Last weekend I travelled to Mount Pulag with three friends, visions of the last trip's view of the summit still fresh in mind. We took the late night bus to Baguio as usual, then contracted a jeepney to take us to the trail and back.
It started off well enough. We made good time to Baguio, and the ride on the way to the DENR* office was more than pleasant. Toploading most of the way, we once more reveled in the beauty of our country, one I personally believe matches that of any other place in the world.
After the mandatory briefing at DENR, we got back into the jeepney for our final drive to the Ranger Station, where pretty much everyone who ascends the mountain starts their climb. On the way, we encountered our first bump in the road. One part of the road was pretty muddy, and the jeepney ahead of us was firmly stuck. Since our jeep was the only four-wheel drive vehicle anywhere near the area (and the only four-wheel drive jeepney I've ever heard of), we hopped off while our driver helped the group ahead of us, as well as the next four groups, get through.
I took that short break from the action as an opportunity to shoot something, and at the end of the day I'm glad that it happened because as it turns out, those were the last photos I took during the entirety of the trip.
Upon leaving the ranger station to head to the mountains, the rains came, and came with a vengeance. It didn't stop pouring, and by the time we arrived at the second of three camp sites, it was too hard to continue. At this point we were about an hour and a half away from the summit, and although we planned on pitching our tents at the third camping spot, a much closer hike to the summit at 15 minutes, the winds were too much and the visibility was pretty much non-existent.
After pitching our tent in the cold and pouring rain, we found out the hard way that we had neglected to bring two things - a ground sheet to keep water from seeping into the tent floor, and another sheet to keep water from dripping from the roof. So finally, damp and shivering, we managed to place our already drenched gear into garbage bags and find our positions in the tent. We ate a bit, and kept warm from the portable stove I had brought - right up until water dripped onto the spark plug of the stove and it refused to light. What had started out as a simple inconvenience had turned into a potential horror, with us definitely not enjoying the prospect of spending the next 12 hours in a cold pool of a tent, unable to find warmth in anything around us.
The decision was quickly made to make a dash for a hut that we had seen earlier near our camp. This turned out to be a very good one for as soon as we arrived there we saw some guys from Anywhere Philippines, another group whom we had seen at the DENR office. They happened to be cooking dinner and upon seeing our sorry state quickly offered us succour in the form of dry clothes, heat, and what I swear to be the tastiest bowl of Tinolang Manok** I have ever slurped down.
We finally managed to settle things down, set up wind breakers, and find a small spot on the ground on which to lie, although I chose to forgo sleep that night. On second thought, perhaps the wakefulness wasn't too much of an option - the numerous cups of coffee I had drank to keep warm had all but guaranteed that I wouldn't be sleeping for the next few days. I whiled away the next 7 hours talking to Dennis, a German exchange student at DLSU who had also chosen not to sleep that night (for pretty much the same reasons as me, tent and all).
Despite all that transpired, we went home in good spirits. We came for an adventure, and we got one, albeit a bit more than we had bargained for. It wasn't the adventure we were expecting, but definitely just as memorable as the best I've had. It would have been glorious had we witnessed the sunrise - this trip was the most prepared I've ever been, photographically speaking. It's a bit of a shame we weren't able to summit, but hope springs eternal. There's always a next time, and about four more trails I haven't taken. I may have lost the battle, but definitely not the war.
*Department of the Environment and Natural Resources - one must first register with the local office of this agency before ascending the mountain
**Tinolang Manok - a Filipino soupy dish made out of chicken, ginger, papaya, and chili leaves
More photos here
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