Kim's Quest #26: Mt. Kalatungan traverse Mt. Lumpanag/Wiji - Part 2 (View Deck to Muleta Falls)

Welcome to the 26th edition of Kim's Quest!. This is the second part of Mt. Kalatungan traverse Mt. Lumpanag (Mt. Wiji). Before reading this part, I suggest that you read the first part so that you will be aware of the context of this post. Please refer here:

Now that you're done reading the first part, let me continue with the traverse. But let me add a little bit more about the first day. Basically, we arrived at Brgy. Mendis gym at around 4:30 PM and we were greeted by the leader there. There should be a ritual before the climb, but we didn't have time so the agreement was that they would perform the ritual while we were on the way to the View Deck. The ritual was for our safe climb to Mt. Kalatungan. Since we were climbing a sacred mountain for the Manobo tribe, we had to abide by their customary law.

When all the negotiations and preparations were settled, everything and everyone was ready for the climb. I noticed that the mountain was covered by clouds. I realized that it would probably rain. True enough, just as we were a few meters away from the gym, it rained. It rained very hard. Good thing I was able to waterproof my things before. The photos below were the last ones I was able to take during the first day.

I had my poncho, I put the rain cover on my trekking bag, and I waterproofed my clothes. I was confident that it will be okay. We walked and walked without stopping, while it was raining hard. The poncho didn't work. I was already soaking wet. The trail then became like a mini stream and it was getting dark. I felt I was already catching my breath, but I can't afford to stop. We reached the View Deck after 1 hour and 30 minutes. Due to less rest, we were able to reach our destination 30 minutes before the allotted time.

The View Deck is a two-storey detachment that the locals made as a stopover for climbers. As we reached View Deck, we settled our things and prepare our sleeping bags while waiting for our dinner. That's when I realized my bag is soaking wet. No wonder it got heavier. I forgot that my two jackets were not waterproofed so they were also soaking wet.

We had our dinner and immediately went to bed because would be waking up at 1:30 AM the next day for an expected 14 hours of walking.

I woke up with the alarm at 1:30 AM, but did not get up until 2:00 AM. I was tired and my body felt heavy. Maybe due to the cold and trek the night before, my body was not able to adjust.

After all the preparations, we were all ready for the steep ascent. The goal was to have breakfast at Muleta Falls (not really at Muleta Falls but at the ridge overlooking Muleta Falls).

As the ascent commenced, I really felt my heavy bag on my shoulders (estimated to be at 14 kilograms). Halfway through Kikikoka Peak, I was slowly catching my breath. Maybe because my pacing was faster than my normal, I had difficulty in breathing. To add to my agony, my headlight died on me. Maybe the battery's already depleted or it's permanently broken, I didn't know and I didn't have time to check until the next rest area. I scrambled in my assault halfway blind. That's the time I questioned my decisions in life 😂😂😂! I battled with the negative thoughts by forcing myself to think about happy thoughts. But even happy thoughts seemed to be shrouded by the darkness.

I can't afford to give up because we were not even 1/4 to our destination. It would be embarrassing to just say I can't do it anymore. Besides, I didn't have a choice but to continue with the trek. I just focused on my breathing and my pacing. That's when I realized the group started to separate into lead, middle, and sweep. I was in the middle group.

Every step was an agony, but it became bearable as the dawn was finally breaking. I didn't realize we were past Kikikoka Peak until our guide told us. After the forest, it was an open trail which was the sign we're nearing Buko Buko sa Anay. Right there the beauty unfolded right before my eyes. I just captured fragments and tiny bits of whole view.

As I stood in the open trail, I finally had answers to my questions. It was all worth it. It was priceless. After all the twists and turns, everything made sense in the end. I should continue climbing that mountain if I want to bask in the beauty that can only be appreciated from above.

Believe me or not, but I finally had the strength to continue. The weight of my bag has become manageable. I finally had a smile on my face and it seems my depleted energy has been replenished. Forward and up, we went on with the trek.

Buko Buko sa Anay is a mountain ridge that's considered as one of the most difficult parts of the trail. "Buko-buko" is a Visayan term for back and "Anay" is a term for termites. "Buko Buko sa Anay" is literally translated as back of a termite. The locals named the ridge as such maybe because of its shape. The trail is open with grasses on either side so it's best to traverse it during early morning to avoid direct exposure from the sun.

As we went higher, the trail became steeper. There was a joke that the trail was established by giants because of the spacing of the steps. It required more effort as my knee would nearly touch my chin. But I just continued one step at a time.

Muleta Falls can be seen from afar, but it would take about 30 minutes before the View Point was reached. I was excited to rest and eat my breakfast which was prepared ahead for us by our guides.

As a looked down below, I was amazed by how far we were from the View Deck, but I was worried for the remaining distance to the summit. We were not even halfway and I was already tired. I have never felt so tired in my life compared to that one.

Finally...

We were still in the ridge that's part of Buko Buko sa Anay, but it was a vantage point for viewing Muleta Falls. Most photos that are related to Mt. Kalatungan are probably taken from there. We arrived at around 6:45 AM and we had 1 hour to eat our breakfast, rest, and had some photo ops before hitting the trail again towards the summit.

For me, it's not Muleta Falls that made the whole place majestic since it's just so tiny compared to the mountain behind it. I think it was while mountain that's so majestic that I was always in awe.

After some group photoshoot which I haven't acquired a copy of the photos, we immediately start to trek again. It would be a long day ahead as we would try to summit and then descend to Bamboo Camp before afternoon.

Stay tuned for the 3rd part as we would scale the summit of Mt. Kalatungan which could still not be seen from where we were. We would go past that mountain from the photo above. I hope you'll stay with me.

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in the Steem blockchain. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines) and the rest of the world (it will just follow since he's still a poor, corporate slave with tons of bills to pay and two siblings to support in college).}