ULTIMATE PULAG (Akiki-Ambangeg Day Hike)

And so the first leg of my Lagataw Adventure Series has just been completed. I climbed Mt Pulag (the highest elevation in the island of Luzon) in a day’s hike via Akiki-Ambangeg route. That was actually not just an Ultimate Pulag adventure. My Day 1 (Saturday) commenced at KM 54 along Halsema Highway up to the summit of Mt Timbak (the third highest mountain in Luzon) then down to Kabayan Barrio and Kabayan Central where I spent the night! Day 2 (Sunday) was the actual Ultimate Pulag climb. This was actually my sixth time in Mt Timbak and my fourth climb up Akiki and down Ambangeg trails.

Thanks to:

Sir Rheyson Cornilla (my nutritionist and medical adviser)

Ma’am Emerita Tamiray (Mt Pulag PaSu) for letting me stay at the Visitors’ Center Sunday night

Travel Factor for giving me a ride from Mt Pulag Ranger Station to DENR

This was my itinerary:

Day 0 (Feb 18; Friday) BUS RIDE

2355hrs: Departure @ Victory Liner Pasay

Day 1 (Feb 19; Saturday) TIMBAK DAY HIKE

0600hrs: Arrival @ Baguio

0630hrs: Tapsilog @ 456 Restaurant (Session Rd.).

0700hrs: Shop at 7-11. Get a cab for D Rising Sun bus terminal (Slaughter)

0720hrs: Departure @ Slaughter Terminal to KM 54 (take any bus that will go along the Halsema highway. There’s plenty of ‘em!)

0940hrs: Arrival @ KM 54. Start Trek

1100hrs: Arrival @ Mt Timbak summit. Visit Ate Josie’s place

1210hrs: Resume trek to Kabayan barrio

1230hrs: Lunch @ the store across from the Timbak mummies burial rock.

1320hrs: Resume trek. Took the wrong road to the right...Wasted 45 minutes. You’ll know when you’re on the wrong trail if Kabayan barrio is no longer in sight below. At a fork, you should take the road to the left, five meters after which, you’ll see a ‘gate’ that blocks the road. Just go through it.

1620hrs: Arrival @ Kabayan barrio. Find the short cut to Kabayan Central

1710hrs: Arrival @ Kabayan Lodge (Kabayan Central). Check in overnight. Do some grocery shopping. Have your dinner at any restaurant around. They stay open ‘till 8 pm. Place your orders at any (for breakfast) at night. When you say ‘breakfast at 0530’, you’ll have your breakfast no later than that time!

2000hrs: zzzzzzzz

Day 2 (Feb 20’ Sunday) MT PULAG (akiki-ambangeg) DAY HIKE

0530hrs: Breakfast at the restaurant beside the lodge.

0620hrs: Start trek to Akiki Trail trailhead.

0650hrs: Arrival @ the trailhead to Akiki. Register. I was going to trek without a guide but that would have been very irresponsible (and pasikat) of me, so I decided to get one.

0730hrs: Start trek

0820hrs: Arrival @ Eddet River

0930hrs: Arrival @ the first resting bench

1000hrs: Arrival @ Marlboro Country (Helipad)

1040hrs: Arrival @ Mossy forest (last water source). Lunch

1100hrs: Resume trek

1155hrs: Arrival @ Saddle campsite

1210hrs: Arrivel @ Mt Pulag Summit

1220hrs: Start descent

1250hrs: Arrival @ Camp2 (water source)

1330hrs: Arrival @ Camp1

1350hrs: Arrival @ Ranger Station. Hitch a ride

1500hrs: Arrival @ DENR Visitors’ Center. Log out. Chat with fellow hikers. Wash up. I had the option to hitch a ride to Baguio but I was running low on cash. Couldn’t monitor my expenses…forgot that I still had to buy my bus ticket from Baguio to Manila. I had some amount transferred through LBC but by the time I got to Baguio, LBC branches would have already closed. So I decided to have a good night’s rest at the Visitors’ Center.

Damage:

Manila—Baguio v-v:  P990

Baguio—KM 54:         P70

Guide fee:                   P1000

Park fees:                    P200

Lodge:                          P200

Food and stuff:          (~P500)

What I learned from this adventure:

• 1.       There are a lot of non-mountaineers in Mt Pulag. It’s funny how they talk and exchange malicious remarks against each other when one gets someone else’s ‘wash-up’ water, and when somebody jumps the line (among other comically tense and yet trivial scenarios at the Visitors' Center). They don’t possess this mountaineers’ ‘forgive them for they do not know what they are doing’ rule of thumb.

• 2.       I’m starting to think there is no such thing as ‘pasma’. I followed Sir Rheys’ advice and I didn’t feel the vibrating abdominal muscle sensation (to think that this was an even more arduous activity than my Mt Pulag Invitational Climb two weeks before).

• 3.       There is a reason why hikers shouldn’t climb fast. Exposing your body to rapidly fluctuating temperature and barometric pressure doesn’t sound like a very good idea. Do what I did and your body will tell you what I mean.

• 4.       These lessons will decide how the remaining nine on the list (of my Lagataw Adventure Series) will be executed.