The “Forever” Trail of Mt. Tapulao
Tallest mountain in Zambales Mountain range
Major Climb
Difficulty 5/9
2037 meters above sea level
June 11-14, 2015
Mahirap, masakit, malamig, mainit. Napuyat, napagod, nadapa, bumangon. 3 days. Epic long hike. All worth it.
One of the things I learned in climbing this mountain is that reaching your goal is not that easy. You have to push yourself into the limit. Minsan ko ng paulit ulit na sinabi sa sarili ko, "Pano mo malalaman kung di mo susubukan? Pwede kang magpahinga, pero di ka pwede sumuko." Hahaha. Thank you Lord for the strength you gave me. Not only for the strength, pati na rin sa mga bagong kaibigan, bagong kwento, bagong aral sa buhay.
My second time with Kamandag Barikus Mountaineers. Also my second hike. After all the kamalasan that we got from Cubao, here we are with our fresh faces from the jumpoff point. Suungin ang sobrang tirik na araw. Start time: 9:30am, June 12.
The start of the road to “forever”. Ready for battle.
Medyo malawak ang trail kasi may mga 4x4 din na dumadaan dito.
Groufie with our guides. Sabi nila, almost 15 years na silang pabalik balik ng Tapulao.
Another pahinga. First day palang, mukha na kong taong ewan. Sobrang dumi ko na. Puro kasi putik kasi basa na ang trail. Dagdag pa yung bakas ng dinaanan ng mga 4x4.
Our group decided to stay at the emergency camp site due to possible heavy rain that we might meet along the way. We are currently at KM4. Marami na din ang nanghihina at nagcramps dahil sa sobrang init ng panahon since magtatanghali na kami nagsimula ng trek. (Photo: Sir Arnel)
Super love this shot. Sobrang tuwa makapag hugas ng paa sa malamig na batis! Sa likod niyan may batis. Di lang halata. Natakpan kasi netong matataas na damo. (Photo: Ate Nerie)
And staying at the e-camp means a beautiful sunset.
To maximize the stay, we had out socials in advance. We presented a skit portryaing the Leave No Trace rules of mountaineering by using animal sounds. As for my team, we are the dogs. Hahaha. (Photo: Sir Arnel)
Sunrise to welcome us for day 2. Mission: reach the summit within today!
KM 6 mark. Nung nakita ko to, napagod ako ulit. Kasi iniisip ko, KM18 yung summit. Eh 6 palang kami.
Literal na bedrock. Di na kinaya ng powers. Idlip muna while waiting for breakfast.
And a lot of picturesque parts of the trail suddenly showed up.
KM16 mark. As what others say, ang weather sa Mt. Tapulao ay both super init at super lamig. So much for super init. The super lamig is here. Nearly as cold as Mt. Pulag.
Dalawang kilometers nalang! Nawawala na ang pagod ko.
Dumaan kami sa shortcut. Mas madaling daan. They should cut the KM 17 mark. Sabi ng guide, mas madaling daanan yung shortcut kesa sa original trail na super duper assault.
SUMMIT at 4:00pm, June 13! This KM18 post deserves a huuuuuug!
World Tree. Di naman sinabing bawal. So I did.
Di parin ako pinagpala sa sea of clouds. But still proud I reached the summit.
Several clips I took during the trek.
A video posted by Cai Mangente (@kooroocai) on Jun 19, 2015 at 4:22am PDT
A video posted by Cai Mangente (@kooroocai) on Jun 20, 2015 at 7:41am PDT
Some of my favorite views
I should be sleeping now. But I can't get you out of my mind. You may be unaware, but I want you to know that you mean so much to me. You gave me a lot of things to realize. Lessons from life to love. You made me measure my strength. You let me see how far can I go. You taught me that hiking is not just about the mountain. Thank you for everything. See you again.
