The team has been on quite a slowdown in terms of hiking since the year started mainly because we have all been busy with work and our personal lives. More so now that we are experiencing unforgivable weather conditions, we haven’t been spending much time in the outdoors. But August is always an exception–two of our core teammates are celebrating their birthdays this month, and that’s good enough reason to risk a weekend or two to be out there again.
“Cordillera is our new home,” that’s what we said after climbing Mt Ugo last year. And because of that, we chose another cold mountain up in Ifugao to be able to 1) trek without being drenched in sweat, and 2) stay out of the crowded summits near Manila. Coming into the climb, we already knew that it’s rated 7/9, fairly difficult compared to our past few climbs; there will be blood-sucking leeches along the way; and it’ll be physically and emotionally challenging yet again. If there’s anything we always have though, it’s an unwavering kind of spirit that’s willing to go very far.
And so on the night of August 5, we braved our way to Banaue, Ifugao so that we can arrive in time for our 9AM start trek schedule. We arrived at around 6:30AM, ate breakfast and decided to lounge around a bit and check out the infamous Banaue Rice Terraces.
I think we enjoyed too much, thus ending up starting the climb at past 10AM already. I remember hearing one of my friends saying that after the 2nd hour of straight ascent, the trail will be easier and more gradual. It was with utmost regret that I had to tell him that the entire seven hours is supposed to be steep and that it gets worse after hour three because by that time leeches are going to be on attack mode. We all just laughed at the thought. We also ended up joking about the fact that before the climb, we always raved about how beautiful and enchanting mossy forests are. But after trekking for five hours in a long, winding mossy forest that doesn’t even have 10 meters worth of flat surface, feelings change.
At around 5:45PM, we finally found sight of the summit. Ah, momentary comfort!
For two straight climbs now, we were granted with good camping conditions. If in Mt Balingkilat we were able to camp outside our tents, this time we were blessed with a dark moon and a little performance from the skies.
The next day, we took a little more time having breakfast and messing around since we were promised by our guides with a faster route back to Balentimol, Hungduan, Iugao. It’s a fairly new trail back that will let you pass by two beautiful waterfalls–a few hours faster than the Hapao trail, but a lot steeper and more complicated. And with that, I came across my first major mountain accident. I ended up slipping and injuring my right knee lateral muscle after an hour of descent, making me limp through the five remaining hours of trek down the mountain. It was a different experience: scary and challenging. But it made me realize that indeed, there’s nothing that I can’t do if I put my heart into it. I didn’t want to make the tired team’s pace slower, so I knew that I had to push myself a bit further until we reached safe land.
It wasn’t until the first falls that my teammate told me why Mt Napulauan was called as such. According to him, Napulauan in Tagalog is “nawawala.” It’s a name apt for a mountain where a lot of people have ended up being lost.
The entire hike, yet again, pushed me to the limit. I trekked in the most difficult and dangerous conditions I have ever been in, but has that really ever stopped me? No. Those things are meant to make us braver; they make us better. Our ever-supportive mountain guides are the real heroes, of course. They keep us strong and they never fail to remind us that with enough care and respect for things greater than us, we are always equipped to conquer difficult challenges and even ourselves.
ABBIE GIRON 