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.
1 comment:
Haha Twin, that video is so funny...
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