Monday, May 14, 2012

Mt. Pulag National Park, Benguet: Mother's Day Climb

I switched stifling yawns and suppressing chuckles whilst straddled on the bench of our hired pink jeep (Yep you heard me, pink!). A more sluggish hubby donning tightish jeans was seated on the jeep's roof, the only one from our gang of eight who did so. The thought of him climbing Mt. Pulag, Luzon's highest peak, later that day in them jeans sent me to a constant snicker fit.


Postcard-worthy snapshot by the RoadWorthyMan.

You see, just twenty-two hours earlier aboard a Baguio-bound bus, he decided to join the climb which my mountaineering pal Christine organized months prior as my welcome-back-home shindig. Thanks to Baguio's ukay stores, we were able to buy him a cheap down jacket and long sleeved top. We purchased a pair of trekking shoes too, which luckily was on sale. Hubby refused to shell out more bills for new pants however, thus his biker-meets-hiker getup.


Now didn't I tell you it's pink? Hubby still beaming, midway the bumpy ride.

Our jeep just left the DENR office (where we attended a quick briefing about Mount Pulag National Park) and was literally bouncing its way on ridiculously rough road to the jump-off point, Badabak Ranger Station. Occasionally we did stops to haul another jeep following us, loaded with even more passengers. And occasionally I yelled "I don't want to be a single mom!" outside the window which the hubby took as cue to hop off the roof. He began feeling terrified anyway when his camera panned through a backdrop consisting of a cliff just below his dangling feet.


Badabak Ranger Station, before things got dirrrty. Photo from Izah's cam, taken by our guide Ditas.

The usual one hour drive from the DENR office to the ranger station took almost two. We were all bushed when we stepped out of the jeep. I immediately felt a familiar light-headedness, caused by the thin air. Prolly by lack of sleep too. Our motley crew that was composed of me, the hubby, Christine, Olay, Izah and boyf Joseph (Who baked kickass choco chip cookies for us!), Marky and Erick groggily gobbled our takeaway lunch at the ranger station's front porch before pushing on.

Pulag
Female porters made the hike look easy, breezy. Made me look like a weakling too. Pfft.

The impending downpour pumped up our supposedly "chillax" pace (Ambangeg trail may be the easiest way to Mt. Pulag's peak, but it sure ain't something I'd call "chillax"!). We didn't want to exhaust ourselves more than necessary, but we certainly didn't want to pitch our tent under the rain. I huffed and puffed my way to Camp 2, and during our breaks I longed for a porter but a better part of me said "Heck no!". For the last two hundred meters, hubby sprinted to the camping area to start pitching the tent. He left me to my thoughts. The others were far behind and I trekked alone.

pulag4
Post speed-pitching. Pre debate about where the tent door must face (This is why we haven't seriously considered buying a house yet.).

In that solitude, my adventure flame was reignited. This flame died for the nth time months ago, which coincided with that burnt-out after effect only a round-the-world trip with a toddler could induce. With a sudden surge of renewed energy, I hiked with ease the last few meters of gradual ascent to Camp 2, where Marky and the hubby were already pitching tents. Or at least, trying to. Both required extra hands, non-frozen ones, dexterous enough to work them poles and pegs.

pulag7
Breaking dawn.

Those hands arrived almost half an hour after. And our overnight climber's commune was setup in just fifteen minutes. Before the rain poured, we were able to quickly cook dinner. Dinner at 3:00 PM. "Lights out" (More aptly called "when brains conked") followed at 4. The dreaded, infamous frigorific climate enveloped the camp just before twilight.

pulag9
En route to Mt. Pulag's highest peak.

