We climbed Mount Pulag!

Mount Pulag is the second highest mountain in the Philippines, (Mount Apo is the highest). It is the highest mountain on the island of Luzon. Mount Pulag is 9,587 ft above sea level at the summit.

We woke up at 2:30 am, had coffee and bread with peanut butter and began our trek around 3:15am. I started out wearing my underarmor long-sleeve short, a t-shirt, three other long sleeved shirts, a fleece zip up, my rain jacket, my new North Face pants and a hat (Thank you Annie!). Within the first 10 minutes of hiking I was already so hot and regretting wearing so many layers. I peeled them off and carried them most of the rest of the way. We hiked up the mountain in the pitch black dark. There were a couple times that the moon came out but most of the time, we could just see by the light of our flashlights.

There are three different eco-systems that make up Mount Pulag. At the bottom is the Pine Forest, then the Mossy Forest and then the Grasslands. As we were entering the grasslands Dave had a potential cloud rat sighting. The Cloud Rat is an endangered species that live on Mount Pulag. It is the largest species of rat in the world.

We were hoping to make it to the summit to watch sunrise but we didn't make it in time. The sky started to lighten as we walked through the grasslands. It was really foggy and even with the light you couldn't see much.


Even though we didn't make it to the summit to see the sunrise, it was still so beautiful. We didn't really stop to watch it as we were pressing on hard to reach the summit as soon as we could, but we took some quick pictures and watched it as we walked.


We climbed up over many peaks not knowing when we would get to the summit. There were many times when our host sister, Augosta, who was leading the way told us "Ok this is the summit." I think this video says it all.....


The last push to the summit was tough and my legs wanted to just quit. We arrived at the summit at 6am, 2 hours and 45 minutes after we started. The view once we reached the top was incredible! When we first got up there, there were clouds coving most everything, and we couldn't see much other than the sunrise. This is what we saw.

I immediately put on the rest of my layers, as it was soooooo cold and windy at the summit. At that point I was SO glad that I had those extra layers to put on! It was definitely worth carrying them that whole way. Even with my layers it was so cold!

We ate breakfast of rice, sausage, and orange juice on the summit. It tasted really good, but my hands were freezing, which made it a little more difficult to use a spoon. Here is a picture of us on the summit with Vicar Matthew and Pastor Luis!


We stayed on the summit for about an hour and a half just looking out at the amazing view all around us. The clouds cleared after a little while and we could see many of the surrounding provinces. I can not even describe the beauty of that place. The pictures do not even do it justice. Aside from the wind, that was whipping around pretty good at the summit, it was so peaceful up there. Here is a picture of Dave and I at the summit of Mount Pulag.


A little after 7:30 we started back down the mountain. The hike down was very enjoyable. It was nice to be able to see where we were going without flashlights and everything was so beautiful. Hiking down wasn't as strenuous on the cardiovascular system but it was tough on the knees. At times I felt like we were running down the mountain.... That was fun! Here's a picture of us on the way down with (left to right) Pastor Luis, Augosta (our host sister) and Vicar Matthew.


We arrived back at the house we were staying a little before 10am, so less than two and a half hour hike back down. After a merienda (snack), all of us took a nice long nap! Hiking Mount Pulag was an amazing experience and I am so thankful that we got to do it.

traveling around the mountains!

****Laura (sister of David Peet), you should just read this because Dave won’t put in this kind of time….from Dave****

Before we left Baguio we packed down and left some things here at the seminary that we wouldn’t need to make our backpacks lighter for hiking. Dave emptied out his bag figuring out what he needed and we just had to try it….. So here I am inside Dave’s backpack.

I got all the way inside it all zipped and strapped up. The rest of the team wanted Dave to put me on his back and walk around our apartment at the seminary but we quickly decided that would be a bad idea!

Driving through the mountains we have seen some amazing views and to the people that live here it’s just a normal everyday thing. This is the view from the house we stayed at in Sinipsip. You can see the terraced fields. It’s pretty amazing to me that you can make crops grow on the side of a mountain with cliffs that seem like they go straight down.

When we were in Guinzadan in the province of Bauko, our host sister, Alarene, informed us that their town fiesta was going on and she wanted to take us to it. When we arrived at the fiesta, called Begnas di Bauko, we assumed that we were just going to observe the festivities; that we would just slip in and watch from the crowd. But as soon as we arrived a woman came running up to us welcoming us and asking us if we would sing a song for the battle of the bands. When we agreed to sing she rushed us up to the stage to sit in chairs up front. We received a welcome from the Municipal Secretary, Tom, as their special visitors from the U.S. We ended up singing 5 songs throughout the afternoon there, with Ua on an extremely out of tune guitar using a piece of a phone card as a pick. We also got to participate in some of the festivities. They did their native gong dance and the girls dragged Jenny and me out to dance too. The men walk around dancing and playing gongs and the women dance around in a line and circles with them. It’s a good thing Jenny and I had gotten a chance to practice this dance when we were in Tabuk. During the dance I unknowingly got engaged when I accepted a guy’s outstretched hand. Sorry Dave…. And uh, Mom and Dad there’s something I have to tell you…. Haha, thankfully the guy is already married and they don’t actually stick to that cultural tradition anymore. So here is a picture of Jenny and me dancing out in the middle of the square.

