I couldn't help but gloat since I managed to reach Mt. Pulag's peak --- alright, I admit, we did not take the killer trail, in fact, the nice lady at the DENR, during our pre-climb orientation, told us that the easy trail is actually called the "executive trail". Ouch. And yes, I have to admit, the trail was not so hard as I had climbed harder yet lower mountains before, but the challenge was as we ascended, the air got thinner and I had trouble breathing in the first half-hour of the climb (and mind you, the executive trail lasts at least 4 hours with some steep slopes).
Post-Mt Pulag I went to Sagada and "conquered" certain hard feats --- the long trek to the Big or Bomodok Falls, "getting lost" in the Echo Valley, the Lumiang-Sumaguing cave-connection spelunking, which would last almost 5 hours of drops and small holes and freezing water... Although these seem hard, the biggest challenge I probably encountered was when I "tried" to climb Mt. Kiltepan, just outside town, alone and with merely an obscure Sagada map in my hand and a couple of sentences' worth of instruction from Lonely Planet: Philippines. To make the long story short, I got lost, almost swam in the mud, and did not make it to the top. In consolation, I kept thinking, But you already made it to the top of Pulag, dude. See? Consolation.
1) There will always be dogs - surprisingly, in the sleepy town of Sagada where some locals still maintain a conservative way of life, their dogs run wildly around which made me think these animals can contest the night lives of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. And yes, even if you make it to the bottom of the mountain, one of them will suddenly appear out of nowhere and howl its head out. I love dogs, but woof.
2) Mountains have an infinite number of trails - trust me, when you want to get to the top, there are tons of means to do it. Trails are made for the purpose of making sure that people are guided throughout the trek; however, when you climb an unregulated mountain like Kiltepan, at one turn you'll be faced with four trails forking to different directions. Which will definitely lead to another fork of at least four possibilities. Remember this mathematical theory that when you fold a piece of paper seven times you'll be able to reach the heavens from earth? Exponential, man. On this unguided trek I went to heaven and back, and paid hell a brief visit to have tea with Satan. Interesting dude, that Satan guy.
3) Even though the sun is shining, think of the weather the day before - in most months, though this may seem odd during the summer, Sagada enjoys a nice sunny weather (but cool temperatures at around 20degC or lower) and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Hence, when I trekked on Mt. Kiltepan, the mountain was generally muddy. Trails were slippery, grasses cover potential holes, erosion was deceiving. Mountains are like this --- they don't easily move on, and they will always have traces of the past, especially the day before.
4) The universe may conspire you to turn around and go back - I can be pretty stubborn, and even though I knew that I was already lost I pushed ahead. I slipped on muddy trails, had to turn around at least a dozen times since I seemed to be always on a trail heading to a cliff, and then I stubbed my toe. The toe was the last straw. I looked at my poor feet, toes with fading and chipped nail polish, and decided I didn't want to end up with a fourth of a big toe nail AGAIN.
5) Last but not the least... if you see tire tracks crossing your trail, THINK - it was a surprise for me to see tire tracks crossing the muddy trail. Tire tracks? I trekked through a thinning pine forest, how could a car get up here? Our of curiosity, I followed the tire tracks, and then it led me to a clearing with piles chopped wood. And then the clearing forked four ways --- all of them were roads. BLOODY ROADS! After I suffered all those MINUTES finding my way up to the peak, I suddenly come across THESE, which, obviously, shows that ONE CAN BLOODY GO UP MT. KILTEPAN USING A BLOODY CAR!!! I thought that vehicles could only climb up to a certain jump-off point (not this high) but apparently, the peak is only abut around 10 minutes by car and 15 minutes on foot on an easy trail. Bloody unfair. I would have easily gone up but I did not know which ROAD to follow --- and I did not want to end up in BLOODY BONTOC or encounter a Tony Soprano scene involving a trunk of a car, a shovel and a dead body.
And that's it folks. When you're alone in a mountain, lost and trying to find your way, it's hard to ignore the voices in your head, certain scenes from a movie, and reason having a heated debate with your (lack of) sensibilities. But hey, I may not have successfully climbed Mt. Kiltepan, I still made it to the peak of Mt. Pulag. Hah.
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