Back-breaking Balungao

My Balungao friends have been inviting me to spend some bonding time with them many many months ago.  They just wanted some quiet time when we could talk and chat about things other than work, spend our time in one another's company and just rekindle our friendship.

So we set our bonding date on October 1, my only remaining free day for October.

Little did I know that Joan, Diane, Jo and Belle also arranged a hike to Mt. Balungao.  I only knew about it one day before my trip.  Thankfully, I included in my backpack some trekking clothes and my trekking pole.

Saturday night

The gurlz fetched me from Carmen and we immediately proceeded to Mt. Balungao Hot and Cold Springs Resort where a sumptuous dinner and a videoke set were waiting. Charlie, Joan's husband and his friend Jukes joined us. Over dinner, we immediately broke the ice and segue-wayed into a more intimate, relaxed, wacky and jolly conversation.  At times we would mention sad life stories which made me teary-eyed..  In between talks, Jukes and I would sing.  Regrettably, the rest of the group was too shy to sing...

Already tipsy, we winded up at past 12.  I was told that the Mt. Balungao Guide would fetch us at 5am.  Since this is a "hayahay" gig, my mindset wasn't that serious about time so I told myself, "ngek, will we be able to wake up at 5am??"

October 2, Sunday

Having underestimated the professionalism of "the Guide", we panicked when at exactly 5am, we were dumbfounded by loud knocks on our door.  It was the hotel caretaker and he said our Guide was already downstairs, waiting.  With eyes closed, I zombied towards the door and requested the hotel caretaker to tell the Guide to wait for us.

As if they did not sleep at past midnight, the gurlz immediately got up like frogs leaping to high heavens after being showered by the first summer rain.  While I, who virtually wasnt able to sleep at all because of my cough, was still trying to come to terms with reality.  The cruel reality that I should rise and get ready to climb Mt. Balungao.  Out of shame, I forced my groggy body to rise, freshen up and dress up.

The Ascent

One hour late from the original schedule, we set off at 6am.  Unexpectedly and deviating from my blog readings, our jump-off area was actually the backyard of the hotel.  We walked thru a trail that immediately led us to a heavily vegetated and dark forest.  The trail, even at low elevation was rocky and mossy.  I became nervous.  

Mossy big rocks are my waterloo.  I'm afraid of mossy rocks.  Just two days before I went to Balungao, I went to see my orthopedic doctor wanting to update myself on my two-year old Spondylolisthesis (slipped disc; 4th lumbar slipping anteriorly over the 5th lumbar by 25%). 

picture borrowed from knowyourback.com

Thankfully, it did not progress and my Doc still allowed me to climb mountains.  But, I always obliged myself to take extra caution because another fall could aggravate my slipped disc.

Adding up to my anxiety as we were ascending, I saw that the trail immediately revealed a 65° to 75° slope.  Goodness gracious, this is too-soon-an-assault !! I told myself, I better shape up because this climb isn't going to be easy, its low elevation of 300masl (according to blogs) nothwithstanding.

Without even going thru any warm-up (there was not a bit of any easy flat trail at all!), we found ourselves already crawling thru the uphill mossy rocks even during the first 30 minutes of the ascent.  What was shockingly funny was, Belle, my college bff who thru the decades of aging, amazingly maintained her supermodel slim figure, led the pack, gracefully doing a top model catwalk as if the trail was just a fashion runway, not to mention that while climbing, she was delivering a high-pitched monologue (like an AM radio morning DJ) with intermittent shrills and laughters.  Mind you, it was Belle's first climb.  

While I, I've been climbing for years;  I've climbed many mountains, i couldn't count them.  With so much amazement and admiration for this wonderwoman, I confirmed that indeed, the size and core strength of one's belly is directly proportionate to one's strength in many physical activities.

The other two gurlz, Diane and Joan whose getup were actually more apt for the malls, and whose moves were more like Binibining Pangasinan beauty pageant contestants, were also as strong as Belle, 

...while Jocylynne, (Jo), like I, also struggled thru the ascent.  Both of Jo's and my belly are admittedly living testimonies of how we are very hopelessly fond of wallowing in the luxurious habit of eating unli rice. Haaaaaaaaaaay. 

