Christmas Day has passed, everyone! How did you spend it? I hope you had a good and meaningful Christmas, with the people who matter. I had a restful one, thank you for asking, and with the family, too, so all’s well! And it looks like this blog, too, had a bit of a rest period. And before the year is over, imma shake it up a bit! This time, with a series of posts about my last major climb/trek for 2015, in Tacadang, Kibungan.
Since early last year, I kept hearing about the barangay of Tacadang in Kibungan, one of the 13 municipalities of Benguet. Well, even before that, I was aware of Kibungan and her “rocky wall of beauties”, and some of my friends and climber-acquaintances have done the “Kibungan Circuit“, or climbing these rocky peaks. Tacadang, on the other hand, is a separate area from the usual “circuit” route or itinerary.
So we’ve been hearing about how “challenging” Tacadang is, and how there were precarious areas to walk (or cling) on. It was scary, to say the least, but when the opportunity arose and my friends and I got an invite, we grabbed it. Little did we know what lay ahead of us.
Sounds ominous? Not really. But let me just say that this is certainly one of my most memorable climbs/hikes.
I’m going to try something different for this post. You see, as I was going through the photos, I realized that there’s too many that I want to include, but I did not want my post to be too image-heavy (I try to limit to a max of 40 photos in one post, see) because I don’t wanna mess with anyone’s bandwidth. So what I will do is try to document the whole challenge via time stamps. Let’s hope I don’t bungle things up.
The usual way would be for me to split the post according to the actual number of days. So you’d think there’d be two parts for this adventure? Think again. The amount of photos won’t allow it. I won’t allow it. So I think this is going to reach 3 posts. 4 posts, max. I’ll see.
Dislaimer: All photos are taken by me, unless otherwise indicated in the photos themselves.
The Tacadang Travel Challenge: “A Climb to Experience” was organized by the Kibungan Mountain Guides & Porters Organization, the Municipal Government of Kibungan and the Provincial Government of Benguet. It was conducted last November 7 and 8, 2015, before the Adivay celebration (Benguet’s founding anniversary) was in full swing. Fee per participant was Php 1,500.00 and it covered most of the meals, environmental and guide fees.
Assembly was at the Benguet Provincial Capitol early in the morning, and it came as a pleasant surprise when we realized that all the participants were from the Baguio-Benguet area, and that there were no strangers, because many were already acquainted, from past climbs and adventures. The focal person of the Challenge, Sir ChaRo, was there to welcome us and brief us.
DAY 1.
6:00 AM, we set off. There were 23-25 of us (I can’t be sure of the exact count) and two vehicles. Three of us decided to go gung-ho and ride topload. I wouldn’t say it was the best idea because (a) it was early in the morning, and quite chilly and the wind was… whoa, no joke, and (b) it was more than an hour to our first stop. Still, I had a blast, because I’m weird like that.
7:30 AM, we arrived at a small roadside eatery in Taba-ao, Kapangan. Here, we had lunch and picked up our packed lunch for later. It was quite a hearty meal, and I kinda forgot how tasty the home-cooked meals in these roadside places can be. I also happen to have some distant relatives and cousins in Taba-ao, and it’s been a while since I paid a visit to this place.
8:00 AM, we went back on the road. We stuck to our guns and still rode topside. This time, because the chill wasn’t too…err, chilly… and we wanted a full view of Mt. Dakiwagan or Santa Claus Mountain (if you remember, I talked about it in my Christmas ed Kapangan series here and here). We weren’t disappointed.
9:40 AM, we arrived at the Town Hall of Kibungan, where we filled up our registration forms and waivers, and paid the fees. Porters may also be hired. Our group just lightened our individual loads and placed them in one hugeass bag, for one porter to carry, and we decided to just split the porter fee (Php1,000 per day, if I’m not mistaken, and max of 25 kilos). We also got our climb shirts, had a round of introductions, then another briefing.
