Mt. Pulag Climb: Jr. Pulag Ascent, Sunset, Freezing Night
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| Sunlight. Oh, sunlight. It was hot that afternoon because of the sun but we appreciated and "enjoyed" all the heat because we knew that the temperature will drop at night. |
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| My side of the tent. HAHAHAHAHA. Ako na may nakaayos na gamit lagi. Featuring: ANG TSISMOSO NAMING KAPIT-BAHAY. I was organizing my things to get ready for the freezing night and for the summit trek. And as I was rummaging the things I brought, I told my friends, "Ito ang 10 kgs. kong gamit! Nakakainis talaga lagi akong nago-overpack." Then, ang tsismoso naming kapit-bahay shouted, "Ikaw na nag-overpack." At pinagkalat niya pa talaga sa iba na may narinig siyang nag-overpack. Peace. Kung mabasa mo 'to, alam kong di mo sinasadyang marinig. Malakas lang talaga boses ko. Hahahaha |
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| We slept for around an hour or two to restore our energy and rest our bodies that got tortured during the ascent. The sun was still up the time we slept but it was almost sunset when we woke up which explains the colder breeze. And ang tsismoso naming kapit-bahay heard that we were awake so he invited us to climb what they call Jr. Pulag which is adjacent the camp 2 extension grounds. We agreed to go with them saying, "Summit Training" as our reason for doing so. |
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| I went out of our tent wearing three layers of clothing but I went back to put on another one. During our Jr. Pulag sunset ascent, I was wearing four layers of clothing, bonnet and gloves. |
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| This is what the camp 2 extension looked like. Sobrang bet, noh? Looking at that view, all the hardship we experienced wereworth it. Nasa gilid lang namin 'yung clouds!!! Understandable because we were 2,000+ MASL. |
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| Left side na tents is camp 2, 'yung nasa middle part, yan 'yung camp 2 extension and taga-dun kami. We were almost near the summit of Jr. Pulag when I took this picture. Look how far we've come. :)) Hiningal ako, men!!! Humiga na lang ako sa damuhan niyan for a while. |
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| Here's a picture of the clouds from the summit of Jr. Pulag. If I were to compare the clouds with waves, they're like the waves at Bangui Bay in Ilocos Norte. Mataas na waves na parang may galit. When I was in Baguio Cathedral, gusto ko 'yung fog na unti-unting bumabalot sa view. Grabe. Sobrang galante ng Mt. Pulag, hindi lang fog kundi clouds talaga bumalot sa view namin at ang bilis nila. From a clear view, one minute after lang, puro clouds na sa paligid. Our fellow climbers told us to trek down immediately after taking some pictures since none of us brought head lights... baka daw mahirapan kami bumaba pag sobrang dilim na so we followed. |
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| Halfway our descent, one shouted, "Guys, akyat dito ulit. May sea of clouds na!" |
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| We took the risk of descending without flashlights and spent around 10 minutes in one of the summits there. Again, the clouds didn't look peaceful and calm that time but they will still take your breath away. Ang magical. Ang saya. Ang lakas maka-dream come true. |
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| Raging Sea of Clouds at Sunset. <3 <3 |
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| At that point, I was fully convinced that I made the right choice. Konting-tiis na lang, Tin. Andyan ka na. :))) |
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| Nakakawala ng pagod at nakakawala ng sakit ng katawan. All my energy was restored as if I'm ready to trek my way to the summit. AS IF ah, gusto ko rin magpahinga muna kasi. |
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| I might not have seen the sun while setting but even if the clouds were blocking the view, I couldn't care less. I'm just so thankful that I was there at that moment. <3 |
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| Open fires aren't allowed at campsites. You'd have to bring your own cooking materials and portable stove. Dinner... :)) Makeshift gloves at lalagyan ng food. Ang lala. Hindi ko na idi-detalye kung paano kami kumain basta naging sebo agad 'yung mantika ng adobo. It was already lights off at 8 PM and our climb mates kept on reminding us to wake up at 3:00 AM so we could start the trek to the summit by 3:30 AM. Dahil ba babae kami, kaya akala niyo matagal kami magbihis?! O hindi tayo pwede ma-late ng alis kasi hindi tayo aabot kasi mabagal kami? Hahaha. Nonetheless, thanks to our time conscious climb mates that we were able to make it minutes before sunrise. More of this in the next post. During the orientation, Ate from DENR told us that we should keep our voices down and limit the noises that we will create not only to respect other campers but to respect Pulag as well. Sabi rin na pag maingay 'yung umaakyat at 'yung mga nasa camp site, madalas umuulan pag sunrise. No one took the risk. Ang tahimik namin lahat. :))) |
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| Before sleeping, naglagay muna kami ng Omega sa likod and sa paa to soothe the possible muscle ache and to feel warm na rin. Effective naman! Nakaramdam ng konting init and medyo nakaalis din ng sakit ng katawan. Ayan, clothed in three layers of jackets, leggings and jogging pants, two socks, two gloves and a bonnet, I tried to fall asleep. Sabi ko naman sa inyo, hindi uso palit outfit dun. Gusto mo magpalit ng outfit? Ipatong mo na lang. :))) Nakatulog naman ako pero nagising ako and when I looked at the time, 10 PM pa lang. Huh? Bakit parang forever na ko natulog?! hahahahaha. 'Yun 'yung cycle, matutulog tas in less than an hour magigising tas makakatulog ulit tas magigising ulit. Pero in between tulog at gising, nagdadasal na akong, "Sana po maganda 'yung weather bukas. Sana po makayanan ko. Sana po hindi ako magkasakit. Sana po makatulog na ako ng maayos." I don't remember everything that I prayed for kasi marami-rami 'yon. The coldest time was at around 1 AM, nagising ako kasi it felt like my feet were about to freeze. Hindi ko na rin alam kung anong ikot gagawin ko nun kaya naupo na lang muna ako para di masyado in contact 'yung katawan ko sa ground. 'Yung lamig kasi galing sa lupa parang nanunuot sa katawan eh kaya nga lagi lang kami naka-side na higa. Tapos parang may humahampas sa tent namin and when we peeked outside, malakas na hangin pala. Sobrang foggy na may mist 'yung itsura sa labas at buti na lang full moon nun kaya hindi masyado madilim. If you have no sleeping bags, okay rin na ipatong sa sahig 'yung mga insulators. Basta anything na hindi magsi-seep in 'yung lamig ng lupa, pwede na 'yun. Ginamit ko 'yung sarong ko na pang-ilalim tas medyo nakabalot sa'kin 'yung blue ko na kumot. Buti na lang, marami akong dalang jacket at marami rin akong adipose tissues sa katawan. Pero sobrang lamig talaga. Hindi ako nakatiis, nagpatong ako ulit ng isa pang jacket. That time, I was thanking myself for overpacking. HAHAHAHAHA. Nagamit ko lahat ng jacket na dinala ko eh. SINONG OVERPACKING? Mukha lang overpacking pero sakto lang pala. Hehehe. Thankful for the sea of clouds during sunset. <3 Thankful that I made it through the night. Thankful for the people we climbed Mt. Pulag with, they made our first major climb a whole lot easier . <3 |
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