Yes! The Summit!

After surviving the sadistic assault that culminated in a roped segment, we saw light at the end of a semi bush-tunnel that ushered us into a grassy flat surface, the summit! My altimeter indicated a 370masl elevation.

It was 7:28am.

We were welcomed with an overwhelming almost 360° view of Pangasinan over the west southwest, Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija over the south, Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet over the East Northeast and Northern horizons.  I could see Mt. Ugo saying hi from the far northeast.

Belle's and the gurlz' reaction was priceless.  They never expected that they'd be in such a top-of-the-world moment, yet, they were.  We celebrated our success by drinking softdrinks.  Cheers!!  We also did many groupies of course!! Joan and her loving husband Charlie also posed for their couple pose!!

Belle however, wanted to celebrate in a very weird way.  She looked for perfume.  Luckily, I didn't unpack my mini-perfume from my backpack so I happily passed it on to her.  She's really one of a kind!! 

We so wanted to complete our climb by reaching the real summit but unfortunately, there was no trail connecting the area where we were and the top of that summit to our northwestern side.  Charlie, Joan's husband said that the access to that summit is thru the other trail over the southwestern side.  It gave us a reason to go back... 

Our Descent

After 30 minutes of celebrating our "success", we started our descent.  It was 8am.

The girls, especially Jo, realized that indeed, descending is more difficult.  The trail was slippery and there were areas where the only vegetation we could cling to were cogon blade grass.  I was the only one with a trekking pole;  I felt guilty.  

Amazingly again, Belle catwalked as if she was floating on air.  During the first 15 minutes of our descent, she was already about 15 meters ahead of us.  

While we,... we were struggling with our sense of balance, squeezing our best effort not to slip.  

After our knees have adjusted to the downhill walk, it became easier and more relaxed.  

Our descent was longer by 5 minutes than our ascent.  Maybe because we took extra care.  We reached our jump off by 9:35am.

We looked forward to our reward: a dip into the hot spring pool!! After changing our muddied clothes, we immediately plunged into the hot spring pool that relieved our painful knees, tired nerves and exhausted bodies...  This reminded me of Lake Agco after our first Mt. Apo climb thru the Mandarangan Trail in Kidapawan.

After packing our things, we travelled to Carmen to have our well-deserved lunch.  Thank you Belle for this treat!!

They sent me off at the terminal and I boarded a Genesis bus back to Manila at past 1pm.

Wait for my return Mt. Balungao....

Wait for my return, Balungao Powerpuff Gurlz..... 
Thank you so much for the great and heartwarming weekend and the rekindled friendship .... I surely treasure it in my heart..

To God be the Glory!!!

Mt. Pigingan, One of the Most Beautiful Mountains in Benguet

It was going to be the birthday of Casimir and I was sure she would ask for a "birthday climb"!! Up to now, I really don't know how I evolved to be a sort of a climb event planner but gladly, I became. hahahaha! 

So I thought that if it's going to be a birthday climb, the mountain should be birthday-climb friendly.  Meaning, it should be a gorgeous mountain, promising of some reward, and of course, instagrammable and facebookable memories hahaha!

in the meantime, the birthday celebrant's crampy but happy feet were excited to go!

Still traumatized from our stormy & limatiky July Tenglawan climb, I had to mentally approach September as a worse month.  Typhoons Ferdie and Gener whose paths were thankfully a little northward over northern Luzon, very recently threatened the Cordilleras and caused heavy rainfall. so I thought that a nice birthday climb wouldn't and couldn't afford a 'purgatorious' disaster scenario.  

The Mt. Pigingan picture that I downloaded from the Itogon tourism website intensely lingered in my mind, in my plans, in my wishlist.... When I first saw that picture,

this picture was borrowed from the  tourism page of itogon.gov

I promised myself I will climb that knife-edge summit.... So Mt. Pigingan is the only mountain that came to my mind for Casimir's Birthday Climb !!! It's only 1300MASL (so maybe I thought it wouldn't be so cold up there), it's geographically located near the boundary of Benguet and Pangasinan (so maybe its terrain might be peculiar) and it's not crowded for sure because it's not yet listed in Pinoy Mountaineer. (so Casimir wouldn't have to deal with her short temper for noisy pa-harkor pa-bebe mountaineerskuno).

