The Backpacking Ballerina

Mt. Pulag is currently recorded as the second highest mountain in Luzon. I was really nervous to try this trail out because to be honest hiking is not really my thing and I was born a city girl who is in love with adventure. We got our hiking package again with TRAILADVENTOURS, and we spent a total of about 5k including everything such as food, tents, sleeping bags and pasalubong. The package itself was 4100, but since we hired a porter and borrowed the tents we spent a little more.

It took about a 6 hour bus ride to get to Baguio and then another 3 hour jeep ride to get to the jump off point to start the trek. Then we hiked for about 3 hours to get to our campsite. I would really recommend this to anyone who is looking for a short weekend trip out of town. Not only is it great exercise but you wont really get as tired because the mountain itself is full of trees and it was really cold. So it was easy to hike up the mountain, your challenge would just be the steep pathways. There are three routes and of course we chose the easiest route, the harder routes would take about 2-3 days of dangerous trails to climb. And is recommended for the more experienced hikers as there are leeches and such in the more difficult trails.

Once you get to the campsite you will be led to your tent and you will be able to rest for the rest of the evening. Lights are out at 9pm after eating dinner. There is a new restroom here up in the mountain, Although if you ask me I think you should just dig a hole and poop somewhere in the middle of the night as it is so dark and muddy you might just die trying to get to the restroom.

We woke up the next day at 3am and began our climb to the summit of Mt.Pulag. It was such a beautiful and rewarding experience! It took us about a total of 1 and a half hours to get to the summit and then we drank a little coffee waiting for the sunrise. Unfortunately we went here on June during the rainy season. As it is chilly up in the mountain and rainy we were not able to see the sunrise and the famous sea of clouds over Mt. Pulag. Nonetheless it was a breathtaking view! Afterwards we just packed up and went back down, packed our tents and headed for home.

NOTE: It is pretty cold if you are not used to the cold. It would be best  to bring a fleece jacket, gloves a neck warmer and bonnet. Bring tons of warm socks as well. It is more of the wind that you are fighting and not so much the cold. Especially around 3am It was pretty windy. And don’t forget your flashlights!

TOUR PACKAGE: Trail Adventours check out their facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/TrailAdventours