Climbing Mt Apo (2,954 masl), the highest peak in the Philippines

To celebrate my 26th birthday, I decided to do something epic --- climb the highest mountain in the Philippines. This was actually a side trip because we were really en route to Davao for a college blockmate's wedding. With me in this trip were my Ateneo ES blockmates, Benj, Emee, Jules and her hubby JP. All of us had different ways of preparing for the climb. Aside from doing some spinning classes and running, I did a dayhike to Pico de Loro two months before the climb, as well as an overnight trip to the Banaue Rice Terraces. We all had different levels of climbing experience, so we decided to try out the Bongolanon-Magpet Trail, which can be done in 3 to 4 days, depending on the group's ability.

Day 0 - En Route to Kidapawan
We all flew in from Manila to Gen San (which was a mistake, because we were told Gen San was closer to Kidapawan, our jump-off point --- well, it isn't!) and met up at the bus terminal to get to Kidapawan through a bus to Digos and then a bus to Kidapawan (it was a hassle and took 3 hours). Prior to the meeting, we assigned each person to prepare various stuff, including tents, sleeping bags and food. We finally got off at Jollibee to have dinner and then went to AJ High Time to spend the night.

Day 1 - Towsuvan to Anos Camp 2.92 km/2-3 hours

We met Karl Tanaid, Tourism Officer of the Municipality of Magpet, during brekky and prepared all the gear we needed for the climb. Karl graciously helped us in the permit application process. We rode a habal-habal for the experience (and I promise, next time, I will ride a multicab when given the option). It was us three girls on one habal-habal and the two boys on the other one.

The habal-habal & our bags

The 1-hr habal-habal ride was literally a pain in the ass! :P But soon after, we were on our way to Towsuvan Falls, our jump-off point.

Towsuvan Falls

Acorns

The first few minutes of the trek from Towsuvan to Anos Camp where we were supposed to spend the night was quite tiring. It was a steep climb and with our packs, it was quite hard. There were leeches (locally called limatik) too! That was the first time I experienced getting "sucked" by these creatures.

Frog on Benj's backpack

Our 1st campsite

Chinese sausages

We had the place to ourselves and set-up a small fire for marshmallows and sausages after dinner. Our original plan was to do the whole trek in 3 days and 2 nights, but our guide, Amboy, suggested that we do it in 4 days so that we could be more relaxed and enjoy the scenery. We had a bit of a panic because we were scared of food shortage. Amboy advised that we could ask for supplies to be brought to us in Lake Venado, but we insisted that we would be alright with our supplies, as long as we budget properly and eat our trailfood.

Day 2 - Anos Camp to Lake Venado 9.12 km/8-9 hrs
This was the day we had our longest hike. We packed our bags and headed for Lake Venado. We stopped at Bob'bong campsite for lunch and replenished our water bottles with spring water, which we purified using Jul's portable UV filtering pen. Amboy, our trail guide, told us not to laugh at anything weird we see in Bob'bong, or else it'll rain. This sort of creeped me out, but we didn't see anything worth laughing at when we got there.

The trail appears to be a mossy forest and and is quite shaded. It was a more relaxed trail in some bits, until after Bob'bong! There was a steep decline and then another 'relaxed' trail where Amboy saw some monkeys. We didn't get to see them though. Apparently, tarsiers could be seen sometimes in the Bongolanon Trail.

Massive tree root

Lunch stop

'Shrooms!

On day 2, I had a moment where I asked myself why I was even there, climbing Mt Apo! It was so difficult to hike with a pack and and climb up steep slopes that were littered with dried cogon grass. The sun was threatening to set and we were still about one hour before we reach Lake Venado. Amboy, our guide, wasn't offering any information on how far we still had to hike. In essence, we had to climb a mountain and go down to where Lake Venado is. There were bits of the climb up where we had to step over branches and hoist ourselves over them. Emee was telling me that she had to stop and text her mom to say she was okay, but really, she was dreading the climb! The glimpse of the peak made me want to rush down to the lake!

But alas, after a tiring day of trekking, we reached the lake and the summit greeted us with glee.

We quickly set up camp and our guide & two porters prepared dinner. Again, we had the place to ourselves. This is one of my favourite nights as it was the night before my birthday and the stars were shining bright. I could not wait to climb the summit.

Emee wearing heaps of layers of clothing

Benj told me about this method of looking at the stars--with only his head peeping out of the tent so that he doesn't get cold!

My travel buddies cozy inside my sleeping bag ;)

Day 3 - Assault, 3.1 km/3 hours up

We woke up early and left camp at around 8AM in order to reach the summit by lunch time. We passed by an area near the lake where there were heaps of rubbish. It was quite sad to see all the litter scattered around there. Quite frustrating! 

Grumpy getting ready for the assault

Sadly, some hikers leave their trace

Aerial view of Lake Venado

Climbing up, we had astounding views of Lake Venado and the surrounding vegetation in Mt Apo. It was breathtaking! We ate some berries, which sort of resembled those of the Hunger Games!

