We finished the 9-hour uphill hike at Mt. Tapulao! I thought l wouldn't make it! Really! First hour in the climb and I just wanted to go back! It was cold and raining and carrying a really heavy backpack! l think that's the first mountain l honestly wanted to give up. But maybe because our pace is actually fast. From an original hike of 12 hours in the itinerary, we finished it in 9 hours only and it was raining already! Grabe!
Let me start from the beginning. Six climbers were crazy enough to climb a mountain knowing (1) it was a 12-hr climb, (2) that you have to carry heavy backpacks because the weather is as cold as Mt. Pulag, and (3) that all weather forecasts showed rainy showers and thunder storms! Crazy indeed! l was already cold in the PLDT office as is. What more on top of the mountain, wet with a very heavy backpack? Especially when I'm usually a light-packer. I would have backed out if Abby did. I thought she was a sensible person, but I was wrong haha I just don't want to back out by myself haha
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| Victory Liner Caloocan Bus Terminal |
So we met up in Victory Liner caloocan to reach the 11 pm bus. After a 4hr disturbing bus ride, we reached lba, Zambales (PhP 342). We passed by 7-11 for breakfast and continued our tricycle ride to Palauig (450/tricycle/3pax). We started our trek at around 6am.
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| Arrived at the registration area |
It was a never ending trail of rocky road, there wasn't much cliff, just endless views of rocks,rocks,and more inclined rocks...
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| If we only knew that this is the view that we can see... |
After approximately 2-3 hours of rocks, we reached some forest part followed by another set of rocks then the swamp.
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| Never ending trail of rocks |
After 4 hrs, we reached the first water source. After approx 2 hrs,we reached the second water source where we had our lunch. It said 10 km, which basically means we're 2/3 into the trail! Yey! And so we thought...
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| 10-km mark (a lie, I tell you...) |
After about 2 more hours of rocky road, which actually became a stream and eventually a river trail because of the heavy rain, the trail became a series of orange (clay i think) path with some rocks.
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| clay path mixed with the river tral |
Eventually, we saw the sign saying 13 km... Meaning only 2 more km into the bunker! And eventually the first set of pine trees appeared.
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| First set of pine trees |
There were also some parts where there seemed to be some landslides. There wasn't much cliff and the path was very wide so it was still "safe" despite the weather.
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| land slide |
Eventually, we reached the 15 km mark! But where's the bunker? False hopes because there was about another 1km to the bunker! Hmph! It was the looongest 3km of my life! Knowing it's just nearby, I let them go way ahead haha (by this time, I was really missing Milcah and Ralph and all those other co-hikers who are slower than me haha).
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| 15-km mark... fake... |
By this time, the rain was also coming so hard that there was part of the trail that I have to wade in, knee-deep. I sort of started walking fast despite that I was really tired because it was scary and I was alone. Anyway, shortly after was the bunker. Finally!!
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| Still wet inside the bunker because of the holes in the roof |
We reached it shortly after 4 to 5 pm. We unpacked our wet things from our wet packs despite the so-called rain cover. Also despite my raincoat and rain trousers, I was still wet to the bone! It was all useless... Well, the raincoat helped against the wind.
We changed into dry clothes. By this time, my jacket was soaked. I just wore the REST of my dry clothes to keep myself warm. Then hid myself in my sleeping bag, which was very cozy against the rain pouring outside. I was awakened to quickly eat dinner.
I was in the top bunk and it was hard getting down because there were no stairs or stepping whatever. I just told abby to get me some 3 slices of spam. Then I went back to sleep. No more water, no bathroom routines. I was scared that once i get out, I'll be cold. I even thought that I may wake up in the middle of the night because of the cold. (Well, technically I woke up, but it was because of my sleeping position and my back hurt.)
I know that we're supposed to wake up early to go to the summit, etc but no. Hearing the rain drops outside made me to tired to get out of my comfortable sleeping bag. (Okay, so it was worth it to bring this really heavy backpack.) We got up around 7 am. Yes, that was the only climbing experience I had where I slept for 12 hours! Haha I know that we couldn't possibly go to the summit because we won't be seeing any Sea of Clouds or any view because we're
in the rain cloud.
