Tips for those of us climbing up Mt. Pulag
October 11, 2004Pulag has a strange microclimate. It can be nice and sunny on the Western side, when you come up the Ambangeg route. But you’ll notice when the pine forest ends and you enter the “mossy oak forest”, it’ll normally be drizzling. (that’s why it’s so mossy - because of all the humidity). I’ve climbed Pulag three times, and it was raining twice (Dec and Feb). The other time (Dec) it was really nice and sunny. The temperature can be quite cold - probably about 4 degrees Centigrade. That’s pretty chilly when you factor in the cold wind.
My guess is that if the wind is blowing to the East, we’ll get clear skies. If it’s coming from the East (and blowing to the West), we’ll probably have a good chance of rain showers. This climb will push through whether it rains or not; the only thing that’ll stop it is a typhoon! So bring lots of rain gear, and watch the websites that forecast the prevailing wind in the Pulag area. (Check http://www.sailphi.org.ph which has a list of weather sites that monitor wind conditions in the Philippines).
I brought a gore-tex raincoat up last time and I was disappointed to find out that Gore-Tex isn’t exactly waterproof. The inner lining of my raincoat was wet by the time I reached the summit. The only thing that kept me dry is the fleece sweater underneath the gore-tex. So I suggest you bring more than 1 sweater. In any event, it’s nice to wear a dry sweater in your sleeping bag.
The sleeping bags that I bought at our local Coleman outlet in Megamall were inadequate. I think the stocks sold locally are only meant for summer camping. They’re light (which is good), but you’ll need to sleep with (1) a sweater (2) a cap (3) socks and (4) some sort of leggings. I used an old gym pants,and that was fine. Remember - if you’re not propery dressed, you will be *miserable*.
I found that sleeping on the hard ground can be difficult. I bought a ZREST sleeping pad (which is foldable, and available locally at Robinson’s Galleria; the manufacturer is Cascade Designs). It made a huge difference for me. The ZRest is a lot larger than the self-inflating sleeping pads available at most camping stores. It also serves to keep you from getting wet, in the event that there is condensation in your tent, and your tent floor gets wet. This time though, I’ll be going with an air mattress (from coleman), which is even more comfortable. I’ve tried it at least once and it made a huge huge difference. I think they’re about P1T. They’re heavy, but at least you can hire a porter to carry your load up Mt. Pulag. (I believe the rate was P500 round trip per porter).
For a pillow, I stuffed some clean clothes into a cloth bag and that served as a fine pillow.
Going up wearing shorts is fine. There are no areas where you have to use a machete to cut through the trail. The last 1.5 hours up is dominated by grassland. Shorts are OK - you won’t be scraping your legs on any thorn bushes or talahib. If you’re adventurous, keep your eyes out for the wild strawberries growing at the higher altitudes.
There is an excellent water source at camp 2. The water is very clean - I don’t recommend carrying more than a liter of water during the hike.
If you can get them, use wool socks instead of cotton. Wool will wick sweat out, keeping your feet dry and comfy. Cotton, when wet, tends to get slightly abrasive.
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get waterproof footwear for this hike. Wet feet are a problem because (1) it’s uncomfortable and (2) the skin gets soft and your feet can get blisters. One way to solve the problem might be to wear sandals. Be sure your sandas are comfortable, otherwise your feet will get blisters anyway. What the local guides do is wear rubber boots, the ones that almost come up to your ankle. They’re not comfortable, and you probably have to wear some pretty thick socks, but they are cheap and get the job done. I’m going with some waterproof goretex socks from Sealskinz. I’ve yet to try them, so we’ll see how they perform. They’re available online and cost about $15. Note: wearing plastic bags on your feet won’t do the trick!
Sandals are also good at the campground when you want to get in and out of your tent quickly. It’s a pain to have to take off your boots, go inside the tent, then lace your boots up again. (Imagine what a pain this is when you have to step out of your tent at night just to take a leak).
When pitching your tent, do look for very flat ground (not easy). The ground you pitch your tent on may look relatively flat, but when you get into your sleeping bag and start slipping off your bag into one side of the tent (which may even be wet with moisture), it’s a pain and makes for a sleepless night!
If it’s not raining, I hope to make a summit assault at 4 am. (or maybe 330am, if the kids are coming). You’ll need flashlights for this, and the best flashlights to bring are the ones that you mount on your head. The Petzl led flashlights work great for me; I don’t even have to bring spare batteries for the Petzls. The Mag-lites, on the other hand, use a different technology, and burn through their Energizer batteries in 1-2 hours.
Plastic bags to cover your knapsacks are important when it rains. I kept my knapsack inside the tent vestibule during my last hike and even though the knapsack was “waterproof”, some of my gear still ended up wet.
Note, the sun can be quite fierce at 9000 feet. You might want to bring some sunblock in case it doesn’t rain. And some sunglasses.
The Mt. Pulag guides are fanatical about keeping their mountain clean. Bring some spare plastic bags to carry your trash down the mountain.
If you have wireless transceivers, do bring them! They can be a lifesaver especially if someone gets lost and the path is very foggy.
Don’t scrimp on the food; you don’t want to go hungry on the mountain, and you want to bring something extra just in case we get rained in. I normally prefer instant noodles when I’m in camp, as they are light & easy to carry, and they’re piping hot (which is what I need when it is very very cold). During the hike, I normally like to bring granola bars or some chocolate bars. Remember, we’ll be spending two nights on the mountain this time around.
On the way back, we’ll stop by Camp John Hay, which should give us a chance to recuperate before we make our way down to Manila the next day.
Max and Prejudice
I found this article a few days ago by Max Soliven, printed on Philippine Star. I’m aghast at the prejudice. I’m even more aghast that anyone would publicly espouse these kinds of views in this day and age. I too, live in Greenhills, but unlike Mr. Soliven, I DON’T mind giving Muslims a prayer room within the Ortigas Shopping Complex. If we don’t do something to stop the prejudice, these people will end up even more marginalized and even more violent.
You be the judge:
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BY THE WAY By Max V. Soliven
The Philippine Star 10/04/2004
The residents of three Greenhills villages as well as those of 30 condominium high-rises in the surrounding areas of San Juan, Mandaluyong and Quezon City have already registered an angry protest against the plan, suddenly announced on Friday the 13th, last August – completely without consultation or notice given to the surrounding districts – that the Ortigas & Company was building a P8 million Muslim “mosque” right in the Greenhills shopping center.
The secret plan was apparently hatched by Rex Drilon III, the brusque, autocratic general manager of the Ortigas & Co., Ltd., who’s been running the Greenhills shopping center like his personal fiefdown for almost four years. In typical fashion, this bozo Drilon – who, by the way, struts around as an Opus Dei – just announced he was installing this air-conditioned Islamic center, which he tried to disguise as a “mere prayer room”, in the three-storey new mall cum parking building he is rushing to complete, over the creek which his company “covered” and on which they are constructing a so-called Promenade mall.
When the article appeared in the Manila Bulletin (13 August), complete with pictures and photographs, under the glaring headline “ORTIGAS BUILDS P8-M MOSQUE IN GREENHILLS” it hit the residents of the area, who are 99 percent Catholics and other Christian denominations, like a ton of bricks.
