Mount Apo
Mount Apo (10,311ft ASL), also called "The Rooftop of the Philippines" is the highest mountain in the Philippines. It has many trails but for this hike, we used the Sta.Cruz Trail, coming from Sitio Colan, which for me was the best trail as you will pass by many scenic views.
The other two trails that I know of are:
1. Kapatagan trail - one of the most popular trail as well as the most expensive one. Usually, the itinerary for this is 3days/2nights but some can do it just overnight. Jump off point is at Sitio Mainit.
2. Bansalan trail - they say this is the easiest trail and can be done overnight if you are fit enough for this. However, its trail is characterized by immediately steep ascent and an open trail, meaning it will be hotter since you are directly under the sun. Jump off point is at Sitio Pluto.
Before going to Mount Apo, you will need to secure your permits and then fill out a registration sheet per person. No one is allowed to trek without a guide. In our case, I contacted our guide, Kuya Soy (0930 586 4591) to get the permits and register for us. But I think permits can be secured in the Tourism office of the Municipality located at Rm 512, 5th Flr Landco Bldg, JP Laurel Ave., Davao City.
But if you really want a fully hassle-free trip, contact Kuya Soy. He prepared everything for us from round trip transportation down to cooking of food during the climb. This is actually the most pampered climb I have had from a guide, thanks to him. It is important though to give him a menu and the things he needs to buy because he wants to be sure that you will like or at least be able to eat what will be served. Not to mention, he offered cheaper rates than those whom I've talked to for the Kapatagan trail.
NAIA Terminal Check-in:
One more tricky part before this climb was the baggage check-in. We arrived at the NAIA Airport at around 2:30AM and then placed all the things that needed to be checked in inside one bag (all canned goods or anything with metal, liquids more than 100mL, etc). We only bought 15kgs as baggage allowance for all of us. It was 3AM when we got to the check-in counter and it was already on last call. Unfortunately, Cebu Pacific was once again very strict. They didn't want us to place the trekking poles and sleeping bag outside (even though they are tightly secured outside the bag). They said it might get lost or poke other luggage (as if they really cared for our bags). Aside from that, we had an over baggage of 7kgs and the girl at the counter was offering either 200PHP/excess kilo or additional baggage allowance of 15kgs for 700PHP. So we removed some other things from the bag until it reached 15kgs, we had no choice but to keep the trekking poles outside the bag and finally we were able to make our bag drop.
Arrival at Davao Airport/En Route to Sitio Colan:
Our flight was 3:45AM but we were already onboarding at 3:20AM. The plane left the airport at around 3:30AM. We arrived at the Davao Airport at around 5:30AM. We waited for the bags in the conveyor belt and guess what? OUR BAG WAS WET! You can even squeeze water from the foam. So much for being strict and taking care of our bags. We have a feeling that it fell on the tarmac while being transferred.At around 5:40AM, Kuya Soy the guide already texted us that he was parked outside the airport. It was raining when we went out and I got scared because it might be raining in the mountains as well, I do not want to trek in the cold rain again (traumatized in Mt. Pulag). We met with him at the waiting area and he assisted us towards the jeepney that we hired.
First agenda was to have breakfast. We stopped over a carinderia along the hi-way and had our breakfast there. You can opt to buy food here for lunch as well but since Kuya Soy offered to prepare lunch for us, we need not to. Second agenda was the water provisioning. We bought 2L of water per person and decided to just hire another porter.
I fell asleep along the way but woke up due to the rough road when we were at the foot of the mountain. It was still drizzling when we arrived at the jump off point. Before arriving at the registration area of Sitio Colan, there is already a steep ascent from where we parked our jeepney. It was around a 10-minute climb up.
We arrived at Sitio Colan at around 10:30AM. We looked for two porters, paid the bag and ate our lunch there.
While waiting for our lunch to be cooked, we played around with the toys that they have there.
Let the trekking begin!
After eating our lunch, we started trekking.
It was 12noon when we started and after 50 minutes, we reached the first water source at Sitio Tumpis. By this time, I was really feeling the heat so I sort of bathed myself with the cool flowing water. I recommend that you get enough water here that will last until you have descended from the summit the next day.
Eventually, we entered the mossy forest so it wasn't that hot anymore.
Actually, the wind was cool to the skin and I wouldn't be surprised given that we are at a higher altitude. It was a total of four hours of gradual ascent until we reached Tinikaran Campsite 1.
This is where we stayed for the night. There is a water source here but it's just a pool of water, not really flowing so I do not highly recommend it.
It was cold that night because it drizzled so better be prepared.
Day 2: Boulders, Boracay and Summit
The next day, we had breakfast that was prepared by our guides and porters (as I've mentioned before, we were pampered for this hike) and left the campsite by 8AM.
Immediately after leaving the campsite, the challenge began. It was a steep ascent for one hour, like a never ending flight of stairs. Good thing it was a mossy forest trail so that lessens the difficulty of the trail.
We arrived at Tinikaran Campsite 2 at around 8:57AM. We were ecstatic with the sight of this flat ground.
At around 9:12AM, we were already in Boulder Face.
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| Credits to Tin for this photo |
A little walk up and this is what you will marvel on.
This is the start of the boulders trail. The yellow in the background are sulfur from the vents. Beware, it smells like rotten eggs and it is an open trail.
Pack enough water and wear proper protection from the sun; cover your nose if you must although I was able to endure the smell of it. I covered my nose in the middle of the climb but I removed it shortly after because I feel like the mask was giving me a harder time to breathe. Given that we are constantly climber to a higher altitude, it wasn't the best idea for me. All of my friends had cover in their nose though, it just didn't work that way for me.