After 24 hours of keeping it in, Abby and I finally peed! (Shucks, we hold it in for 25 hours! Tsk tsk... I wouldn't be surprised if we would have urine infection.) So we just had breakfast, break camp, and went on ahead. Since there was a time where the rain ceased or at least was light, Abby and I took pictures with the nearby water source and waterfalls. (This is the best view that we could get in this climb since there was no summit to see.)
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| Tapulao Mini Falls |
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| with the water source behind me |
On the way down, I know that we couldn't help
not getting wet because of the weather, but I just
cannot stand to wear my wet clothes from yesterday. So I just wore the clothes I slept in (I just made sure I have one set of dry clothes to change into when I board the bus), which was still dry. I put on a garbage bag over my dry clothes, then put on my moist cool jacket. Yep, learned that from Master Hiker Rein on Waterproofing 101. (Though I wished I learned of this yesterday when I needed as much dry clothes as possible.)
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| Six Crazy Climbers at Mt. Tapulao despite the Habagat Rain |
The downhill hike was
so easy! We only had 2-3 breaks on the way down, and you can actually trail run on your way down. (Though your knees will certainly
not thank you for it.) Though we did stop, where there was a wide break in the "river" trail and washed ourselves with the cool refreshing mountain water. (Haha! So basically all those water proofing ourselves was for naught.)
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| Yes, I have my thermal suit (with long sleeves and turtleneck) and dri-fit shirt with my leggings and shorts to protect myself from the cold... but I swam in the cool refreshing mountain water anyway |
Our downhill hike only took us 4 hours and 20 minutes! Almost 2x as the uphill! Whew! Though if you compared our time to the original itinerary, we were actually pretty fast. The average hiker can hike it uphill for 12 hours and downhill for 8 hours, but we did it in 9 hours uphill and 4 hours downhill. Yes... our pace was really fast. I'm not climbing with these people again if there was just the 6 of us! I'm not sure if I can take our pace that fast again! I'm only climbing if there are people who are slower than me! I mean, a more relaxed pace than me! Haha
Lessons learned to waterproof your things or to bring in cold, rainy climbs:
1. Bring extra ziplock bags and garbage bags. Put your valuables and gadgets in ziplock bags to waterproof them.
2. For your electrical gadgets, bring silicon gels to make sure the moisture will be absorbed. (Dada thought me this one. Apparently, he learned this lesson the hard way when his phone broke down. Thanks for the silicon gel.)
3. When sleeping, the moisture from the cold can get your things wet. Waterproof your things by putting surgical gloves over your dry knitted gloves, putting plastic and rubber band over your socks, and wrapping your sleeping bag in plastic. (This one is care of Deo from my Pulag experience.)
4. Rain covers are basically useless. Simply put a garbage bag inside your bag, then put your items inside. (Or use a large vacuum, compressed bag like I did so you can also compress your thick clothes and sleeping bag.)
5. Rain trousers made of ethylene something and rain coats are also useless if there is some heavy wind and heavy rain (I think it seeps through.) You can try trousers made out of PVC which is made of thicker materials. Another thing is you can wear a garbage bag (cut holes for the head and arms) over your jacket, so there's more waterproof protection. (I got this from Rein.)
6. I'm not sure how to waterproof your shoes or your socks, except to simply use waterproof socks (which I think is similar to the one used in scuba diving). This one I still have to test. I just thought of this one while I was there.
7. I think it would be a good idea to just have one set of clothes to be wet... Darn, but if you're a guy, I guess it would be a good idea to climb topless. But if you're a girl, just one set of dri-fit shirt and a pair of leggings would be enough. There is no need for additional jacket to cover yourself, because you'll get yourself drenched anyway.
8. Just make sure you have enough DRY clothes when you get up there. I suggest a thermal suit, normal shirt (which you can also use the next day when you hike downhill), another shirt (that you can wear after the climb), fleece jacket, and a thicker jacket. For my bottoms, I had shorts, leggings (which I used during the hike downhill), and a cotton-thick jogging pants (which I also used after climb).
9. They say Oil of Wintergreen or Salonpas will give you warmth. I haven't tried this one but apparently it works.
10. Drink alcohol! Haha I brough Mojito for this climb, but apparently, I didn't need it. :)
