Mt. Ugo Traverse
Cordillera never fails to amaze me. This region has many to offer for the wanderer in you. From sea of clouds to grand pine forest to exhilarating ridges. There are many times that I am tempted to leave my city life and just settle here for good. For this blog, I will introduce to you a mountain that we had climbed last October 2017.
Here is the story of our climb to Mt. Ugo. The climb was organized by Ms. Rea Hagape of Team Aligaga. There are 13 of us in the group, and one guide. Date of the climb - October 21 - 22, 2017.
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| The lucky 13 of Team Aligaga (blogger, Venz, Rosh, Rea, Aldrine, MJ, Jospeh, Darren, Enrico, Ronniel, Marina, Benjie, Marinel) |
Fast Facts
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| Kayapa Town Hall |
Elevation: 2,220 MASL
Location: At the border of Bengeut and Nueva Vizcaya
Jum-off Points: Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya and Tinongdan, Itogon, Benguet
Trail description: Forested trail, open trail, ridges, pine forest
Special Concern/s? You have to secure a guide before your climb, otherwise you will not be permitted to enter the mountain
River Crossing? None
Rope Segment? None
Tale of the Trail
The entire trail can be divided into three segments. It features high altitude and pine forest, mountain communities, open trail, ridge walk, rice fields, and hanging bridge.
First Segment
The first segment was from the jump-off to Indupit Village. This trail ensues a continuous gradual to steep assault for about 3 - 4 hours. We started walking at around 9:00 AM. The trail was mostly covered by trees so sun exposure is minimal. However, this makes this segment humid and kind of lacking view. For me, this is the most tiring phase of the climb, despite having cover and established "steps". Like in every forest, it was humid and hot all the way.
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| Continuous assault to Indupit Village |
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| The team taking five, few minutes before reaching Indupit Village |
We took a breather every 20 minutes. After the first hour, the line was already stretched with the sweeper no longer in sight of the lead. The team was further divided into two as the time and temperature progressed. We reached Indupit Village at exactly noon. Indupit Village is a mountain community where you can replenish supply.
We had our lunch and first "socials" here while we wait for the second team to arrive. We did not have time to chat before the climb so we took this opportunity to know each other. Electricity is still present in this place so you can still enjoy ice cold drinks here. But enjoy it while it lasts, because after this stop, the longest segment will follow.
Second Trail
The second segment is about 6 - 7 hours of long, winding, open trail. This trail connects Indupit Village, passing through Domolpos Village to the main campsite. The trail is open and wide. Good thing the weather was cloudy when we hiked, so we were able to avoid the scorching heat of the sun. The trail is actually wild and flat that, according to our guide, some cars could manage it. This winding trail follows the side of the mountain for many kilometers.
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| The second segment of the trail. So flat and wide |
The spectacular view is enough to keep you going despite the many kilometers ahead of you.
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| Majestic View |
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| New Zealand Feels |
This is my favorite part of the climb. It was so relaxing with the cold Cordillera wind blowing to your face and body and the stunning view of the mountain range captivating your eyes. The conversations during this part is very minimal as everyone is now in full "communion in nature-mode".
The clouds started to descent at around 4PM. This reduced the visibility to just about a 10-meter radius. We quickened our pace by that time because we were worried that it might rain. We reached the boundary of Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet at around 4:30 PM.
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| No more view for us. |
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| This small stone marker serves as the boundary of N. Vizcaya and Benguet |
We reached the foot of the final assault at around 5:30 PM. We breezed through the last kilometers as the darkness is now slowly catching up to us. We radioed to the second team but the reception was now sporadic so we decided to have a compression stop instead. After 30 minutes or so, the sun was fully set when the guide asked us to decide whether we will continue on to the main campsite, meaning we will have to do a night trek, or to cut the trek short by setting up in the emergency camp. Before we made the decision, the second team finally arrived. After a consensus, we agreed to continue on as spending the night at the e-camp means longer trek in the morning.
We shouldered on, braved the dark trails and tapped to our final reserves for the final push. It took us more than an hour to get past the last hurdle! The trail was steep and narrow but still, our spirit was high as we can now hear people. We almost broke into a run when we finally saw the lights of the campsite. We reached the campsite after an hour and twenty minutes of continuous assault. But there is no rest for everyone. Tasks were divided, and we quickly got down to business. We wolfed down our dinner and immediately took our rest as a preparation for tomorrow.
But for me, as hardheaded as I am, I went out of my tent to watch the milky way. Without the light pollution, you can actually see the majesty of the stars. Too bad, I do not have the right equipment to capture such.
Sunrise atop Mt. Ugo
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| The majestic sea of clouds |
A difficult road leads to a beautiful destination. Now, I fully appreciate the meaning of that quote. Every difficulty that we'd faced was now forgotten.
I was eager to witness the sunrise. That's probably the reason why I woke up so early at around 4:30 AM. Everyone was still asleep so I continued my star watching for few more minutes. One tent after the another, people started stirring. By 5 AM, the campsite was already buzzing with activities, as each group are now starting to prepare their own breakfast.