At 2:30 AM the next day, one by one we emerged from our respective tents. Every step was a battle. I couldn't feel my fingers. I couldn't feel my nose. Despite all that, hubby's jeans still made me chuckle. And everyone's Mother's Day greeting left a smile on my numb face (Was I really smiling?). After a light brekkie, we hiked the final one-hour leg to the peak. One hour of trudging on mud and in near-total darkness. Halfway the trek, Erick played the most awesome scoring for that morn, Lovely Day. "Then I look at you (Mt. Pulag), and the world's alright with me. Just one look at you and I know it's gonna be a lovely day...", that is of course until we did the equally challenging descent.

pulag8
This backpacker mum still got it, we survived Mt. Pulag!

Atop Mt. Pulag's Peak 1 I held the hubby's hand. Throughout the trip, it was the time I felt most thrilled that he's with us. My second Mother's Day was even more insane than the first one that involved caressing a Burmese Python. This mum's definitely not the kind who hits the spa on special occasion (Unless someone else pays for it. And my hubby's not the type who does.). I still got that oomph. Why did I ever doubt myself?

pulag10
I am but a speck.

Though the sea of clouds was a no show, I remained a happy camper. Summitting Luzon's highest peak in itself is a feat I will proudly share with our daughter Luna in the future (With priceless photos of her baba hiking in jeans to back up my story). On the way back to our camp, Luna's giggles echoed in my head (A.K.A. becoming delusional.). I couldn't wait to be reunited with her in Baguio later that day. Ugh, I'm such a mum.





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42 comments:

paul | walkflypinoy said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:19 PM

i love the breaking dawn photo! i suddenly heard gregorian chanting "aaaaaaaahhhhhh." goosebumps. lol.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:23 PM

Aww... Thanks Paul! Means so much coming from you :)

darwin said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:27 PM

cant view the breaking dawn photo! :)

Unknown said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:29 PM

Wonderfuly written. Cute narrative. Sorry for taking ditas away from the group on the way to the peak lol

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:29 PM

Hahaha! I fixed it, Darwin. Sorry, first time to use Flickr on ze blog.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:31 PM

Marky, you were the ONLY ONE who had a guide. We demand a reimbursement!

WANDER SHUGAH said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:33 PM

Believe me im one of those people na never pa nkpg hike sa mountain. Just hills. Awwwe priceless ung breaking dawn photo. Post card worthy tlga!

Gabe Mitra said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:33 PM

Astig! Parang nasa ibang bansa lang kayo! I wish I can go there too someday =)

Kate said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:34 PM

Welcome home :D Thanks for this post! I was just thinking of Mt. Pulag last night. Wish I can go here sometime :)

Trip@dora said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:34 PM

Love reading this gay. hala nawalan na ng pangalan si joseph. lol.

hope i can write mine as well. haha. dami ding kwento. nag-away pa kami ni J. lol

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:37 PM

Shugah, hope you do someday. Even just once! Maybe we could do it together. Maybe :)

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:39 PM

Gabe sissy!!! Let's climb Mt. Pulag someday. I'd like to try the Akiki trail.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:41 PM

Kate, wow! Whatta coincidence. Hope you get the chance someday soon. At least, after the rain season. Hihi.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 27, 2012 at 8:47 PM

Izah, whoops! Thanks for taking note of that. J's name is now visible and mentioned his kickass cookies too!

Calvin said...
June 27, 2012 at 9:18 PM

awesomeness!! good job on reaching the summit. despite wala yung sea of clouds mukhang maganda pa rin naman yung weather that morning. wanna climb that mountain too.

Anonymous said...
June 28, 2012 at 2:01 AM

watd... ang gaganda ng pictures.
you were really lucky with the weather... hirap tsambahan ng clearing dyan..

Unknown said...
June 28, 2012 at 7:36 AM

Nice view! So peaceful. =)

Anonymous said...
June 28, 2012 at 1:36 PM

Hi Gaye,

Nice post, beautifully written. At ang ganda ng mga pics, I love the last 4 photos, parang NZ ang setting :). Alam mo manggugubat ako pero nakakahiya mang aminin Peak 2 pa lang naakyat ko sa Mt Makiling hehe. I hope I could climb more mountains in the future.