The berries we loved eating

Posing by the rock...

..which apparently, you are meant to kiss!

We met some hikers on their way down from the summit and they told us that they had a great view from the summit! Unfortunately, when we got there, there was fog :( But that didn't stop us from taking photos :)

Finally, we had mobile phone signal! Texting time!

Emo shot

Foggy at the summit

Climbing down the mountain was easier this time. And because we decided to stay for another night, we weren't really in a hurry. I must admit that I was a bit tired and fell asleep once while waiting for the rest of the gang to catch up.

We made it back in one piece! ;)

My birthday dinner

That night, we celebrated my birthday by eating carbonara and pesto pasta. It felt fulfilling to have climbed the highest peak in the Philippines and celebrate your 26th with people close to you. After dinner, we decided to swim in Lake Venado. The water was ice cold, but we went ahead and had a dip. The lake is lined with small, weed-like plants and make it a bit slippery to walk on (I know this firsthand!).

Day 4 - Lake Venado to Lake Agco

We woke up and saw that there was a portion of the woods that had ice! It was quite surreal! The morning dew has turned into morning ice. We had brekky, packed up, did some last minute photos and headed down to Agco, which was full of 87 to 90-degree slopes.

Frozen morning

The ground where we set up our tent

There were times when we went down via wooden ladders (and my short legs were put to the test) and times when we had to learn some rock climbing skills to get  down the steep sections--all these with a backpack. I'm really glad I had a proper pack for this trip! More than strong legs and knees, I think you'd need a strong mind to endure that climb down! I fell once on our way down, but I made it alive without any injuries, thank God!

Jules making her way down the wooden ladder, followed by her hubby, JP

We had our lunch at Co-ong Campsite and it was quite a relief that we managed 4 days and 3 nights with food worth 3 days and 2 nights! On our way down via the Agco Trail, we met a three Filipinos and another Austrian (not quite sure) doing the hike via the Kapatagan-Kidapawan Trail.

The trek after Co-ong led us to an exposed, rocky trail beside the Marbel River (if I'm not mistaken). It was hotter this time. There was a cobra on the trail and Amboy had to throw a stone at it to drive it away. On our way to the Lake Agco Spa & Resort, there were geothermal vents, which reminded me of my trip to Rotorua in New Zealand. There was an occasional rotten egg smell as we were approaching the last 15 minutes of our trek. When we got to Lake Agco we settled down a bit, bought souvenir keychains and waited for Karl. Because it was my birthday the day before, Karl brought a chiffon cake and fruits! ;) After a bottle of red horse, we went back to Kidapawan to pick up our things at AJ High Time Hotel and went straight to Davao to see our blockmates ;)

The Class Picture

Wacky

Finally near the finish line

Team Extreme ;)

I'll let the pictures do the talking, but I must say --- hiking Mt Apo made me so much high in life. :) You have to be there to understand the awe I felt whenever I woke up to the view that was the majestic Apo or whenever I was about to sleep and saw the millions of stars. It's one experience I will never forget. It was a test of strength, flexibility and adaptability. Definitely a happy birthday shared with awesome people and with nature --- including limatiks (blood leeches), blistered feet, smelly clothes, monkeys we didn't see and heaps of funny moments.


Check out the documentary video JP made here: Mt Apo Adventure
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If you want to organise your own Mt Apo trip via the Magpet Bongolanon Trail you may contact:

• Karl Tanaid (Magpet Tourism Officer) 09214746117 / 09351320043 / tribukarl@yahoo.com / https://www.facebook.com/magpetadventure.tourism
• Amboy Torres (Guide) 09462950544

Accommodations in Kidapawan:
AJ High Time Hotel (We were able to leave some of our stuff here prior to the climb)
Laurel Street, Poblacion, Kidapawan City, North Cotabato
Telephone (From anywhere in the Philippines): (064) 288 1811

To prepare we...

• Booked accommodations in Kidapawan
• Rented equipment (stove, cookset, backpack for porter)
• Brought our own food, tents & sleeping bags
• Got 2 porters & a guide

Finances (per person):

• Hotel accommodation (1 night) 640, 2 rooms divided by 5 pax
• Gear rental (cookset, 2 burners all for 4 days + backpack rental + hiking pole rental) 990 (hiking pole was 150, cookset was 200/day, burner was 250/day)
• Habal-habal to jump off point - 180 (May option for a 4x4 to take you there, mas comfortable yun, 180 per way rin)
• Porter (2 porters for 2 days, + 1 day tip) 700 (350/day)
• Guide - 800 (800/day ang rate)
• Van rental from Kidapawan to Davao - 700 (3,500 for the whole van, divided by 5 pax)
• Food for the 4 days & 3 nights - 495

Our food was mainly cooked adobo, rice, pasta, tuyo (dried fish), instant soup mix and trail food which was made up of crackers, chocolates, beef jerky and sandwich spread.

In total, we spent 4,505 per person for the whole 4D3N climb.