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| Credits to Tin for this picture |
When it was around 11:40AM, we were still in the Boulders and I could feel the heat on my skin. I wasn't wearing any arm guards either because I felt that the cold wind from the mountain was better to normalize my body temperature from the heat than cover it against the sun. I hurriedly climb up and did not rest for like straight 15 minutes because I wanted to reach the "Boracay" by 12noon. Suddenly, I felt dizzy and tired. My head was throbbing and I wanted to rest. So I immediately did so, knowing that this might be an effect of my immediate climb to a higher altitude. I should have acclimatized. I got afraid that this might be Altitude Sickness so I rested under a rock and instantly fell asleep.
After a little while, my boyfriend caught up with me in the trail and told me to transfer under a bigger rock. I literally slept for around 15 minutes under that rock and felt a little better afterwards.
Then our guide went back for us to check what happened and what's taking us so long. He told us that the "Boracay" was very near, around 30minutes trek. So we left that rock at around 12:20PM and reached Boracay by 12:40PM. That part of the trail was called "Boracay" in reference to the white sands. We had our lunch there which was canned tuna and then left the area by 1:30PM.
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| Credits to Tin for this photo |
The trail going to the summit is called 87 degrees because that's the angle of ascent. By 2:00PM, we were in the crater lake. It was dry when we were there and we had it all by ourselves. It was a one of a kind experience because we were able to walk on top of it and it is filled with water in most pictures that I've seen.
We really enjoyed our experience there. After goofing around in the area, we left for the summit. The trail to the summit was steep. Since I was aware that I might have altitude sickness, I took my steps very, very slowly and I did not want to catch my breathe - just imagine how slow that could be. We reached the summit by 2:40PM.
Finally, we're here!!!! We've reached the peak of the highest mountain in the Philippines!
We stayed there only for around 20minutes and left by 3:00PM. We were in a rush because we were lagging behind in our schedule. There is a campsite around 5minutes trek descending from the summit in case you want to camp near the summit.
By 3:30PM, we were at a water source. We refilled our water bottles there as it was the only potable water source before the Lake Venado Campsite. After refilling the bottles, we descended. It was a steep and slippery descent. We arrived at the Lake Venado campsite by 5:00PM. I was surprised and delighted at the same time to see that our tents were already set up for us. The porters took care of it all for us. I realized that's why they were studying how we put up our tent yesterday. I was really humbled by their genuine kindness and service to us.
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| Credits to Tin for this photo |
The sun has not yet set down and the weather was good but the cold was already seeping through my skin. As our guide told us, Lake Venado will be colder than that in Tinikaran. He even said that he had an experience where his bag started to be drizzled with ice when it was left overnight, it was January at that time when that happened. I changed to my "winter clothes" and stayed inside the tent as it was really, really starting to get cold outside.
While our guide and porters were cooking outside, they kept on shouting in Bisaya, "Tugnaw!" which means "It's so cold!" I really got scared to go outside of the tent because they were locals themselves yet they are feeling cold! When they shouted, "Kainan na!!! which means "Time to eat!" I had no choice but to brave the cold and eat outside. I went out and it's like I'm inside the refrigerator. It was indeed cold. I hurriedly ate the food and talked only for a short while with the group then went back to my tent. I think they were drinking the night away to keep themselves warm but I already fell asleep.
During the night, I covered myself with two thermal foils to keep the heat and I was able to sleep well but my legs felt cold, well it's inevitable. The next morning, I couldn't move my legs. It was really aching. I realized I forgot to put ointment and massage it the night before. Now my leg muscles all feel so sore. I started to go outside to see the sunrise but realized it was too late for that. The sun was already up and above - it was already 6AM. It was still cold but bearable.
Day 3: The Descent
We just goofed around as usual and took lots of pictures. Lake Venado campsite is very picturesque by the way and we had the whole place to ourselves.
When it was around 8AM, we had breakfast and started to break camp. We left Lake Venado at 9AM
It was a grassy climb for the first 30 minutes and afterwards it will be a mossy forest trail. I am amazed by how huge the trees were in that forest. I haven't seen any trails with those huge trunks.
We were at the Century Tree by 11:30AM and left the place a little after a 15-minute rest.
I really enjoyed the trail during the descent. The scenic views, the plants, the garden of orange flowers and all. I even encountered a pitcher plant with a rat on it!!!
It was not an easy trail because I used all parts of my body to go through it especially when climbing through the trunks of trees but the view was worth it. Some parts of the trail required to descend and then ascend again after passing through a river. There was also a bridge where you had to cross very, very carefully or else you'll fall in a river.
There were some water source along the way but I guess the more potable ones were those after the Century Tree. We also passed by a campsite near a water source. Towards the end of the trail is a very, very steep descent - it was knee breaking.
We arrived at Sitio Colan around 3PM, tired and exhausted but with a sense of accomplishment knowing that we have achieved our goal - that is to see the beauty and reach the highest peak of the Philippines, Mount Apo.
Notes:
1. You will need to check in all metallic items at the airport
2. Get enough water from Sitio Tumpis that will last until you have descended from the summit
3. Wear proper attire so as not to burn your skin in the boulders trail which is an open trail
4. You may opt to bring cover for your nose against the sulfur vents in the boulder trail
5. Bring a packed lunch on your second day that you will eat at Boracay before heading to the Summit Assault.
6. Climb at a steady pace, if you suddenly feel light-headed or experience headache. But the best thing to do is to take some rest and acclimatize with the higher altitude. It's not good to have Acute Mountain Sickness.
7. Prepare for the cold temperature at night. It's really, really cold.
8. Get enough water from the water source at the summit until you have descended to Sitio Colan because there is no potable water source in Lake Venado campsite
9. You have to be physically fit and mentally prepared for this climb.
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