Inakyat ko ang Mt Ulap
Iris Palma in Ang Pinoy Stories
Jul 15, 2022 • 4 min Read
Ambisyosa. Ako yan. At 52 years old, I decided to go for my first mountain outside of Montalban.
“Hangga’t kaya ng mga paa at tuhod ko,” I told myself. This was my motto for the longest time, the reason why I did (and will always do) adventurous things that were risky and a bit inappropriate for my age and physical stamina.
Since 2015, I have been hiking around Montalban and stretching my capabilities. Sayang if I do not know my own place. Montalban is a valley nestling in the Sierra Madre mountain range, kaya the presence of several hiking places. If I needed to relax, maraming bundok na pwedeng akyatin. I already climbed Mt Binicayan, Mt Hapunang Banoi, and Mt Ayaas. I always go to Mt Parawagan. I biked whenever I had the chance. I do minor trails. Seven years after, I think I am ready to hike outside of Montalban.
Luckily, I met this affable young man in the Batis in Parawagan. Lucky that he organizes personalized hiking tours so I thought, why not? But first things first, I needed a backpack, a tent, a waterproof jacket, and some light clothes. The tent and the sleeping mat were the last items I bought para sa overnight camping. Mabuti at tinulungan ako ng organizer na bumili nito. The rest ng mga gamit ko I bought in the last few years. Maybe, without a thought, I was preparing for my first major hike.
So, we went to Baguio and took a taxi to Ampucao Barangay Hall. Two guides joined us from there up to the end of the Mt Ulap Eco Trail. There were 10 of us, excluding the guides. I had my backpack on and a Mt Ulap hiking stick. It was raining, the fog was dense, and the winds were howling. Two low-pressure areas contributed to the amazing and crazy experience. The organizer (his page is https://www.facebook.com/AdventureConsultantOutdoor/ ) said it was a minor climb, but the weather made it a difficult climb. Nabudol yata ako.
We started at 7:48 am and reached the first peak (Ambanao Paway, 1788 meters above sea level) at 9:50 am. I was ecstatic to finally be resting after more than 3 kilometers of going up and down, around pine trees, and getting wet from the rain. The walk was long and arduous, I was excited about what to see at each peak. There was nothing to see around the first peak but clouds everywhere, and rain and wind. I was fired up.
We reached the second peak (Mt Gungal, 1814 masl) at 11:19 am. The walk was shorter but the rocky trail and difficult ridges were exhausting. There were a few minutes of clearing at the second peak so we rested for a longer time.
The trail from the second peak was a mixture of rocks, mud, rocky ridges, and even pine needles filling up paths. My shoes were already in a sorry state, and the socks were wet, but I did not care. I continued walking, excited to see when we reach the campsite. We reached the campsite at about 2 pm, had lunch and pitched our tents. The organizer then prepared a feast — chicken wings, radish, meatball soup, fried lumpia! Amazing.
We slept through the biting cold, the rain, and howling winds that night. We had another feast in the morning before we proceeded to the last peak, Mt Ulap itself. I was emotional when I reached the peak, the beauty around it was just breathtaking. God is a painter. There was a clearing the whole time we were up on the peak, the clouds would cover one side and the pictures we took were gorgeous.
If we thought it was an easy trail going down, we were surprised. Rocky slopes tested our knees and feet for about 90 minutes. But we survived. No rain, no winds, clear skies. We were blessed with good weather — to think that we were supposed to cancel the hike the day before and go back to the jump-off site and authorities cancelled all hikes the next day because of the bad weather. But we made it!
I was the oldest in the group. I did not complain the whole time, even if my knees wanted to buckle at the difficulty of the trail and the length of the walk. I walked for 9 kilometers on winding ridges. Incredible! Salamat, my dependable pine stick. Would I do this again? Oh, yeah, I will!