As soon as I created our Mt. Pigingan event page, I requested our Benguet-based Wrong Rangers to contact the authorities in Dalupirip, Itogon and ask for details:  contact persons, guides, porters, fees, water sources, campsite, challenges, etc.

I also went into an intensive research.  Hehe intensive daw o!  I searched for blogs.  Not just one or two, but three and more than three blogs.  Oldest, old and relatively old and new and latest blogs.  I stalked the facebook and instagram accounts of virtually everyone who climbed Mt. Pigingan.  And the more pictures that I saw and stories that I read, the more intense my eagerness became.

I had to play safe and pattern our itinerary after the most commonly used iti, which required camping (2 days 1 night).  Many of the blogs described the climb as a major climb.

However after Alex gave me initial and raw feedback, he said that the locals estimate the ascent at 4 hours, so a dayhike would be possible. 

I editted the event page by converting the Climb into a Dayhike.  An daming natuwa!! The would-be participants including the Birthday celebrant preferred a Dayhike because they wanted a Hayahay Baguio City Day Tour for Day 2. 

My "subconcious" was however not comfortable.  Something was persistently nagging me that the planned dayhike was not possible, especially that September is a stormy month!! .  At least 3 blogs used a 2 day 1 night itinerary.  So again, for the second, and third and nth time, I reviewed the blogs.  I called Alex again.

I told Alex that "Hey Ading Alex, maybe the 4-hour ascent pertained to the pace of the Wrong Rangers and the locals of Dalupirip".  I requested him to ask the Barangay officials about it again.   I got the same answer.  Yes, a dayhike was possible.  I replied by insisting that that pace was theirs.   Ours was a lot slower, not to mention "glitches" like leg cramps and the endless picture-taking.. 

I had to revert back to the original plan of a 2-day-1-night itinerary.  Alex conceded after I convinced him to consider "our" snail pace.

Day 1

WSAR guy Ricky, Egay and his family, together with an old trek buddy, Ann and her children, travelled to Baguio City ahead of us, to give Egay time to rest.  He drove all the way from Antipolo to Baguio.  They arrived in Baguio at 9pm of September 16.

Casimir and I took the 8pm bus to Baguio.  We arrived at 2:30am and were able to nap for an hour before our 4am assembly time.

In no time, Alex and Kardo arrived with the van that would take us to Dalupirip, Itogon.  Sadly, Rex couldn't join us because he had to participate in a golf tournament.

After we bought food and other provisions, we hit the road by 5am.  

  mga "borlogs"

It was still dark.  As soon as we were in the area of Itogon, a beautiful scenery welcomed us. 

"Rivers of Clouds" sandwiched between mountain slopes created a surreal landscape reminding us that we were entering the great Cordilleras.

We passed by the Barangay Hall of Tinongdan as we turned right towards Dalupirip.  A constant view toward our left side was the snake-like Agno River. 

picture borrowed from the Itogon tourism website

Our destination, Sitio Balococ, Barangay Dalupirip, Itogon is located in the far northwestern tip of Itogon.  So the road that led us there was long, winding, and descending.  My altimeter indicated 400MASL as the elevation of our supposed jump off area.

We reached the Registration Area, the house of the very approachable and hospitable Barangay Kagawad Primo Pastor at Sitio Balococ by 7:15am.  Kagawad Pastor warmly welcomed us and offered to us the Reception area where we later ate our breakfast.  There are clean bathrooms and a sari sari store there as well.  It was also there where we met our Guide/Porter "Tenorio".

While we were preparing our things, a group of fellow trekkers arrived aboard a "monster" jeep.  We heard that they are from Baguio City.  There were 21 of them.  They also had a stop-over at Kagawad Pastor's place.

By 10am, we headed off for the jump-off area which was actually the very long hanging bridge along Agno River.  Our trek started at 10:37am.

One nice thing about this climb is its very long warm- up segment.  The first one-and-a-half hour of the trek was actually a long easy hike along a community road that was most of the time parallel to the Agno river which echoed to us a constant energizing roaring sound.  

