Hiking in the Phils

[David48atTD]

Re: FF, thanks for the offer, but I'll pass.

Toot (NPT) used to be an encyclopedia salesman, door to door.

Never takes a polite no for an answer

[NamPikToot]

@toot - PI males aren't keen on footy. They're into basketball: NBA and PBA (Philippine Basketball Association). .

Good grief, that has got to be the most boring game on the planet, aside from the other two Mercan games Baseball and Mercan Football. Oh well you can't blame me for trying. Loops or Bets might enroll you on theirs. Anyhow loving the Trek photos.

[NamPikToot]

Toot (NPT) used to be an encyclopedia salesman, door to door.

Never takes a polite no for an answer

Can we sign you and Nev up?

[NamPikToot]

Mt Pulag is the 3rd highest mountain in PI at 2,922 MASL. It can be hiked via the Ambangeg easy trail (3/9) or Akiki trail (7/9). I choose to do the tough trail and will train for that hike probably next month. Maybe in 10 years time, I'll revisit Mt Pulag and do the easy trail. But now, I want to do it the hard way, while I still can!

Whilst cannot profess to understand the rating system, that is quite a jump from your recent exploits Katie. Is weather going to play a role? meaning is it going to be wet then because that could be a whole other factor.

Apologies for polluting your thread with footie, there'll be no more.

[katie23]

Thanks for all the comments. No problem re: football, either real or fantasy stuff. Not interested, as PI is a basketball nation. Blame it on the Merkins, who colonised us way back in 1898 - took over from Spain, via the Treaty of Paris, for 20M usd.

Re: difficulty ratings of mountains, in the mountains around Manila, there are many 3/9 & 4/9 mountains. The difficulty rating is based on how many hours to reach the summit, how steep the trail is, how technical it is (rock scrambling, cliffs and knife edges).

In lower rated mountains (2/9 or 3/9), the summit can be reached in 1-3 hours, and the ascent is gradual, maybe just 20 degrees incline. For mid range: 5,6,7s, those mountains are either higher elevation and takes more hours to reach the summit. In some cases, an overnight hike is required. Many of the difficult mountains are in the northern Highlands or Cordillera region, which includes the province of Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Kalinga and Apayao. There are many indigenous people (tribes) in that area.

Last year, I hiked a 6/9, Mt Tenglawan, as part of the Bakun trio. It was in the t own of Bakun in Benguet. It took me 14 hours to finish the trek (5 am to 7 pm) and was among the last 2 ppl to finish it among my group. Others finished in 10
or 11 hours. That experience was humbling yet very exhilarating. It made me realize that the ppl that I hiked with that day were very fit and strong, while I lacked training and lagged behind. It was Xmas break and I didn't make time for jogging. I was also a bit overconfident, thinking I could do ia 6/9 mountain without lots of training or jogging. That hike made me realize otherwise, and that I'm still a newbie to hiking. Two friends and I were joiners in an organized group. We were 14 in the group, I think.

In February, I joined the same organizer was accompanied by several ppl from the December hike Bakun hike. We then hiked Mt Napulauan in Hungduan, Benguet. It was an overnight trek and we slept in tents at the summit. For me and 2 other girls, it took us 9 hours to reach the summit (10 am to 7pm). We were able to witness the sunrise and sea of clouds. I've deleted the pics from this phone, so I can't show pics of that hike.

During the night until dawn, temp reached to 8 degrees, accdg to my hike-mate. I remember that my hand shook due to the cold as I took the proffered coffee from the organizer.

For the upcoming hike in August, it will be another 7/9 and I'll train for it, so that I won't lag behind and be the weak link in the team. It will be with my regular group and we're hoping for good weather.

The last major hike that I did was Mt Pigingan, 5/9, also in the North, last June. I trained for it and it took me 6 hours to reach the summit, 10 hours total hike time. I was in the middle group to finish, so yay, I wasn't Team Sweeper for that!

Edit: guide to difficulty scale, but unofficial. This blogger's site is like the holy grail to many hikers here in PI.

http://www.pinoymountaineer.com/2008...cale-2009.html

[katie23]

Some pics from my Mt Pigingan hike last June. Jump off point was in Itogon, Benguet in the north. It has 5/9 difficulty and 1,328 meters ASL. It's part of the Cordillera mountain range. It took me 6 hours to reach the summit and 10 hours total hike time.








^that's me with the hiking pole, I use it for major climbs only (rating of 5 up). It was a gift and I usually take pics with it & thank my sponsors.

