Trailblazing Tinglayan Pt 4: End of Trail

When you look back at an adventure, how do you evaluate it? Part by part, or taken as a whole? Personally, I can honestly say that this adventure is one for the books!

(By the time this is posted, I will be in the middle of another adventure, which you’ll probably seen posted on this blog as well.)

(This is the last of a multi-part post series on Trailblazing Tinglayan 2014, the Mt. Mosimos Climb. Check out Parts 1, 2, and 3 of the series here, here, and here.)

Day 4, the last day of our Tinglayan adventure.

We woke up early so we could get an early start. After the soak at Aatungan the night before, we managed to catch a few hours sleep. We had breakfast, broke up camp, and took last minute photos of the waterfalls and the hotspring before heading back up to Tulgao West.

Going up, I could not help but be amazed at the steep path and terrain. I kept thinking, “THIS IS WHAT WE HIKED DOWN ON LAST NIGHT, IN THE DARK?! HO– SH–!”

At Sir Joseph’s, we repacked our gear once again, had another breakfast (you tend to lose count of the number of meals you have during the day when on a hike), said our goodbyes, and hiked towards the road where we will be hitching a ride on an Elf (or a truck, if you will), along with other locals heading to Poblacion. It was a 45-minute bumpy ride, and we arrived at Poblacion with a lot of time to spare before the bus heading to Bontoc came. We got our shirts, said our goodbyes to Sir Andrew, and set off.

4 of us rode up top of the bus, because we wanted to catch one last glimpse of leaving Kalinga behind.

Our last glimpses of Kalinga. For now.

We arrived in Bontoc at a little half past 12.

Sights of roadside Bontoc.

Dropped our stuff at the bus, grabbed a quick lunch, then headed for home – Benguet.

By this time, we were feeling the effects of hiking nonstop for more than 2 days. Going down an incline or a flight of stairs – even a tread – is painful. It actually felt like I just underwent countless rounds of Tabata training on my legs, doing nothing but lunges. Haha! Delicious pain, though. Very much so!

I, along with two others, went down at Poblacion, La Trinidad at around 7pm. Hung around for a bit pretending to chat when, to be honest, we were trying to test whether our legs can hold us – and our gear – up the rest of the way home.

It was a less-than-5 minutes walk to our house, and the family was just smirking whenever I moan and groan in pain.

But I smirk back. Because I accomplished and experienced something they DID NOT.

 

Final Thoughts

Major propz to everyone who made this possible. The organizers who made us feel welcome and who took care of everything, (including us, haha!), and to the warm and friendly people of Tinglayan, from barangays Poblacion to Luplupa, to Tulgao West, and the village of Balay. I came to this climb expecting to do nothing but hike and be with nature. What I experienced was so much more – a community immersion, a history and culture trip (of sorts), and an overall very enlightening experience.

I’ll be honest and say that there were misgivings when I was just planning to join this trip, although most of them are not by me but people around me, including my folks. I didn’t worry too much, though. For starters, I’m with people I actually know. The group is small and we are basically of the same (Igorot) ilk. And I was thirsting for adventure, so I looked for it.

And I got it. In spades.

Also a huge thanks to Edgar and Joseph for leading us, acting us our photographers, and generally putting up with us. A shoutout to Mary, Rou and Pen for doing the cooking. Forgive us, domesticity eludes us when it showered on the earth. This group is one of the best I’ve hiked with, mainly because I got to interact with everyone. Other climbs in the past had waaaaaay too many people, numbering to around a hundred, that socializing is really difficult for me.

Each stop, each place we went to in this trip is special, if not for the breathtaking scenery, then for the people, and the company. I also thank Lorie, Mark Eric and Janice for letting me tag along. Next time manen? Bakun Trio?

As expected in any trip/adventure, there are bound to be mishaps. This one had several, but none that wasn’t manageable or that we couldn’t rise above. Truth be told, I think these delays and mishaps added color to the whole experience, one that I’ll take pleasure in looking back on and reliving, again, and again… and again.

I look forward to the next mountain adventure~ Please make it soon!