During the Begnas Luke got to attempt to catch a greased native pig with four other guys wearing native cultural attire. It is a piece of woven cloth which is wrapped around your waist and through your legs, looking like a combination of a diaper, a kilt, and a loin cloth. I would put a picture up but I don’t think Luke would be very happy with me. :)

We have been doing more hiking now that we are up in the mountains. We are realizing how out of shape we are and our lungs are relearning how to work hard again. It seems unreal at times looking out over the mountains as we hike around. This is picture of Dave in Catlubong looking out at the gorgeous view from the church.

They really take care of us girls here. At first I was really frustrated because it seemed like they thought because Jenny and I are girls we are weak, don’t like being outside and can’t handle much. While the boys were in the back of an open pick-up looking out at the amazing mountains Jenny and are were squished in the pick-up cab not able to see anything but the road in front of us. I knew I could handle being in the back of the truck just as well as the boys. I grew up loving being outside, climbing trees, running around and being active and there was never anything that I couldn’t do because I was a girl. I think that’s because I was kind of a Daddy’s girl playing sports and most of my friends when I was really little were boys. So recently I was a little salty when they would make Jenny and I sit in the front. I am really starting to appreciate how they take care of us girls though. It hit me when we were leaving Tawangan in a truck and Pastor Jerry opened up the cab door and said, “Here’s your throne. Haha.” It’s not that they think we are weak or can’t handle things, they just want the best for us and to make sure we are taken care of. I have really appreciated that when they have the boys from the church carry our big backpacks for us. In the last week, Pastor Jerry and Pastor Luis have been having the guys from the churches we go to carry all of our bags, including the boys’ bags and the instruments. It is their way of serving us. Pastor Luis explained that it’s what they have to offer to us and they want to help us even though we could carry them ourselves.

On Easter we were at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Tawangan, in the province of Benguet. The day before Easter and on Easter I missed home quite a bit, thinking about my family and how we usually celebrate Easter and home and my church. The Easter service here was very simple and I appreciated the simplicity of it, but there’s something about the familiarity of being home for Easter and singing, “Christ the Lord is risen today! Aaaaaaaalleluia!” We did a program for the congregation later in the afternoon on Easter and before the program they sang us a song to welcome us. It’s called “Welcome to the Family” and here are the lyrics.

As they were singing this song to us I started to feel much better. I still missed home but I found comfort in the fact that I am with my brothers and sisters in Christ, so I am with family. The program on Easter was a lot of fun and the people made us feel so welcome. Here’s a picture of us with the kids of St. Paul Lutheran Church.

These past two weeks we have spent with Pastor Luis and Pastor Jerry as our guides. They are two amazing pastors that have been so helpful and good companions. They translated many of our programs for us as we visited their many congregations. Both of them pastor over seven churches each, many of which they have to hike a long ways through the mountains to get to. They said that we have had a big impact on their ministry and encouraged them to keep going. Seeing their dedication to these congregations was inspiring to us as well. Pastor Luis and Pastor Jerry have known each other since high school and watching them interact is so much fun. We had some really good laughs with them. They both really made an effort to get to know each of us and that was really appreciated. We were only with Pastor Luis and Pastor Jerry for a couple weeks but it felt like so much longer because we got to know them so well. We already had to say goodbye to these guys, but we are hoping that we will be able to attend Pastor Jerry’s wedding on April 4th in Tinoc. Here’s a picture of us with (left to right) Vicar Matthew, Pastor Jerry, and Pastor Luis on Easter Sunday.



This is a picture of us with the people of Good News Lutheran Church where we did a program in Ballay in the province of Benguet. Our program was in conflict with a wedding in the neighboring town that many members went to, and the church was still full! I can’t imagine how many people would have been there if there was no conflict.

We are now back in Baguio, with time to rest. It is definitely needed, as we have been pushing it pretty hard these last couple weeks, with programs just about every day. Ua and Jenny are getting over colds, Dave and I are battling allergies and…well Luke is healthy. :) Our time in the Philippines is fleeting with only a few more programs left. It is going to be very hard to leave the Philippines. I am really going to miss the people here.

I can not believe we are cold!