[katie23]

Some pics of a trek to Bukal Falls in Majayjay, Laguna last June. To reach the falls, there's a trek from the jump off point. Usual time is 45 min, but our group took maybe 2 hours because I was with unfit friends/ colleagues; we took several rest breaks.

The falls itself is inside a cavern. The water wasn't too abundant due to lack of rain.



2nd level of the falls; it had 3 levels



^that was our guide

[katie23]

Steps leading down to Bukal Falls




Thanks to those who will repost!

[katie23]

Mt Pigingan cows


Way to Mt Pigingan summit in Benguet

[bsnub]

^

Beautiful country Katie.

aside from the other two Mercan games Baseball and Mercan Football.

This coming from a guy who's country has cricket the most boring game on the planet makes golf look exciting not to mention soccer which is a girls sport.

[David48atTD]

Some pics of a trek to Bukal Falls in Majayjay, Laguna last June. To reach the falls, there's a trek from the jump off point. Usual time is 45 min, but our group took maybe 2 hours because I was with unfit friends/ colleagues; we took several rest breaks.

The falls itself is inside a cavern. The water wasn't too abundant due to lack of rain.



2nd level of the falls; it had 3 levels



^that was our guide

To reach the falls, there's a trek from the jump off point.

[David48atTD]

Steps leading down to Bukal Falls




Thanks to those who will repost!

Steps leading down to Bukal Falls

[David48atTD]

Mt Pigingan cows


Way to Mt Pigingan summit in Benguet

Way to Mt Pigingan summit in Benguet

[katie23]

Update to the thread...

Hiked to Taal Volcano & Crater Lake. Taal Volcano is a volcano inside an older, bigger volcano. Several centuries ago, the volcano erupted, the Crater collapsed and then a crater lake was formed (Taal Lake). Then still some years more, lava came out of the old crater to form a new, smaller volcano. Inside that smaller volcano is another crater lake, which I hiked to.


^view of Taal Volcano & Lake from somewhere in Tagaytay City. It's 1-1.5H away from Manila (good for day trips or weekend stay cations).


^trike from Tagaytay to Talisay town, where boats can be hired

Can someone pls repost #306 too? Thanks much!

[David48atTD]

Update to the thread...

Hiked to Taal Volcano & Crater Lake. Taal Volcano is a volcano inside an older, bigger volcano. Several centuries ago, the volcano erupted, the Crater collapsed and then a crater lake was formed (Taal Lake). Then still some years more, lava came out of the old crater to form a new, smaller volcano. Inside that smaller volcano is another crater lake, which I hiked to.


^view of Taal Volcano & Lake from somewhere in Tagaytay City. It's 1-1.5H away from Manila (good for day trips or weekend stay cations).


^trike from Tagaytay to Talisay town, where boats can be hired

Can someone pls repost #306 too? Thanks much!

Hiked to Taal Volcano & Crater Lake

[David48atTD]

repost #306

Some pics from my Mt Pigingan hike last June. Jump off point was in Itogon, Benguet in the north. It has 5/9 difficulty and 1,328 meters ASL. It's part of the Cordillera mountain range. It took me 6 hours to reach the summit and 10 hours total hike time.








^that's me with the hiking pole, I use it for major climbs only (rating of 5 up). It was a gift and I usually take pics with it & thank my sponsors.

Some pics from my Mt Pigingan hike last June

[katie23]

Thanks David48

You'd have to hire a boat to take you to the island




^fees

[katie23]

Approaching the island


Start of the hike.. Trail was easy, even Dillinger can do it



It rained a bit, so we rested a while. Trail became muddy.

[katie23]

After ~ 1 hour of easy hiking, we saw the smaller crater lake.

[David48atTD]

Thanks David48

You'd have to hire a boat to take you to the island




^fees

You'd have to hire a boat to take you to the island

[David48atTD]

Approaching the island


Start of the hike.. Trail was easy, even Dillinger can do it



It rained a bit, so we rested a while. Trail became muddy.

even Dillinger can do it

[David48atTD]

After ~ 1 hour of easy hiking, we saw the smaller crater lake.

After ~ 1 hour of easy hiking, we saw the smaller crater lake.

[katie23]

On the way back, we saw some Korean, Chinese & Indian tourists going up on horseback. Horse rent = 500 pesos.

[katie23]

Hikers can rest here along the way



^SMDC condominium complex & Sky Ranch visible from the shoreline of Volcano island


Boat back to Talisay, Batangas

[fishlocker]

Triple thumbs up kid. Keep pushing on.