We first passed thru a community with a primary school, then as we moved on westward, vegetation became thicker and houses fewer. 

 We crossed several creeks and another hanging bridge at the end of the community road.

By 12:30noon, we reached the start of an ascending zigzag road that reminded Casimir and I of the torturous Mt. Tapulao trail.  The sun started to make its fury felt.  It was very hot.  Many parts of the uphill road were exposed to the sun.  The scorching heat started to subdue our initially-enthusiastic spirits.

After about one-and-a-half kilometers of that Tapulao-like road that culminated into a huge soil erosion,

the path narrowed down into a footpath, leading us into a shadier forest.  

The snake-like trail with intermittent spring water sources gradually brought us into higher elevation.

Still, at some points, we felt the might of the sun as its heat bounced back to us thru the limestone rocky boulders lining the right side of the trail.  It was along this trail that I saw a uniquely colored beetle.

After about 45 minutes, we reached a junction that ushered us into the beginning of the "real" ascent.  We looked up to our right and we saw the 45° mountain slope that we were about to hurdle.  We were at 600MASL only at that time.

We energized ourselves with some chocolate and Gatorade. While Ricky and the Wrong Rangers were already about (more than) a kilometer ahead of us, Tanjo and I decided to assault on while Casimir and Egay preferred to take a longer rest.

It looked more difficult than it actually was.  It took Tanjo and I only ten minutes to reach the halfway part landmarked by a, guess what?  the first adult pine tree in that mountain!!!. 

At that vantage point, we already saw the beauty of the neighboring mountain range toward the southern part.  It was a mountain that would lead one into Sitio Uling, the residence of our Guide Tenorio.  And amazingly, beyond Sitio Uling is already Mt. Ugo !!!

After another ten minutes, we found ourselves at the real vantage point where the view was more than 180°!! There we saw our jump-off area and the graceful westward undulations of the mighty Agno River.

I thought that we were near.  However when I looked up, I had to re-set my expectation button, because it seemed we were only halfway thru the difficult ascent.  We just had to push and walk climb on.  In the meantime, dark clouds were building up.

After another ten minutes or twenty, we finally reached a ridge with plenty of pine trees!!! yes!!! Pine trees at last!!

 However, I also saw some burned pine trees.  I asked myself, were they hit by lightning?  I asked our Guide Tenorio and he said, "maybe".  

The ridge was long, and winding, moving northwestward.  The pine forest became more dense, greener, more beautiful!! I felt like I was in a foreign land!! I never expected that it was this awesome up there!!  In the meantime, it was drizzling.  At a certain point, I had to slow down because Tanjo who was about 50 meters behind me could not catch sight of Egay and Casimir.  I learned later that Casimir suffered from a terrible cramp.

While I was waiting for Tanjo to signal the approach of Egay and Casimir, I saw a meadow full of dragonflies!! This sight brought me back to my childhood years, when we used to run after and catch dragonflies.  Tanjo told me, I don't see dragonflies in Antipolo anymore... :(  Soon, Egay and Casimir were already with us.

Sooner than we expected, we were already at the ridge campsite.  Just when I thought I saw Tenorio and the Wrong Rangers were preparing to set up our a camp, the rain poured heavily upon us, prompting us to seek shelter under the trees and some of us under our umbrellas! 

In the midst of the strong downpour, the frightening thought of killer lightnings flashed into my mind as we were trying to decide where to set up our tents.  I told myself, no!! i don't like to camp here, the lightnings might hit us.  So i asked Tenorio where the original campsite is.  I saw that campsite in the blogs and I knew it was in a deep valley-like area, definitely not on the ridge top.

Tenorio obliged and led us into a descending trail that brought us deeper into the lower part of the ridge.  There we saw a safe area where the lightning would surely fail to hit us. :D 

Tenorio had to clear the tall grass with his bolo to provide us with a nice flat surface to set up our tents on.  Obviously, no one has ever camped in that area.  The original campsite which was very near the water source was about 20 meters away from our camp.  We were there at around 3:30pm.  Kindly enough, the rain stopped and gave us the chance to set up our tents and our kitchen area.  

After an hour, just exactly after we have completely established our camp, it rained hard again.  In the meantime, the other group arrived.  They camped over the ridge.  However, they passed thru our camp because they had to fetch water from the water source.  

