MT. PULAG (Ambangeg Trail)

Mt. Pulag Charity Climb (April, 1-2, 2010)  
Major jump-off: Ambangeg, Kabayan, Benguet
LLA: 16°34'58"N 120°53'15"E, 2922 MASL (#3)
Level and days required: Level 3, 3-5 days
Hours to summit / Days required: 4-5 hours / 2 days
Specs: Major Climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail class 3

SUMMIT @ 6:30AM

Its been a couple of months since we had our last Climb for a Cause @ Mt. Pinatubo, and for this year, after a long month of preparation and sent invites and posted event on this blog site... We came up with a successful "MT. PULAG Charity Climb - Happy to live. Glad to give. Season II". Thanks to all the participants who made these trip possible.

OUR OFFICIAL IDs @ DENR OFFICE 

As an organizer of this climb, it was the most fulfilling events I have done so far, stressful but really worth it. Thanks to Sir Ivan for providing IDs for us and to Ma’am Yang and her parents for lending a pick-up car in order to get the 10boxes of books from our major sponsor.

THE GROUP, Photo courtesy of Monte
(from left, Monte Corpuz, Ivan De Castro, Christian Amane, Grace Matorgo, Carrie Borromeo, Ariane Bagarinao, Dario Umagat, Caroline Budiao, Junalyn Periña, Aleli Umagat, Janine Periña, Diane De Jesus, Raf Japhet Dator, Herbert Lapuz, Anne Christine Umagat, Madelle Crisostomo, and Michael Manzano) 

I never thought that this trip would gave us another batch of friends. Moreover, despite of all zigzag and rough road, cold summer weather, rocky and slippery trail and being so excited to see what thus the summit can give us another reason to continuously thank God for his gift of nature.

Mt. Pulag National Park is one of the UNESCO’s World Heritage. It lies on the north and south spine of the Grand Cordillera Central that stretches from Pasaleng, Ilocos Norte to the Cordillera Provinces.

MT. PULAG (near campsite)

There are four major trails up the summit:

• the Ambangeg, Akiki, and Tawangan trails from Benguet  
• the Ambaguio trail from Nueva Vizcaya

All of these trails are managed by the Mt. Pulag National Park, under the Department of Environment and National Resources c/o Ms. Emerita “Mering" Albas.

We chose the Ambangeg-Ambangeg trail (3-4hours @ slow to medium pace) since most of us are first timer on these mountain, we started to trek at around 10am and we arrived at the camp late afternoon 1:30pm. The sun was really hot and strong during our trek and of course we got our remembrance, a Sunburn..tsk! tsk! tsk! ^_^.

MT. PULAG SUMMIT (aaaw! sunburn) 

When we arrived at the campsite, all of us are very amazed. Indeed, it was really “The Playground of Gods”

“For centuries, the tribes of the Kalanguya, Ibaloi and Kankana-ey living at the foot of Mt. Pulag have served as its protector. Believed to be a sacred mountain where the gods dwelled and where the soul will finally meet Kabunian, Supreme Being of the Cordilleras, the protection of Mt. Pulag was governed by customary law and an indigenous resource management system, which considered exploiting forest resources evil and punishable. As such, even such normal human activities as shouting, defecating, picking wild plants, and even kissing are prohibited in the area, lest these anger the gods.”

Our night was filled with so many stars, and we really enjoyed it!. The temperature fall at 6 degrees Celsius and it was cold. We are so lucky because there was no rainfall during that time and that made us experience a bright full moon.

MT. PULAG SUMMIT (Sir Herbert on Sunrise) 

The summit of Mt. Pulag is covered with dwarf bamboo plants. At lower elevations, the mountainside has a mossy forest veiled with fog, and full of ferns, lichens and moss. Below this is the pine forest growing on barren, rocky slopes. Falls, rivers and small lakes mark the area. In addition, our most favorite part on this climb is the grassland summit with its "sea of clouds" ^_^.

PLANT SPECIES (photos courtesy of Ariane)

It was said that Mt. Pulag is the second highest peak in Luzon and second highest mountain in the Philippines, but that was before, because it was replaced by Mt. Dulang-Dulang, that makes the Mt. Pulag as the 3rd highest mountain in the Philippines and Luzon’s highest peak with an elevation of 2,922 meters above sea level.