*not all the pictures are working yet, I will try to get them up later
(written March 10, 2008)
We have enjoyed leading fellowship with youth at the different congregations that we have visited. It has been a little hard at first though, because they are painfully shy and won’t even respond when we say hi and ask them their name. After some songs and games they usually warm up to us and then I really enjoy talking with them. Here is a picture of the some of youth at the fellowship night in Sanchez Mira.

We got to do a program in Tabuk at Grace Lutheran Church, which is out in the middle of rice fields. On our way to the church, Pastor Luis got the van stuck, with one side of the wheels in a rice field.

It was a muddy walk the rest of the way to the church. When we got to the church, the members of the community did a cultural dance with gongs. They said it was a welcome dance to welcome us and to let the rest of the village know that we were there. It really worked. As soon as the people heard the gongs, they started coming from everywhere. They even got Ua, Jenny, and I to dance with them.

Also here’s a better picture of me playing the guitar during that program.

We have continued traveling through the mountain provinces. It is so beautiful up here. Pastor Luis from Tabuk traveled with us to Apayao, a remote village in the mountains. He also took us to a shop where they sell Kalinga cultural dress.


Jenny and Luke got to try them on.


Here we are in Apayao with Vicar Eric, Pastor Rolly, and Pastor Luis after the congregation presented us with Kalinga bead necklaces as a token of their love and thanks. Pastor Luis has a daughter that lives in St. Paul, MN about 10 minutes from my house and he visits her there! His granddaughter takes swimming lessons at Como Park Pool, where I took swimming lessons when I was little! It was fun to make connections with him, talking about things around home. Hopefully we will see him again sometime when he is visiting his daughter.
This is a picture of a sign for a dentist. I saw it and thought of my mom, so this is for you mom!

When we were in Baay, Baglin, La Union, at the church where Pastor Rolly is serving, we got to be part of a wedding. We were asked to sing a song after the sermon. While we were waiting for the wedding to start one of the ladies came running over to us to ask if any of us knew how to play the wedding march on the keyboard. Before all of us could look at Dave, someone told her that they had found someone. Dave was relieved but then she came back saying that the person had refused. She asked Dave to play anything on the keyboard, even if he didn’t know the wedding march. Then the keyboard didn’t work so it turned into the five of us singing “This is the Day” as the wedding party marched down the isle. :) They asked us again near the end of the wedding to sing another song, so all together we sang three. We also got to go to the wedding reception.

When we first arrived at the home we were staying in in Baay, there was a little girl with a pet baby owl! It was less than a month old. It was so little and soft, and so calm. I have never seen an owl that close. So here is the pet owl on my shoulder!

Also while we were at Baay we lead a fellowship for the youth, a puppet making workshop and sang during Sunday morning worship.

I met three little friends that I first met as they were peeking into the windows of the parsonage, where we were sitting. Shaina Mar, Archie Lynn, and Lynn Sunshine were all around three years old and so much fun to play with. The only English they knew was “Hello!” so every time they saw me they would yell “Hello!” over and over again, waving wildly. I found out the day that we left that they also knew how to say “Good morning!” so we said “Good morning" to each other over and over again, even though it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
We are now in Baguio City. It is up in the mountains, in the highland district on the island of Luzon. As we were driving up into the city I was amazed by all the houses built on the side of the mountains. There are so many of them! We saw lots of parks with open spaces and pine trees! Getting out of the van at the Lutheran Seminary, where we are staying, we all kind of felt like we were at camp. It is so much cooler here as well! Up until the last couple weeks, the coolest it has gotten has been about 84 degrees Fahrenheit (at night) and yesterday it was 68 degrees out. It felt so refreshing and cool and the air here is so fresh. Last night we walked to the SM mall about 15 minutes away. It was drizzling and cool so I wore my fleece with my rain jacket over it. I also wore the hat that Annie gave me to bring on the trip for the cooler weather! I don’t think I actually needed the hat; I just wore it because I could.
At the mall we bought some groceries and went to a coffee shop that stays open late, for our team outing. They also had wireless internet, so it was nice to be able to check e-mail and all of that. Being in the mountains we haven’t had as much access to the internet, so with lots of time between entries I feel like each blog I write is like a book….so long!
It felt good to walk last night, as we haven’t been doing much of that lately. We have an upcoming 3 hour hike that I am a little nervous about. We are able to pack down and leave some things at the Seminary until the end of March, so I guess that will be more incentive for me not to pack as much.

The mountains are beautiful and I think that is one thing that I am going to miss when I go home. It is so beautiful to look out and be able to see the mountains and the ocean! It has also been fun being in Baguio with all the pine trees. It reminds me of home!
We will be traveling around in the mountains until the end of the month. It looks like we will be back in Baguio on March 27th. This might be the only update until then, as it looks like we won't have much internet access.
We only have about one more month in the Philippines before we head to Taiwan for a few weeks. The time is going so fast and I can’t believe we have been here this long! Hope all is well at home!