Mt. Apo

Summiting Mt. Apo is every Pinoy mountaineers’ dream.

With an elevation of 2,956 MASL and difficulty level of 7-8/9, Mt. Apo is dubbed as the “King of the Philippine Mountains”. It is the highest peak in the country, occupying the provinces of Davao del Sur and North Cotabato. Also known as the center of endemism in Mindanao, the potentially active stratovolcano was declared a national park in 1936.

Last January I, together with my colleagues and mountaineering buddies Mia and Jeff, successfully set foot on the country’s natural rooftop. This was actually my dream since I was a fetus (I sometimes joke).

Jeff has actually been to Mt. Apo twice already. He has a constant guide, Arianne, who is based in Davao City. When he said that he will be climbing again for the third time, I immediately signed up and tagged Mia along. Few weeks prior our climb, we created a group chat with our guide, so that we could ask anything under the sun about the climb.      

Mia’s first question was “Kung papipillin ka, mahal mo o mahal ka?” Arianne only answered this question when we already met hehe. I actually wanted a traverse where we can experience both the infamous Boulder Face and Lake Venado. This would have been possible with Sta. Cruz as entry point and Kidapawan as exit point but unfortunately, the Kidapawan LGU recently passed an ordinance that the Kidapawan Trail is exclusive for Mandangan entry point trekkers (strictly no exit/traverse trek from other points). Di ko alam kung bakit biglang nagdamot ang LGU haha! Well possible pa naman to visit Lake Venado if we will do a circuit trek but that is advisable for a three-day IT. Ours is for two days only; sabi ni Arianne, wasak daw kami kung ipipilit namin. Her other option is that she will refer us to another guide from Kidapawan. Sabi ko “wala nang iwanan”, so in the end, we all agreed to just take Sta. Cruz (Sibulan) backtrail.

Two weeks before our climb, our office annual planning got almost moved on the date of our climb (buti na lang di natuloy); then a week after I was down with the worst kind of fever and flu (hindi naman Corona virus pero naratay ako sa bahay for the weekend), akala ko hindi na talaga ako matutuloy because I was still recuperating on the day of our flight to Davao. Two weeks akong hindi nakapag exercise so wala ako sa tamang hubog. But I really had to try kasi buong buhay ko na talagang pangarap to.

Mia and I arrived in Davao midnight of Saturday. Dumaan muna kami sa satellite office namin sa Davao to fetch Jeff, nagpahinga for two hours, then met up with our guide at Eco-land. Actually this is my first time to avail the services of a guide na siya na bahala sa lahat – food, pati tent, securing permits, pag hire ng porter and habal-habal. Very convenient kasi magbabayad na lang kami. We rode a bus going to Digos. Then took a habal-habal going to the jump-off point in Brgy. Culan. We had a brief stov-over in Kapatagan to have breakfast. Doon sa katabing market bumili na rin ako ng fleece panangga sa lamig.

We arrived at the geothermal energy plant, the jump off point past 8 am. There’s a welcome signage informing climbers that Mt. Apo is a Protected Area, an ASAN Heritage park, home to the Philippine Eagle, Major watershed for Davao and SOCCSKSARGEN Regions, and an ancestral domain.

After our short group prayer, we commenced with our hike. It was a gradual ascend going to the registration area, a small residential community. There we met with our porter. 

We continued going to Sitio Tumpis, passed by some farms, before we entered the forest. Sabi ni Arianne, ang first day daw ang madaling part (jump-off to Tinikaran campsite). Wow ang madali sa kanya ay medyo kalbaryo na sa akin. Naisip ko ano pa kaya ang second day nito?

Within the forest, nadaanan namin ang  Basakan E-Camp, Big Rock E-Camp bago namin narating ang campsite. It took us about five hours, including lunch break under the rain.

We set-up our tents, rested for a while, while si Arianne, nagsimula na magprepare ng dinner namin. Doon ko lang nalaman na pagalingan pala sa pagluto ang mga guides doon. Our call time is 2 am the next day, pero nag request kami kung pwede one hour earlier dahil hindi kami sure sa pacing namin. Bearable naman ang lamig sa taas; wala pa rin makakatalo sa nagmumurang lamig ng Pulag.

By 1 am, gising and all set na kami.  I though madali lang ang Camp 1 to Camp 2. Hindi ko inexpect na very steep pala ang trail. Hindi magpapatalo sa Boulder Face and stage na to.

The Boulder Face stage is unique, moderately hard experience – almost two hour journey on big boulders with pungent smell of sulfur every now and then. Naapreciate ko na lang ang view pagbalik namin nung may araw na. Naawa na rin ako sa cellphone ko (na ginawa kong flash light) na countless kong naihampas sa boulders sa kaka-scramble. Nawala pa nga kami ni Jeff kasi may sinundan kaming grupo na hindi pala kabisado ang trail. Kaya ayun sigawan with Arianne bago kami nakabalik sa tamang trail.

After reaching the end of the Boulder Face, is the final ascent to the summit – pahirap na 87-degree cliff lalo na kung hinahabol mo ang pagputok ng araw.

So f*****g tired (and ready to give up) but very happy na umabot sa sunrise. The summit view is out of this world, worth the long and strenuous climb. We were blessed with a perfect clearing. Yung dati sa postcard at internet ko lang nakikita – pero ngayon tanaw na tanaw ko na ang crater (at naapakan ko pa) at ang rocky mountain backdrop. The mountain is mighty, pristine and lush. We climbed the three peaks of Apo. Sa last peak, dun ko na lang malungkot na tinanaw ang Lake Venado.

Eight hours later back at the jump-off point, I was so worn-out and my legs were aching like hell, hirap na hirap kong igalaw. Natatawa ako maalala na nag-paa na si Mia sa last part ng trek dahil umulan at madulas ang trail; feeling ko andami nyang naapakan na tae ng kabayo at kalabaw haha.

Sa totoo lang, hindi naman sana ganun kahirap ang Apo kung ginawa namin and trek ng 3 days, 2 nights. We joked na ang susunod na aakyatin namin yung mga 500 MASL lang sa Rizal. Though the hike tested my limits, it was a super-fulfilling one. Conquering my dream mountain always seems impossible.  Until it’s done.

Highly recommended Mt. Apo guide – Arianne (https://www.facebook.com/candyckaz). She will take care of everything, mula Davao City. Kahit solo pwede.