Reaching the Summit

That was prolly my 8th "mountain climb." I can't seem to remember the others, but some were work-related,

Bicol - Soil Sampling
(c) Princess

CSR Tree Planting

some friendship climbs,

Sierra Mountaineers - Coto Zambales
(c) Aizza

some, I dunno. For the heck of it.

Sabit Mountaineers - Pinatubo
(c) Dunno hehe

CE - Banaue Rice Terraces in Batad
(c) Earl

CE - Manalmon
(c) Earl

Chiyoda Engineers - Buntot Palos
(c) Kate

In any case, Franke invited me to the event way beforehand but I was only able to confirm last Monday. So with all the last-minute preparations, I was actually scared and paranoid. To wit, I was doing last minute buying, prior to our meet-up at Jose's house somewhere in Pasay. Or was that Magallanes? Pardon my poor sense of Manila Map.

We were at the bus station at exactly 9PM. And we waited. Waited still. Waited some more. Haha.

Like this!

At 10:15PM, we aboard a bus. Off to Baguio! I'm a sleep hoarder. Sometimes. So I was sleeping most of the time during our trip. But when I awoke at 4AM and we were a long way off from Baguio still, I munched some chips to keep off the chill.

Breakfast at Pickanjo at 8AM. And to keep the sense of adventure acoming, we toploaded atop a jeepney:

(c) Gaile

Another 2 hours across a zigzag of picturesque scenery, rolling hills, lakes, rivers and dams

I barely have the luxury to take in the sweet details of the majestic Cordilleras in photographs. I was holding on for dear life! Haha. Sadly, the top of the jeepney does not provide one with a seatbelt... Nor even a harness. :) Nevertheless, it was every bit as exhilarating as the Space Shuttle in EK.

Now we arrive at the DENR. And our orientation was a hoot. It then reminded me that, yes, you can't judge a person by the looks. She looked pretty stern and serious, so words like, "Positive Imagery" would be the last thing I would expect her to say. :)

At DENR

Roads were expected to be rougher, so we decided against toploading. An hour later we reached the Ranger's Station of the Ambangeg trail. Lunch was a homemade chickenjoy bought from Pickanjo.

And loading our horrendous amount of stuff to 5 porters, I decided, I was taller than most of them, and thus I might as well bring my own 50-liter pack..

But I daresay I have weak upper body that is why I'm trying to build it up now. And 10 minutes into the scorching heat, I decided to leave my pack to a local guide, Sefira, or west wind, or zephyr, or was that Safira, like sapphire? ;) I lost my train of thoughts, I had to google that one. :))

We reached Camp Station 1 in less than 2 hours, I think. And Camp Station 2 in roundabout 2 hours. Not bad for newbies record eh?

Trail food.

Camp Station 1
(c) Mikki

Camp Station 2

The night was dreadful. Haha. Pardon my exaggerated twist of events, but it was "storming" inside our tent! I was prepared for the cold but was utterly vulnerable to the wet! Condensation of fog lead to droopy eyes and a lot of tossing and turning. The wind was not helping any. We huddled up inside the tent and soon found out that seven (7) does not make a wink. Hehe. Thanks to Franke and Gaile who were so cool, they had to give way to the five of us. Sadly, in the midst of the night storm, the temperature dropped furiously. JC awoke with chills, and Shao tried warming her up from the heat emanating from one candle we lit. To no avail. We had to ask our organizer's medical response team, composed of Carlo, to help us out. (It was a surprising and groundbreaking discovery haha. We found out that every time we light up the candle, the fog formation/condensation disappears, and we do not have to wipe off condensed water clinging on the tent's walls. The gods must've been pleased. Heehee.) While they warmed themselves at the organizers' tent, Jacob offered coffee and some warmers, i.e. the stove. And Darren offered some stories from the midnight society! Geez. When we peeped through our tent's door, around 1AM, we saw an abundance of twinkling lights. Ah stars. You never cease to leave me amazed. We thought it was good premonition, and we might have a sunrise afterall.

We woke up 3AM the next day. And started our assault, hoping for a glimpse of the sunrise. Notwithstanding the very cold dawn and the barely visible trail, we trudged on. Visibility, with headlamps on, was, I guess, 2 meters, tops. haha

This was how the summit looked like.

Hot one chilly morning.

The long and arduous task was almost finished. We were timid in our walk back. Though I was expecting to be disappointed, based from the blogs that I've read. And we saw our trail. One wrong footing would lead to disaster! We were trekking alongside a steep cliff, for most part of the climb up the summit.

I have no inkling as to where "There!" is. :)

Inside the tent after our summit assault.
"Sabaw na" as Franke fondly calls this shot.

It was funny how some people we met along the trail were giving way to us. Later, we knew why. I looked like a pregnant woman climbing down Luzon's highest peak! Haha. I thought I had to carry my 50 liter pack so I had to carry the little backpack in front. Ergo, the tummy bulge. Well, that was based from what Gaile overheard. :)

Now we heard there was a pregnant lady climbing Pulag!

These were our organizers. Carlo and Jacob.

Trail Adventours. With 43 of us.
(c) Mikki

Some of my favorite shots from the people we met.

Wednesday!

After our "ordeal" at Mountain Province, we cozied up in Baguio, at Jose's summer home. :) After a candle to warm us up inside the tent, it was a blast to feel the crackling heat off the fireplace. And to experience wine with a smorgasbord of cheesessss. :))

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Hot and dry one Baguio cold night.

The next day, we were treated to a feast! Yay Baguio Country Club. Ahh, this is life. After the pain, here was our gain.

Tasty treats

Tasty treats

And it has been a blast. Thank you Pulag Team! Thank you Trail Adventours! I will be back. And we shall come forth as gold! And we shall see you elusive golden sunrise! :)

Our mess.