Liniment)

- Headlamp/ Flashlight (with extra batteries)

- Plastic containers and bowl/ Utensils/ Extra Cup for Drinks

- Mineral Water/ Water Bottle

- Personal Trail Food (candies, cookies, chocolates)

- Food to Cook for Dinner and Breakfast

- Plastic Bags (to keep your clothes and stuff waterproof)

- Large Garbage Bags (at least 2pcs)

- Personal Whistle

- Extra climb bag for personal stuff

- Walking Stick (optional)

Here's a breakdown of our whole journey to Mt. Pulag. (NOTE: This post is pic heavy.)

Feb 20 (Thursday):

9pm - meet Roadtrip Pilipinas tour guide at Victory Liner Pasay terminal as he has the bus tickets with him (NOTE: Be sure to be at the bus 20 minutes before departure or they will give your seats to chance passengers. This happened to us when going back to Manila, and luckily there were still extra seats or else we could've been left behind.)

Bus ticket booth (tour guide already bought our tickets in advance)

Group is complete and no one was late yay!!!

10pm - bus departs for Baguio (NOTE: The air-conditioning in the bus is quite cold so you can wear your jackets or long sleeves. Also, do not leave your bags unattended during restroom stopovers as anyone can get inside the bus and steal your things. Bring coins as well as most of the restrooms require a payment of P5.)

Inside the bus

Feb 21 (Friday):

4am - arrive at Baguio, transfer to chartered 4x4 jeep (NOTE: The jeep ride is terribly nauseating as we pass by really rough roads and we are sitting sideways. You would want to prepare a plastic bag in case or just sit in front of the jeep to avoid feeling dizzy.)

How the chartered jeep looks like

6am - get down at Country Road Restaurant to buy and eat breakfast (NOTE: One dish and one cup of rice costs P70, and we were able to get free soup and free water.)

Where we ate breakfast

Interior of the restaurant

7am - ride jeep to go to DENR (NOTE: You can ride topload on the chartered jeep, and I observed that I felt less nauseous because I was facing front.)

Riding topload on the chartered jeep

8am - arrive at DENR to log in your name and attend the orientation

The DENR orientation office

DENR staff explaining the different trails

DENR contact numbers

9am - depart DENR to go to the Ranger Station (NOTE: You may buy bonnets and gloves at DENR if you forgot to bring your own.)

Gloves and shirts you can buy

Bonnets you can buy

10am - reach Ranger Station (hired porters here to carry our bags to the campsite)

Just beside the ranger station

11am - buy and eat lunch at Ranger Station food area (meals cost P60-P75)

Eating lunch at the food area

12nn - START HIKING!!! (NOTE: Better to wear just a dri-fit shirt and windbreaker during the trek as you will start to sweat after a few minutes into the hike. Don't forget also to wear sunblock on your face.)

Start of Ambangeg trail

View from the trail

Still full of energy

1pm - reach Camp 1 to rest for a bit (NOTE: There are restrooms here but it's just a hole in the ground. Try not to breathe too much because of the stinky smell, and be careful of your stuff or it might fall into the hole ewwness!)

Camp 1 stopover

Restrooms in Camp 1

130pm - continue hike to Camp 2

View from the trail to Camp 2

215pm - reach the spring water source to refill water bottle

Spring water that's clean and cool

A very mossy old tree we saw at the trail

330pm - reach Camp 2 to set up tents in the campsite (NOTE: Start wearing your winter jackets and thermal clothes immediately when you reach here as the temperature will start dropping and it will become very cold at night. Don't forget to put ground mats or insulation pads under your sleeping bags so as not to feel the rocks on the ground. There are also restrooms here in Camp 2 same as the ones in Camp 1.)

Yay campsite reached!!!

Wear your winter clothes as it's really cold when it's getting late (see the fog??)

6pm - cook and eat dinner (NOTE: The tour guides will bring their own cook set, and they will cook your food for you. We brought our own cooked adobo, then we also brought uncooked rice, sachets of noodles, and sachets of cream of mushroom soup.)

Cooking for dinner

730pm - get some sleep to prepare for the summit climb

1130pm or 130am - try to look up at the sky and you will see millions of stars if there's no fog as this is something you will never be able to see in the city

Feb 22 (Saturday):

3am - wake up to eat packed breakfast for energy to hike

330am - start trekking to summit, no photos here because it was super dark (NOTE: Don't forget to bring your headlamp here as it's really dark and we are trekking beside cliffs. Wear warm clothing, gloves, and a face mask as the wind is terribly cold while trekking up the summit and you might get windburn. Also, don't skip breakfast like I did as I had a terrible headache and found it hard to climb the super steep terrain to the summit because of hunger.)

530am - arrive at the summit and start taking pictures of the sunrise and sea of clouds

Waiting for sunrise (there's still a star left in the sky)

Signage at the peak of the summit

The sun starting to rise

The sun half risen

The clouds look like waves crashing in the sea

7am - start descent back to Camp 2

Trail's really narrow and beside cliffs

The long journey down from the summit

8am - arrive at Camp 2 to eat breakfast again then pack up things (NOTE: We brought bread, sandwich spreads, and instant cereals for our breakfast. Afterwards, put all your trash into garbage bags and leave no trace of garbage in the campsite. You may ask the porter to bring your trash bags back to the Ranger Station along with your bags.)

Eating our breakfast inside the tent

10am - start descent from Camp 2 back to Camp 1

12nn - reach Camp 1 and rest for a bit

1220pm - start descent from Camp 1 to Ranger Station

1pm - arrive at Ranger Station and ride jeep back to DENR

230pm - arrive at DENR (log out your name and buy some souvenirs)

Souvenirs to prove you have conquered Mt. Pulag (I bought the purple shirt)

330pm - eat late lunch at Country Road Restaurant (you can rest and shower here)

430pm - depart for Baguio bus station

630pm - arrive at bus station and eat dinner at nearby restaurants

8pm - bus departs for Manila 

Feb 23 (Sunday):

2am - BACK IN MANILA!!! (NOTE: The Victory Liner bus stops at all of their terminals.)

Whew! What a super fun but tiring trip. I find it hard to sleep during the bus and jeep rides, and even in the tent. It was very uncomfortable to sleep in the tent because it was really cold at night. Thank goodness I had hand warmers inside my gloves so I was able to sleep even for just a while before the climb to the summit. I slept almost the whole day on Sunday just to get enough sleep before getting back to the office on Monday. The next time I go hiking, I will make sure that I have enough exercise so that my body will not succumb to fatigue. Overall, I still say it's a great experience and I would recommend this to anyone who want to see the beautiful sunrise and sea of clouds. Just make sure to be ready before trying out anything as hardcore as this.

Where else have you gone hiking? Any recommendations where I can go to next? Somewhere not too hardcore please haha.

Ciao!

Kat <3