My first hike on Luzon’s highest PEAK

November 31 2015
(kabayan Benguet)

12.30pm Finally After Months of Planning we are all set to summit Luzon’s highest peak together with my hiking buddies, Mark Andrew, Daryl Aquino and 5 of my team whom I have cofounded a mountaineering organization which aims to travel the Philippines with less resources possible by hiking mountains and exploring wonderful beauty of nature, we had plan to hike the highest mountain in the island of Luzon which is 2922masl (meters above sea level) via Ambangeg Trail and is typically the easiest trail for non-mountaineer. I have dreamed of becoming a mountaineer when I was on my teenage years because I was thrilled and excited by the idea of Wilderness furthermore I enjoyed nature typically because i am a Zen student






It was passed 1.30pm when we arrived from our jump off point in kabayan Benguet, we had started trekking past 2.00pm paid for the fee and the guides for our one of a kind adventure this year. We started trekking concrete roads which lead us to narrower trail, my hiking buddies took pictures of scenic view of Rice terraces, they were same replicas from banaue in Ifugao, after 1 hour of walking pave and dusty road, the struggle started on our way before camp 1, punishing assaults welcomed us on our way thinking it was the easiest trail to the summit.

Passed 4.00pm we reached camp 1 a waiting shed like house for campers, mountaineers, a preview of the mossy forest a cold breeze started to give chills on our way when we entered the mossy forest. After 30 minutes of walking we reached the first water source. It is a bamboo like water tube system from the springs quenched our thirst and refilled our body strength, a real MINERAL WATER

5.00am I was already exhausted, we were walking roughly four hours and different species of plants from the mossy forest struck our eyes as we entered deep in the woods, it was wet and muddy trail and the breeze was cold, I felt like I was walking on a different world the temperature started giving us chills ever since we have entered the mossy forest, when I checked my thermo stat it was roughly 10 degrees Celsius, it is scientifically colder than the mountains due to its altitude. We took photos on our way to camp 2 and we reached finally camp 2 at 5.30pm.

Standing at 8000ft, I was exhausted it was my 3rd time hiking a mountain since my major hike on Mt Makiling 6 years ago, scenic view of the summit, wide range of Flora and Fauna and a chilling FOG welcomed us on Camp 2, my thermo stat is at 9 degrees Celsius when we breathe fog normally comes from our nose, the weather is like autumn and we met hikers camping at camp 2. We geared up and put on our 2nd layer of clothing, we set up out tents and camp for the chilling night, it was passed 7pm and darkness soon engulf the sun turning our place to a winter like environment, we prepared dinner and finished at 8pm, my hiking buddy Cedric Francisco was also exhausted and took a nap on our tent.We ate our meal and turn the lights off by 9p.m. I put my 3RD layer of jacket, thermal gloves and 2 socks but that did not prevent the cold from entering our tent. It was passed midnight when I felt sudden drops of water outside our tent, it was raining very cold and freezing temperature after 30minutes of squall suddenly the temperature had dropped and I felt I was sleeping on a freezer.We didn’t have proper equipment’s that time our only protection from the cold and mossy ground was a sleeping bag covered with plastic, the chills didn’t gave me a nice sleep, although I was wearing 3 layered clothing my foot felt the frost so I eventually put it inside my bag just to take a nap, my tent buddy Cedric Francisco also felt the chills because of the altitude and the rain factor it was the longest coldest night of my life, wishing that I would see the sun again..

3AM my phone started to alarm, when I woke up I already felt the chills from my foot, I suddenly opened the tent and the freezing dry air started to enter our tent it was our wake up call. i took my flashlight and again check my thermo stat it was freezing at 2 degrees,. My reading was at 2 degree but I felt much more colder, strong winds had struck our tent I felt the cold personally because of the lack of thermal wear, so I jog and exercise to make my body warms 15 mins have passed when Cedric came out on our tent also Daryl and Drew they were freezing and not moving on their place, 5 minutes have passed Mary Shane my hiking buddy from the other tent woke up, we initiated boiling water for coffee because the wind was dry and very cold. After I had my morning jogging it was a bit cold but it was already tolerable, I drink the hot coffee after that we prepared breakfast for our morning assault on the summit which is an hour away from our camp site. We departed at 4AM we were a bit late that morning, some of the other groups from the other tent departed an hour earlier from us, we are bound to see the majestic view of sea of clouds from the summit of the mountain which was nick named PLAY GROUND OF THE GODS

Total of darkness engulf us we can only see lights from mountaineers adjacent to us assaulting the summit. It was mossy, the trail was wet because of the rain but you can see frost forming from the flora and fauna from the ground. I was wearing 3 layering jacket and burst of wind from my face gave me struggle of breathing it was DRY and COLD air. I am equipped with my head light and torch light encircled to a stick connecting to a power bank. I was leading the way on our way to the top it was passed 5,30am when we finally took the shortcut trail and the punishing 75 degree assault to the summit our guide told us we were 10mins away, I was catching my breath when dawn struck the darkness from the sky. Clearly from my eyesight I was watching one of the most breath taking moments of my life I pushed through sweating from within and extreme cold.


Daryl, Drew, Sally and Shane on the other side have reached the summit and I was 4th to the last before Cedric Cith and Imma. The sun was in the east our view from the summit was to the south, I rest for a while catching my breath took my phone and took a selfie. The summit was a hill top like covered with grass bushes 1foot tall. The center of it there was a signage stating the summit of Mt Pulag,5.45Am the breathtaking sea of clouds has already been seen from our view point, standing at 9958Ft clouds was just on our foot, it was so overwhelming that i was struck for a little bit and mesmerize on the scenic view of central Luzon, from our upper right I can see baguio from our back facing the north I can see the mountains of amuyao and UGO and Ifugao from my left. Totally unreal but it was real. I thank GOD for giving me the sight to see his wonderful creations a truly one remarkable moment.

 7.00Am passed we took photos and selfie from the top. The sun is shining and it was still freezing I already saw the trail we took to the summit it was like 2 kilometers from our viewpoint. We took rest for a while, we start descending by 7.15am and we reached camp 2 by 8.30am, we took photos on our way back to camp2, then we started preparing for early lunch, by 10am we pitch tent and pack our stuff head back to camp 2 again an exhausting 3hours trek to our jump off point Ambangeg ranger station.

 1.30PM we were already back at our jump off point, and by 4.00pm we were already in Baguio City   after a long drive from ambuclao dam which was our side trip.. Truly Mt Pulag was one remarkable adventure on my hiking activity we would like to come back hopefully next year to try the killer trail. AKIKI which is a 3day 17km 15hours assault from the jump off point to the summit, I was astounded by nature that it was so powerful that I learned to respect her and appreciate her majestic beauty.