Mt Pulag via Akiki-Ambaguio : the Killer meet the Longest

   Mt. Pulag is one of the most beautiful and mystifying mountain in the Philippines. It also have three trails that can be considered some of the best in this country. Having able to try two of those trails already (akiki and tawangan), I had been planning to try the last one - the Ambaguio trail. 
  So I went with a friend and an officemate who created a team of 12. Yes the climb was to Pulag which exits in Ambaguio, but the entry was in Akiki trail. The plan completion of the trek was in 3 days. 
  Akiki is always difficult to hike that is reason it was named the "killer" trail of Mt. Pulag, the total elevation gain is around 1850 meters. On the day of the climb it was harder for us, as we are in the middle of the mossy forest, it started to rain. The rain did not stop until we reached camp (approximately 6KM distance). Cold, rain, darkness and tired body made the trek more difficult. Plus add the situation that I got seperated from the group and got lost. We were so tired that we did not ate dinner and went straight to sleep. 

Jump-off / Trail head of Akiki Trail

Akiki is know for steep start at the trail head

We saw this bull skull at the trail

The pines looks like planted with measurement distances

The Edet river bridge has been newly renovated

"Killer" trail. So difficult carrying a pack loaded with supplies for 3 days

We saw this blue colored worm, that I had to put out my camera eventhough is already drizzling.  

Mt Pulag is at the leftmost. If you look closely, you  can see tourist lining up to go to the summit. All of them came from Ambangeg trail, known as the tourist trail

Sea of cloud-lets. No sign it rained almost the whole night

  The next 2 days, it was still raining but now more manageable. We were able to see the beauty of what Ambaguio trail has to offer. Ambaguio is considered the longest trail of Mt Pulag (30KM distance with a gain/decent of 2100 meters), that 2 days is normally allocated to complete the hike. The trail connsist of beautiful and pristine mossy forrest. We surmise the only regular users of the trail are the locals. There are also cliff side roads that reminisce the similarity to Mt. Ugo. Hikers will pass by several villages which are not often reached by civilization. We camped on our 2nd night in Brgy Napo, which consist of Upper and Lower distinction. As the name suggest the Barangay is segregated on by  a hill which Upper is located on the top. The current nationwide drought has also affected this place. What is known to have abundant water sources along the trail, almost all of them had dried up.  We also saw several landslide area due to the the heavy rains that poured in the past days. 


  The trail ended when we reached Brgy Amueg near the Ambaguio City Hall in Nueva Viscaya. 

One of the most Kikay-est hikemate I been with. Manage to bring those rollers!

Team  resting at a shelter along the trail

Mossy and pristine!

Saw this landslide along the trail. The thick forest was not enough to prevent this. 

Descending to Brgy Napo

Lower Napo have the High School, while Elementary is in the Upper Napo

Where we camped for the night. It also became our kitchen. Good this as it also rained heavy that time.

Brgy Napo, Ambaguio, Nueva Viscaya

Napo Elementary School

The house in the middle of the mountain is where we had our lunch the previous day, under heavy rains.

Napo Vegetable farms

Because of the heavy  rains the night before, we saw this fresh landslide along the trail

Upper Napo as seen from the trail

After almost half a day without water, we are so glad to see this water source. It is so refreshing

Saw this orchid like flower on the ground, anyone familiar with its name? 

A waterfall from a distance as seen on the trail

Rice terraces as we are nearing our exit point.

Golden rice fields almost ready for harvest 

It was raining on the mountains, that the water turned brown.

So having tried all the 3 famous trails of Mt Pulag which one do I like best and least? 

 I like Ambaguio trail best as the trail is pristine and there is also a cultural experience. You blend with the local which are not yet into commercialism. Our camp in Brgy Napo was for free, even though we stayed on the Brgy Hall. 

 The least I like is Akiki trail as it is the most popular and easy to access. The trail is badly beaten though not as bad as those close to Manila. 

Return to Mt Tabayoc and Mt Pulag Climb via the Tawangan trail

Mt. Tabayoc and Four lakes of Tabeyo

The last time I was in Mt Tabayoc was 9 years ago. We came for an outreach with PALMC and we did the climb as a sidetrip together with the visit of the lakes on the mountain. Nothing has changed much in the mountain, almost exactly the same we climb it. I could not say the same around the mountains base and the surrounding area. There is a creeping human invasion, turning the vegetation to farmlands. During our last visit, the Mayor was in conflict with the people of Ballay, Kabayan on not to convert this land into vegetable plantation. I don't know what happen since then, but it seems the mayor lost his fight.

There are 4 lakes in this place but we managed to only visit 2. Tired from the Dayclimb and reserving our energy for the hike the next day, we opted to skip the other 2.

Camping in between the mountain and the lake. Mountain is covered in cloud every afternoon 

The lake is just a few meters from our tents

Locals set up traps in the lake, then harvest this type of fish

Local getting his traps

Would have been perfect view if not for houses!

Wild berry picking. The mountains is now covered by farms!

One of the view decks

View deck at the summit which is dangerously unstable. Have not been properly maintained

Ambulalakao Lake. We assume lake Tabeyo was like this a long time ago

Highest lake I had bee so far!

Tawangan Trail of Mt. Pulag

Tawangan is actually the name of the village at the start of the trail. Early the next day after our Tabayoc dayclimb, we proceed with our Pulag push using Tawangan trail. The trailhead measures around 1600 Masl. After a few meters walking on the pavement, immediately the trail became uncomfortably steep and the trees became very dense. Limatik (tropical leech) was also very plenty in an instant, albeit they are not as aggressive as the ones I experience in Pantingan Peak. The trail is amazingly pretty, I believe it is very rare that locals and hikers pass by the place. The incline trail goes up to 1900 masl, after which it becomes moderately steep and partly rolling. As the altitude goes higher, the limatik encounter became less and less.  When we reached 2300 masl, the limatiks were almost,if not totally gone. My hunch is that this leeches cant live on colder temperatures. I was really amazed by the vegetation, it is very mossy, lush and pristine. I did not thought such a place still survived within the northern area of the PI.

Lush and steep

One of the several rivers

A different kind of mushroom

Limatiks are residents of the trail

Mossy as can be. One of the mossiest mountain I had been

View of where we started

One of the few uncovered areas

Locals call this spot Junior Pulag. Probably because of he grassy terrain

Noel emerging into junior pulag

 

Another open area.

Junior Pulag seen from afar

Pretty mushroom. 

Mt Pulag Grassland

When we reached 2600-2700 masl, we emerge from the forest and set foot on the famous Mt Pulag grassland. This side of the grassland is also very pristine. It would have been more grand if it was not raining when we came out on this area. It was around 5PM that day and wind was blowing hard. Camping in camp3 (saddle) was not allowed and we planned to settle in camp2. Fortunately and luckily, no other hikers were staying overnight in the mountain. We were allowed to stay in the bunker house of the guides. If not it would have been very cold to pitch and damp to stay in camp2.

I was very happy to see that the change in park rules not to allow campers in the mountain (for those coming from ambangeg trail) has a very positive effect. The trails is now recovering and so is the mountain. It was very far from the sorry state I saw the last time I visited.

Ranger station is now very bustling and has lot of development, but I think its fine. From memory, I recall it was my friend who pushed for homestay as an alternative to camping. He suggested this to PASU (park superindent) Mering Albas, also the same time when we last visited.

Clearing at last!

Trail to Ranger station now has railings. This is due to the influx of tourist.