DAY ONE: HIKE TO DOMOLPOS It took us 6 Hours to reach the Community School of Domolpos, Nueva Viscaya side. The trek was not easy as we ascend through lushforest going to Hindupit. From Hindupit we discovered that there's a road being developed. Thanks to our guides and 4 porters who helped us carry all the heavy loads. We stayed at the Community School for the night but the highlight is the FREEZING COLD weather matched with strong winds. Can't Sleep but we had the best camp dinner ever...!!! DAY TWO: ASSAULT TO SUMMIT We started our day having Eggs Benedict, coffee and corned beef omelet. Truly a great breakfast experience at this altitude. We resumed our trek at around 12nn and reached the summit of Mt. Ugo at 2:00pm. We stayed there for a while for picture taking and met some hikers coming from the other side (Itogon). We must reach the Losod Community School before dark. There's no clearing anyways so we resumed our descent after an hour. Losod Community School is 2 hrs away and we made it there by 5pm. It's time to cook Pansit Chami with chicharon for dinner. Racquel and Sam had a ghost encounter seeing mysterious objects coming from the cemetery. They were terrified but made us laugh all night! DAY THREE: THE LONG & WINDING TRAIL TO ITOGON The experience was surreal. This time we were joined by kuya Ramse who happens to be the President of Mt. Ugo Guides Association. But before that, we had French Toast for breakfast and coffee. We took our time and resumed our descent at 9:30am. Our guide said that it's 7km down to Itogon jump off or should I say another 2hrs of fast paced trekking. We managed the nail killing descent and reached the monkey bridge for the much anticipated photo ops. Our transpo is waiting at the main road and we went straight to the Barangay Hall where we received a very warm welcome from the staff of the Barangay. They served us food (Native Boar) and soup plus free Mountain Brewed Coffee that made our day complete before leaving for Baguio. Special thanks to our guides; Ma'am Liza Petten Gacoscos-Diase for assisting us with Transept and Guides. Thanks to Sir Ramse and Dindo and our porters for the patience and strength you've shown us. Thanks to Barangay Kap and staff for the warm welcome and for extending their services and hospitality to us. We really appreciate the experience. We shall go home full of good memories. MT. UGO TRAVERSE ITINERARY IN PHOTO DAY 1 / THURSDAY 4:00am to 6:00am: Disembarked at CCQ - Aritao Station & proceed to Kayapa Town Hall. Register at the Police station. we started trekking at around 7:00am. As per Town Ordinance, smoking is strictly prohibited in Kayapa. Violators are fined up to Php5,000. So to avoid hassles and delays, please be mindful of this ordinance. We also met our guides here including our porters. According to Sir Ramse (President of Mt. Ugo Guides Association) Guide fee is pegged at Php400 per guide per 8pax. Porter's fees is also the same. No registration fees needed in this side of town. Just log in your names at the police station and proceed. ETA Domolpos at around 3:00pm and our guide assigned a room for us. Drinking water is available and theres decent comfort room for mountaineers within the School Ground. You must bring layering clothing as it may get very very cold as the night approaches. DAY 2 / FRIDAY Team PNMS started the assault to summit at 1:00pm. We really took our time at the Domolpos School to enjoy the scenery and of course...food trip! We reached the summit by 3:00pm while our porters took the shortcut to Losod...our next stop. We stayed at the summit for an hour and resumed our trek down to Barangay Losod where we are spending the night. ETA Losod Community School at 5:30pm DAY 3 / SATURDAY The team woke up early this time in preparation for the long way down to Barangay Tinongdan, Itogon, Benguet. We resumed trek at 9:00am and reached the finish line by 1:00pm. It was hot this time but a stop at one of the sari-sari store made our day as we refreshed ourselves with a couple of bottle of Soda drinks and ice. The jeepney just arrived moments after then we proceed to the Barangay Hall. We were all surprised by the kind of hospitality we received. They offered us food (Native Boar and Soup) and that famous Mountain Coffee that really made our day. Thanks to our guide Sir Ramse and the Kap for the kind gestures. We also received our certificate for a job well done. Upon cleaning ourselves up, we went our way to Baguio at around 3:00pm and arrived at Victory Liner station sat 4:00pm. Regular airconditioned bus to Cubao is pegged at Php450 per person. Travel time is 5 hours. *Special thank to Ma'am Liza Petten Gacoscos-Diase for assisting us with the guides and transportation. We truly appreciate it. Congratulations to the team for the determination and commitment to finish our goals. You truly deserve it. *For more stories about our adventures, you may also visit and like our Facebook page. Just follow the link below: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Philippine-National-Mountaineering-Society-PNMS/274944289189837
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AuthorsJade Rance Acidre Archives
January 2019
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