Originally, we planned to wake up as early as 4:00am because of the agreement we made with the local guide that will take us to Mt. Apo summit via Tinikaran trail. Unfortunately, the soundest sleep I had for the past 3 days came at Tumpis. The alarm I set on my phone wasn't too loud to wake me and my climb buddy up to dreamland.
 |
| The morning view at Tumpis village. What a beauty! |
Good thing that the guide was still not awake when we started fixing ourselves. We were almost done preparing our packed lunch when my climb buddy decided to wake up the guide at the nearby house.
After a quick discussion on today's itinerary, we said our thank you's to Sir Judy and her wife and hit the muddy trails of Tinikaran. Time check 6:35am.
 |
| The blogger, Sir Judy and King |
As usual, the weather was still not hike-friendly. Luckily, the rain wasn't pouring hard so the trail was manageable and not so muddy as we progressed on our assault.
An unfamiliar smell passed through me. It was irritating and weird. According to our guide, it was the sulfur from the vents at the boulders. Seriously?! Can the sulfur smell travel that far? And that strong?
 |
| Boulder as seen from Tumpis Village. |
It was around 8:50am when we reached Camp 2 of Tinikaran trail. We took a 5-minute rest before proceeding again.
 |
| Old and rusty signage of Tinikaran trail. |
 |
| The blogger at Camp 2 of Tinikaran trail. |
 |
| King (climb buddy) and Jerrson (guide) |
After 15 minutes, we arrived at a 'dead' (don't know what to call it :)) stream with off white sands and big rocks covered with moss signaling our arrival at the boulder's entrance. We are almost there....
 |
| The 'dead' stream before the boulders |
 |
| Can't help it....nice background? |
Of course, we took time in taking pictures of the unfolding beauty of the boulders while continuously ascending it's elaborate trails. We even get to eat wild berries along the way.
 |
| Wild berries at the boulders |
 |
| A rare moment when fog suddenly cleared up |
Then suddenly, the wind started blowing giving us chills as we continue to take pictures. The sun was still nowhere to be found and the fog was beginning to join us.
 |
| bad weather messing my pic with sulfur deposits |
 |
| Sulfur vents at the boulders. |
With that, I put my dslr inside my jacket and hurriedly but carefully passed boulders from boulders. The rain then started to join the strong winds. Flapping my jacket and gently swaying us back and forth while we look for trail signs that's harder to see due to the fog that the rain and wind created.
It was terribly cold and all I can think about was hot coffee and a good smoke waiting for me at the summit. Silly as it may seemed but that was my motivation at that time. Then after more than 2 hours of assaulting boulders, we saw these. It was a relief!
 |
| Group of mountaineers at boulders campsite. |
After reaching this, we decided to rest for a bit and have a quick lunch before proceeding to the summit. We resumed trek at around 11:35 and braced ourselves again to the chilling cold of Mt. Apo summit.
 |
| Rainfall-filled crater....chilling. |
The faint view of the crater was on my right side and at my back was the so called 'white sand' area of Mt. Apo. Surely, this would have been more than captivating if not for the strong winds and rain blocking the view.
Time check 11:48am. Location : Mt. Apo summit. Finally, I said. I made it...WE made it!
 |
| The blogger at Mt. Apo summit. |
Eventhough the view was nowhere to be found, I took a minute or 2 to grab my phone and flashed a victorious smile. Hell, yeah! Not even a very bad weather could dampen my spirit. Not this time.
After the brief picture taking at the summit, we hurriedly descended to the 'flooded' campsite (more like a ghost town). Not a single person or tent were in sight. Just the 3 of us looking for a place where we could rest for a bit. From there it's just going to be the two of us, me and King. Jerrson left right after I settled the guide fee. It was 'good luck' for both of us, me with King down to Lake Venado and Jerrson back to Tumpis.
 |
| At Mt. Apo campsite with one of the peaks. |
By 12:20pm, we were on our way again. With a much heavier load, we continuously descended the muddy and slippery trail down to Lake Venado. From here forth no pictures were taken thus no time estimates were recorded of arrival at Lake Venado (that's where I base all my itineraries, for your information).
We were greeted by a flooded and ghost-town like at Lake Venado. The vast flat open ground was creepy. Not the mention the chills I was feeling due to the bad weather. We didn't stop until we've reached the forest area where Magpet and Kidapawan trail meet.
In between steps, we were discussing our next plan. As we're wrapping up our plan on which way to take, we're again faced with another closed trail. Mainit trail if my memory serves me right. With that, we have no other choice but to take the Ko-Ong trail. We arrived at the campsite 10 minutes before 4pm.
As I counted the hours we've trekked, I decided that it's rest time for us. My knees were shaking pretty bad. No injuries but tired. Unimaginably tired....
Here's the detailed itinerary for your reference.
DAY 4
0500 wakeup call
0530 prep breakfast.
0600 breakfast. Break camp.
0635 start trek via Tinikaran trail
0850 eta campsite. Take 5.
0905 eta stream assault to boulders
1115 eta camping area before summit. Early lunch.
1135 resume trek.
1148 eta Apo summit. Take pic.
1150 start descent. Super bad weather.
1200 eta Apo campsite. Rest.
1220 resume trek to Lake Venado
Eta lake Venado
1550 Eta camp Ko-Ong. Pitch tent.
1630 prepare dinner.
1900 lights out.
Watch out for the concluding Day 5 adventure of my Megatraverse trip.
Till then.
No comments:
Post a Comment