Regards,
Mafey

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 28, 2012 at 2:42 PM

Thank you Mafey! Any hike is something to be proud of :) Hope you climb more mountains in the future, Mafey!

Unknown said...
June 29, 2012 at 9:46 AM

Wow! Mt. Pulag is in one of my bucket list! Sarap naman mag hike with hubby on your side holding your hands... ayi!!!

btw, I love the pink Jeep! :p

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 29, 2012 at 11:43 AM

And my hot pink jacket matches it! Haha.

Riz said...
June 29, 2012 at 1:04 PM

pink jeep, pink jacket! I love pink! would love to conquer mt pulag! Photo #1 is beautiful! Makes me think what's the breaking dawn pic pero super cute mo sa hot pink na Jacket! :)

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 29, 2012 at 2:41 PM

Ahaha! Thanks Riz. LOVE that jacket. Only P200 from ukay.

Ian | GoingRoamingWandering said...
June 29, 2012 at 10:04 PM

I love the Breaking Dawn photo! It feels surreal... Belated Happy Mother's Day!

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
June 29, 2012 at 11:14 PM

Thanks Ian!

Elal Lasola said...
July 1, 2012 at 6:44 PM

Ang ganda lang. One of my dream akyat. :D

julai said...
July 2, 2012 at 6:28 AM

super extra special mother´s day treat. I love how you celebrate special occasions Gay: inexpensive, yet super fun and unique. keep travelling!

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
July 2, 2012 at 2:05 PM

As much as possible, something we've never done before :)

killerfillers said...
July 2, 2012 at 3:13 PM

Love the jeep! Pink and yellow. Been wanting to climb this mountain since 2009..its almost 3 years na pala.haha Di ko rin ma-view ung breaking dawn photo.:)

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
July 2, 2012 at 6:41 PM

Aww, shucks. Wonder why. Already changed the privacy settings :(

boondocken said...
July 3, 2012 at 8:28 PM

even though walang sea of clouds. meron naman great mountain landscape view and good weather.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
July 3, 2012 at 9:15 PM

True, still thankful for that :)

lakbay philippines said...
July 4, 2012 at 9:55 AM

wish i could travel with you guys! inggit ako! mt pulag pa talaga, gusto kung akyatin.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
July 4, 2012 at 12:41 PM

Aww... Tagal na di pa tayo meet! Hope you make it to Manila soon :)

The Nomadic Pinoy said...
July 7, 2012 at 8:54 PM

Was amused at your hubby sticking to jeans while on the trek - he must have expected Ambangeg trail to be a mere walk on the park (which I honestly felt was not strenuous yes!). Never mind not seeing the sea of clouds, at least, you didn't have a big crowd with you up there in the summit.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
July 8, 2012 at 6:48 AM

There were actually 300 people that day :( The max no. of campers allowed.

gelaikuting said...
July 9, 2012 at 6:31 PM

nakakainggit nman! I hope to climb Mt. Pulag next summer :)

Pinaybyaheras said...
July 13, 2012 at 6:30 AM

Hi Pinay Travel Junkie ... Great Blog and naalala ko tuloy ang unang climb ko sa Mt. Pulag way back 1996 (yes it was late 90's) nahahalata ng edad ko ;) but still i can't forget the beautiful scene kahet saan ka tumingen maganda ang view. Superb Photos ;)

Unknown said...
July 14, 2012 at 12:55 PM

This is such a wonderful and beautiful way of celebrating your mother's day!!!

qtcotz said...
August 10, 2012 at 12:29 PM

"Couldn't feel my fingers, couldn't feel my nose" made me smile while remembering that it was exactly how I felt back then, but reaching the summit and watching that much awaited sunrise is all worth the pains!

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
August 10, 2012 at 9:15 PM

The pain made the sunrise extra sweet :)

Anonymous said...
October 16, 2012 at 10:19 AM

hello. your blog in really very informative and the photos is fantastic. LJcordova

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