Mt. Ulap is situated in Brgy. Ampucao, Itogon Benguet. It is one of the highest peaks in the Cordillera region with amazing flora and fauna. Because of its temperature, the trees, grass and flowers look so healthy making the mountain look gorgeous.
Location, How to Get Here, Our Travel to Itogon: Instead of a public vehicle, we chartered a van for our transportation to the North. 13 of us met at Crossing, including Rio, our Chinese visitor. From Manila to Baguio City took us six hours of travel so instead of getting bored, while on the road and the rains are dropping, it was filled with stories of our previous hikes.
We arrived in Baguio City past eleven in the morning. We had our breakfast/lunch at Emil Rose Restaurant. The ambiance inside Emil Rose Restaurant is amazing, no air conditioner but the temperature is cool, and the foods taste good and are served elegantly. After the sumptuous lunch, we continued traveling to Itogon, Benguet.
From Baguio to Itogon, Benguet is more than an hour travel, but was a bit challenging because the weather was unwell. The rain and the wind were strong and the roads were covered with fog making a zero visibility. It was past one in the afternoon when we arrive at the covered basketball court. Took a short break and processed the registration and guides.
The management did not authorize us to continue a day hike because of the bad weather condition. Instead, we set up a camp at the covered court, other groups followed, and started preparing our dinner. After dinner, we had our socials and rested at around two in the morning. Three-quarters of the basketball court is covered but the temperature is really cold.
Things to Remember: Height/Elevation (1,846 MASL), Trails, Campsite, and Difficulty: Woke up at five in the morning; prepared coffee, noodles, and bread with cheese for our breakfast. While having our Breakcamp, five familiar faces arrived, including our very own Iosif. The last time that we met Iosif was two years ago, during our Mount Mabilog hike, so it was a long long long chit-chat, while we were also preparing for our ascend.
Seven in the morning – we left the court. The first part was walking on an ascending concrete road, then followed by trekking. The terrain is clean, with grass on the ground, pine trees, and gorgeous flowers. The trail is considered gradual but our hike was a bit challenging because of the bad weather condition. The trails are wet, muddy, and slippery. The surroundings are also covered with thick fog making us to not to witness its natural beauty. The photos below will describe how the bad weather condition affected our hike.
The photo above was captured at the first camp. The area is wide and open, but was still covered with thick fog; rock balancing was also created to add art to the background. We waited for a few minutes at Camp 1 hoping for the weather to settle but no changes at all, so we continued ascending.
It took us almost two hours from Camp 1 to Gongal or the Camp 2. Upon arrival, there were hikers having their photo ops on top of the boulders. The same scenario, the area is covered with thick fog, the wind is strong and the rain drops are like blades slashing our skin because of its cold temperature. We stayed here for an hour and descent.
At exactly twelve noon, we reached Mt. Ulap jump-off. The same weather condition. Rested. Tidy up and left Itogon. Our next destination was Baguio City for our meryenda at Good Taste. We were all tired but while on the road, everyone was energetic especially when we talked about peanuts. May mga nahugasang peanuts, may dry na peanuts, may wet na peanuts, pero kahit kelan wala pa akong nakitang pa-horizontal na peanuts.
This is Batang Hamog Mountaineers' 6th Year Anniversary! I am happy to see these people again. Sabi ko nga: "kahit hindi matuloy ang akyat sa Mount Ugo, basta kasama ko ang mga indibidwal na ito, masaya na ako at hinding-hindi ko pag-sisisihan. Hangang sa susunod!"