After our early dinner, we rested early.  There was no birthday party because we forgot to bring wine, and we were all tired. 

It showered all night.  I was praying for the rain to stop and give us a good clearing during our summit assault the following day.

DAY 2.

We would normally wake up at 4am before summit assaults.  But on Day 2,  I woke up at 4am and saw that it was still drizzling so I went back to the tent and tried to sleep some more.  But I could no longer sleep.  At 5am, we rose and started to make coffee and cook noodles to warm us up.  Ricky asked me if we would already go up to the summit but I said we'd rather wait for daylight as it might still be slippery along the knife edge at that time.  Learning a lesson from our Mt. Tenglawan climb, I had to taper down my expectation of a successful knife edge summit assault on a rainy weather.  Safety first.  

So in the meantime, we just enjoyed our warm coffee and noodles.  We joyfully sang Happy Birthday to You for Casimir!! Under whatever circumstance, we were happy.  After going thru a lot of climbs, thru different and extreme kinds of weathers and situations, we have learned to condition our mindsets to be humble and flexible, accepting the situation as it is, and adjusting accordingly.

As if the Heavens up above also wanted to celebrate Casimir's birthday with us, the surroundings suddenly became brighter and the rain stopped!!! Yes!! Alleluia!!, let's do our summit assault now!!!

We set off for the summit.  The other group did as well.  

As we trekked thru the higher grounds on our way to the summit, we discovered that "we aint seen nothin yet".  The better and fiercer part of the beautiful Mt. Pigingan was waiting to reveal itself to us up there.  As we went higher and nearer the summit, a paradise was unfolding before our wide opened eyes and joyful hearts!  

We eagerly treaded thru a trail that was in the middle of a very slim ridge leading to the knife edge summit.  On the left ravine of the ridge was a thick wall of solid white fog that thankfully hid the deep and treacherous ravine.  On the right side of the ridge however was a completely opposite landscape: blue skies, ever green pine forest, and a glimpse of Mt. Ulap and Mt. Sto. Tomas and Cabuyao at the farther northern layer.

As we approached the foot of the then still foggy summit, we saw the other group of climbers, like ants, on a single pile slowly and carefully crawling down the rocky edge of the knife edge.  Nice!!! After them, then we would have an exclusive conquest of the summit!

As we greeted them, we could see the awe from their faces.  We requested them for a groupie to which they gladly said yes!! Yehey! New friends!! We promised to keep in touch thru HashtagPigingan!!

After a few minutes, we were left alone, claiming ownership of the summit.  To our overwhelming surprise, the sun peeked thru the thick fog and gave us a warm welcome hug!!! The feeling was beyond words… Goose bumps!!! It was one of the most awesome experiences I’ve ever had!!!

We decided to divide our group into two so we could take turns in taking pictures of our ascent and descent.  We could not afford to miss any one moment of this wonderful encounter of the “3^rd” kind.

Our WSAR guy Ricky brought with him a rope in case of any eventuality.  Luckily, we did not need it.  We held on to the rocks and stable trees as we scrambled toward the very narrow summit that could only accommodate about ten people in a single pile.  

As we set foot on the summit, we were simply stunned! Startled and motionless, we realized that lo and behold!!!   the open space around us was 360° and we were above the clouds!! Oh Dear God, we could only glorify You for allowing us to be in this moment!

We suddenly remembered that it was Casimir’s birthday so we festively went “live” on Facebook and sang Happy Birthday to You at the top of our voice and on top of the world!! What a priceless birthday for Casimir!!

"sun, sun, sun, here it comes.... "

>The Beatles

We took turns in capturing our instagrammable moments.  What added to our amazement was the sight of Mt. Ugo peeping thru the sea of clouds as if beckoning to us.

"keep still... don't move... one wrong move and..........."

It was already 9:15am and we were still there wishing time to freeze.  In fact, we so wanted to explore farther into the more dangerous rocky edges of the “knife” but Tenorio was not optimistic about the idea because the rocks were moist due to the fogs.

We bid farewell to the summit and promised to come back.  Mt. Pigingan rewarded us with only a 180° degree clearing which we took to mean that it wanted us to come back.  Surely we will!!