Finally, the sun rises in the east, and we, the eager creatures caught the glimpse of it. And it was spectacular.
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| HERE COMES THE SUN! |
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| Girl Power featuring Ms. Venz and Ms. Rosh |
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| Venz, Nescafe Model |
The sea of clouds was just majestic. It was an amazing scene, watching the clouds slowly creeping above the land below. The weather has been so good to us, that after we've eaten and packed our things, the sea of clouds was still there in the horizon.
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| 8 AM and the sea of clouds in still there. |
Assault to Summit
The summit is just a 20-minute hike from the main campsite. The trail to the summit is just a gradual ascent so no need to worry. It was a bit of a race to the summit, since there are also other groups eager to be at the top. Luckily, our team reached the summit before the bulk of the climbers.
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| Point towards the direction of your dreams. |
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| The blogger, Venz and Rosh |
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| The Plane crash marker |
Mt. Ugo had witnessed a tragic event in the 80's when an airplane crash just 100 feet below the summit.
The Descent
Going up is optional, but going down is mandatory. Unless you want to be a mountain hermit. The trail going down is the third segment of the climb. The length of this leg is whopping 15 kilometers, with some steep descents, ridge walk, passing by communities, and hanging bridge.
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| Start of the descent |
The initial segment of this leg is a quite steep descent with some parts with an inclination of 65-70 degrees. Be careful as you will be surrounded by tall grasses which can cause paper cut. I fell victim to one when I slipped and accidentally grab hold to the grasses. I cut my both of my hands in different places. It was painful as hell so I immediately wore my gloves until I reached the pine forest.
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| The summit , seen from the pine forest |
After the grassy part, you will enter a pine forest. From here, you can clearly see where you came from. The pine forest starts from KM 14 to KM 1. The ascent will be very minimal but the pressure of going down will surely be brutal to your knees.
There are multiple water sources along the trail, at KM 10, KM 7, and KM 3. You can replenish your empty water bladders or bottles along the way.
The Cow Incident
We've just passed by the KM 5 marker when we heard frantic voices at the tail of the group. Upon seeing, we saw that a cow was "chasing" the people at the end of the line. The cow was aggressively moving forward and making all kinds of noises. This gave us more motivation to hasten our progress. I think we were sharing the trail with the cow, and it decided to give us a boost. Nice one cow! We tried taking a video of it but the cow broke into a trot and so did we.
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| Ayun si baka sa likod! Ms. Rosh running away. |
We had our lunch in a community located at KM 7. It serves as the last major stop for the people going down Mt. Ugo. A store is in place, where you can have a sugar boost from soft drinks. However, they do not sell bottled water here, but you can replenish your supply in a faucet for free.
We stayed at KM 7 for about an hour since we were waiting for the second group to arrive. Another perk here is that they have a fully functioning toilets here. Everyone took the call, if you know what I mean, while we were here.
After an hour, the second group reached our position so we decided to continue on.
Final Stretch
It was now late afternoon and the downhill trek had already taken its toll. Many of us now experience some extent of discomfort. MJ and I were already wincing from knee pain. This slowed our pace for a bit. Luckily, Ms. Venz had her pain killers with her which we took gratefully.
We passed by a palamig store at KM 3. We took a 5-minute rest which turned into many more minutes. The cold juice running down your throat was so satisfying. Finally, the second group broke radio silence after a while. They reported that they are only trailing us for about 30 minutes. We were advised not to wait but instead to proceed and just meet them at KM 0.
Again, we shouldered our packs and made our way to KM 0. From this point to the end of the trail, the view continued to amaze us. You will pass by a community, a rice field and finally cross the Agno River via a hanging bridge.
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| Agno River |
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| Walking down the rice field, everyone is just so happy |
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| Crossing the Animal Petican Bridge. Crossing it finally concludes our Mt. Ugo Traverse |
Crossing the Hanging Bridge means that our Mt. Ugo was finally concluded. Our chartered van was already waiting for us at the end of the trail.
It took us a total of 20 hours of walking, a few pops of painkillers, numerous cuts and bumps and two provinces later, we've made it. It was worth all the effort. I will definitely go back here despite every difficulty that we had experienced.
Tips
- Water sources. Since there are numerous water sources along the way, it is wise not to burden your bag with too much water since you can replenish along the way. Just make sure that your stomach is not that sensitive.
- Temperature in Mt. Ugo can be as freezing like that of Mt. Pulag. Be ready with your weather attire.
- Bring painkillers. Pop a pill, before you pop a knee. The long downhill trek can cause severe knee aches.
- For the sake of everyone, if you are not a\harkor or an experienced climber, be advised that if you decide to start your climb from Tinongdan to Kayapa, it will ensue a 15- 16 kilometers of continuous assault.
- The rest are self-explanatory like LNT, bringing all the necessary equipment and yadda, yadda, yadda. You're a big boy/girl. You know what to bring, okay?
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