10:10 AM, we left the Town Hall for a ride to the jump-off point. We walked a little part of the way and had to transfer because of a road cut that is undergoing construction, no thanks to Typhoon Lando, which whipped the area a week ago.
11:25 AM, we finally arrived at the Tanap Jump-Off. Some of us decided to have an early lunch and made quick work of our packed lunches (also to lighten the load). By this time, it was already scorching hoooot.
11:45 AM, we started the hike. The first leg was a leisurely walk through ricefields… and looking up mountains which, it turns out, were the ones we’re going to climb a little later. Phew. The Tanap Rice Terraces, everyone.
12:00 NN, we arrived at the first of so many steel hanging foot bridges for the entire two days. This is the Tanap-Abas Hanging Footbridge.
Past the bridge, we came upon the Abas Community, where the others who didn’t have lunch before, finally decided to have theirs. Then we pushed on.
12:25 PM, we started taking the trail from Abas to the Buga E-Camp. This also marks the start of the “proper” climb. And by “proper”, I meant “it’s all uphill from here”.
One of the more satisfying parts about going up, is being able to look back down, and go “oooooh~” at the fact that, several minutes ago, you were down there, and now you’re up here.
This leg of the climb was not particularly difficult. There was a proper trail, after all. What made it arduous, I suppose, was the heat of the sun. It was midday, after all, and the sun was so high and blasting its heat away. There was also relatively little shade, so imagine our relief whenever we come across some pine trees, where we could get some momentary shield from the sun.
The view, though. It’s so easy to just stop and take it all in, take pictures when you could, breathe in the air, and then be reminded that you have to continue going.
And I could not help but go, “dayummmm, we were on those roads a few hours ago!!”
1:20 PM, we came upon this ridge. This was the first in about half an hour that we can get some shield from the sun, so we made the most of it.
Kudos to the local government for installing these rails and making the trail slightly hiking-friendly. Granted, hikers may not have been their priority when they set these up, because this was a regular route for the locals who have to go to and from town for their supplies.
Let’s just say that if you have a bad case of vertigo, you might want to be extra careful. The rails being there did not stop me from feeling slightly woozy. And no, I don’t have vertigo.
I put my hats off to the ones who went ahead. They were so fasssssst~ I suppose it’s because they are already seasoned climbers (they eat mountains for breakfast, I suppose). But I just cannot push myself to be so fast because I have to take pictures. I have to take a breath. I have to stop and check out the view. I have to stop and… take another breath. Yeah. There’s so many things to do!
2:15 PM, we’re at the Abas Pine Tree Rest Stop. We saw some signs of campfire, which is a bit sad, because whoever camped here did not take good enough care to dispose off their trash properly. I suppose some find it too troublesome?
2:30 PM, we arrived at this other peak, kinda like a Pass, with how it’s shaped. If I’m not mistaken, this is the Palpalayen rest stop.
It is during this climb that I grew to really appreciate the importance of water. And I already deem it to be essential! But on this one, if I could just continuously chug it down, I would! It was so darn hot, even if it was already close to 3pm! It literally felt like we were climbing up closer to the sun~
But I find it amazing how all that becomes inconsequential, especially when you spot a great view, or see the fog coming in, or share a few laughs with others who are as exhausted as you are.
3:00 PM, we finally arrived at the Buga Camp Site. Nope, unfortunately, this is not our final stop. We have to cross another couple of peaks. Phew!
Finally managed to loop in Sir ChaRo for a photo with us. 🙂 A bit down the bend were a couple of houses (empty, it seems, because there was no one around except a couple of mutts) where we refilled our water bottles and (someone) took a nap. We spent around 45 minutes here! Yeah, we admit it. We were dead tired.
The day is not over yet. Actually, we were supposed to have started off an hour earlier (5:00 AM) but we weren’t able to keep to the schedule. And the heat of the sun did not help with our pace. Not that I was complaining too much; this is way better than if it were to rain. Just sayin’.
I will continue this in another post. See ya then!