With double amount of caution, we scaled down thru the dangerous rocky trail of the knife edge unto the summit foot where we again took groupies before going back to our camp.  The sun continued to be generous with its warmth despite the stubborn fog that seemed to stay for good.  We were thankful to the sun because somehow, the slippery trails dried up a bit.

As soon as we reached the summit foot, again, we posed for our precious "groupie"; this time, enjoying the whole place all to ourselves. 

We were back at our camp after 30 minutes and we hurriedly had quick breakfast and broke camp because again, looming clouds were starting to build up. 

Alex and Kardo sought permission to go ahead to our Kagawad Pastor’s reception area so they could prepare lunch for us.

We started our descent by 11am.  Because we did not really eat heavy breakfast, some of us got exhausted easily so our pace slowed down after we reached the community road.  

We reached Kagawad Pastor’s place at 3pm.  A hot sumptuous meal of tinolang native na manok and steamed watercrest awaited us.  Heaven!!  We hurriedly attacked the meal like war-torn soldiers who haven’t had a decent meal for months hahaha!  After regaining our sanity, we freshened up, re-packed some of our things, and headed for Baguio City by 4pm.

Who would have thought that in Baguio, another lavish dinner awaited us? Egay’s wife Joy cooked special dinner for us so instantly, all of our fatigue were converted into sleepiness like that of a python that gulped one big dinner and fell into deep slumber for years.

Overjoyed, we just wanted to stay in that moment.  We are thankful to the following:

To The Force Up There Who granted unto us what we wish for:  safe, successful and unforgettable climb.  The turn of events, the weather, and each detail were all “choreographed” in such a manner favorable and beneficial to all of us.

Our COMELEC colleagues in Itogon, Benguet, especially Ma’am Rosario Bentres and her husband Sir Boyet who facilitated our safe travel to and from Sitio Balococ, Dalupirip, Itogon, Benguet.

Kagawad Primo Pastor and his son Serafin Pastor (who was actually the Guide of the other group) who welcomed and accommodated us at their residence (Registration Area), providing us with whatever best amenities they have, to make our stay and climb more convenient and memorable.

To the Wrong Rangers, our constant trek buddies Kardo and Alex who took care of preparatory coordinations with the LGUs of Itogon and Dalupirip, Itogon to ensure that our itinerary and other needs are well-planned and provided for.  It is always a privilege and heartwarming experience to climb with you and be in your company.  Sa susunod hwag na natin kalimutan magdala ng kape na may tansan ha. Rock n rule!

To the Antipolo Nature Explorers: Ricky, Egay & son Tanjo, please know that your company and friendship always indispensably add color and joy to every climb we do together...  Sarap nyo kasama!

To our group, the Unstoppable Seven (the “us” o, di ba): Ricky, Egay, Tanjo, Kardo, Alex, Casimir, and I, salamaaaaat at tayo’y nagkasamang muliiiii…… Kay tamis ng ating samahan sa lungkot at kaligayahan… Salamat!! Salamat kaibiiiiiiiigan…..

"us" (the unstoppable seven}

To our Guide Tenorio who powered up and evolved into SuperTenorio and mightily tackled the job of three persons just to make sure our burdens are minimal, we couldn’t thank you enough.  Your sacrifices for us were priceless.  Tenorio embodies and exemplifies the typical Igorot virtues of valor, nobility, humility and chivalry.  You inspired us and we hope to be honored by your stewardship again on our return to Mt. Pigingan.

"SuperTenorio"

To those who prayed for our safety and those who in one way or another contributed to the success of our climb:  our families, fellow-trekkers who were not able to join this climb, our friends and loved ones and COMELEC Cottage staff.  Thank you.

To the group we met at Mt. Pigingan, nice meeting you and hoping to bump unto you again along the trails in due time..

Mt. Pigingan, wait for our return…. <3

Happy Birthday Casimir!


Our Mt. Pigingan Climb is Dedicated to my late Tatay, Teodoro V. Aguila whose birthday was September 17, 
Day 1 of our Climb.  I know you're happy in heaven knowing that I still do what you taught me: 
to love and respect nature.

To God be the glory!!...;