#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. 

Ulan is coming. Takbooo!

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.

Inside the mossy forest.

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.

Ngiting tagumpay!

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

Dear #MtTapulao,

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. 

Missing you, Cai

There were times when I actually would just like to go on a fun climb. Not a ‘fun’ climb in the organized definition of the term- like going on a hike in some bald minor mountain and spending the night in a crowded Woodstock campsite. Not my idea of fun. What I had in mind was a relatively difficult mountain with an established trail where I could toy with my endurance a bit, make the perfect omelette, enjoy some good company, savor the views and just get away from it all.

I’ve decided to give the long, spirit-breaking trail of Mt Tapulao a try. I figured it would be more worth it if we could pull-off a full-packed overnighter instead of an extended dayhike in which the mountain is more famous for. There are just so many things dayhikers seem to never witness from this place. Like the deafening howling winds at night, the captivating sunrise, the bunkhouse morphing into freezer. Besides, the whole idea of rushing things and setting records just don’t cut it for me.

Unfortunately not all good things were on our side when we got to the trailhead. We never did entertain the idea of using ‘Day 0’, or leaving by Friday night to get to registration early as it just eats more family time. Instead we left by dawn from the suburbs, and got to the brgy hall by 2pm. THE hottest time of the day. It actually is a close battle with 1pm, but I stand behind my college agrometeorology professor when he quantified the time needed from midday to effectively heat the surroundings and still maintain maximum solar throw. A new mandatory guideship was in place as well, reason being too many hikers missed the first turn and ended up going downstream. Could have just placed a big sign in my opinion. Lest I get the wrath of the righteous ‘mountaineer’ about all the moral implications of the locals’ right to a decent livelihood, let’s just dance with it for that one occasion. Besides, I get an extra serving of cultural narrative treat for a reasonable amount.

So off I went as the charismatic probinsyano, ever so loved by the locals in his knowledge of every culture north of Manila (I actually worked as some kind of technical rep assigned in all of the north regions for more than a year). The guide, whom I shall call Manong, never left my side and made sure I get a hefty serving of his stories- plus a little extra. His astonishingly punishing, cerebra-permeating body odor! The gorilla armpit scent of his was just totally out of this world! I have not been gassed my entire life but I thought I got a glimpse of how it felt. Considering we started the hike at the hottest time of the day and from a long bus ride at that, it would not be hard to understand that I was desperately gasping for air the whole time. With him in front of me, happily chatting away with a light pack! At times I would be open-mouthed panting, and it’d be DOWNWIND! Leaving me gawking and choking as I caught his scent in my dry throat, feeling as if the nasty odor had ominously latched itself onto my tonsil!

Of course there were a lot of water sources, two along the trail in fact. So I gargled as much as I could. But I never did once use my shemagh to cover my nose. Can't afford to be that rude. In spite of my political incorrectness, I am actually respectful of differences. So much so that at times I fail to tell the difference, of the effects borne of poor hygiene or that from a spicy diet.

  Watch your six.