Nueva Vizcaya group gears up for Lenten trek to RP’s 2nd highest peak

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — Mountaineers here and from neighboring provinces will take part in a three-day trek to Mt. Pulag, the country’s second highest peak, via this landlocked province on April 13-15.

The Nueva Vizcaya Mountaineering Club, which is organizing the Holy Week mountain adventure, said they would take the Ambaguio route, probably the longest and most heart-stopping trail to Mt. Pulag.

"For those seeking to commune with Nature during the Holy Week, this is one great opportunity for them," said Gene Basilio, one of the club’s founding officers.

Although the Ambaguio trail could be the most tortuous route, Basilio said taking a less traveled path poses a greater challenge in conquering Mt. Pulag, which is 2,930 meters above sea level.

Basilio said the participants in the Holy Week trek will meet in this capital town on April 12 for an overnight stay either here or in the Ambaguio poblacion (town proper).

He said the Sang—at Salug (Ascending-Descending) Outdoors Club put up the Ambaguio trail in 1988 as an alternative, especially for mountaineers who wanted tougher routes.

"The hike will begin from the Ambaguio poblacion and (the trekkers will) camp out during the first night in Barangay Napo in Kayapa (2,101 meters above sea level)," said Basilio, the country’s sole representative to last year’s invitational mountain trek to Taiwan’s Jade Mountain, East Asia’s highest peak at 3,952 meters above sea level.

Basilio said the second day will be a lung-busting but breathtaking hike through mossy forests toward the grasslands of Mt. Pulag.

He said the group is expected to reach the summit of Mt. Pulag early morning of the third day, before descending to the Rangers Station 1 in Barangay Ambangeg in Bokod, Benguet.

The 12,000-hectare Mt. Pulag, which the Kalanguya and Ibaloi tribal groups consider as a sacred ground, straddles four municipalities — Ambaguio in Nueva Vizcaya, Tinoc in Ifugao, and Bokod and Kabayan in Benguet, where its highest peak is located.

The other known routes going to the Mt. Pulag summit are the usually used Ambangeg mountain trail in Bokod, the Akiki trail in Kabayan, and the Tinoc trail in Ifugao.

Basilio said mountaineers from other parts of Cagayan Valley, the Cordilleras, Central Luzon and the Ilocos region are expected to join the Holy Week trek.  

The adventure includes interaction with the indigenous mountain dwellers to impress upon the participants that mountain climbing is not solely for fun, personal leisure or achievement, but more so for the preservation and protection of the environment.

Basilio said the Holy Week trek would allow the trekkers to dwell on their spiritual growth.

"The place, with its immense tranquility, would be more than suitable to discover one’s self," he said.

Basilio said registration is still open for those interested in joining the mountain adventure. For inquiries, call (078) 805-3898 and 0927-3633945 or e-mail to [email protected].