Mt Pulag
Mt
Pulag is well known for the sea of clouds that you’ll see once in
summit in the morning. Combined with sunrise behind it, oh
damn, what a combo! But little did we know that Mt Pulag offers more.
At night, it was perfect for star gazing. And guess what, Mt Pulag is
the right place to witness the Milky Way.
Yes! That’s right. So keep pushing down that keyboard and read through the post and know exactly where to see Milky Way and who knows, I might give you some idea on how to shoot this one.
Yes! That’s right. So keep pushing down that keyboard and read through the post and know exactly where to see Milky Way and who knows, I might give you some idea on how to shoot this one.
It’s
been a long time dream to climb Mt Pulag which is the second highest
mountain in the Philippines. So last 29th of March, we tramped the
rugged terrain of Mt Pulag via Ambangeg Trail which is the easy
trail. Yah, easy trail it is. But don’t be fooled by this, for
still, this trail almost made me give up. Probably due to lack of
sleep on a bus coming from Manila to Baguio, or maybe not having
enough exercise, or maybe because my last climb was last year? Enough
with excuses, I suck on this climb. Anyway, let’s start alright?
Mt Pulag via Ambangeg Trail
Trail
via Ambangeg is easy. It was like a walk in the park. No cliffs to
worry about or any trail that could put one’s life in danger. You
will just get exhausted if you aren't fit enough for this kind of
sport coz it was one of the longest trail that I’ve trekked aside
from Mt
Humalophop.
When we started our trek at past 12 noon, it was hot. But after camp
1, the weather changed, it rained occasionally. Then when we reached
Camp 2, the temperature starts droppin’, it was getting cold. I
started wearing my first jacket coz I can’t take it anymore. From
Camp 2 to Camp 3, there are some trails which is a bit steep and add
the altitude elevation, expect that you’ll be grasping for air much
more than normal. But aside from it, it’s just a piece of cake.
While we’re on our way to camp 3, the view from the trail was really magnificent, unbelievable, and perfect. As if it was a painting or a scene that you see in movies. And I just can’t stop myself from smiling and indulging the view that I’m seeing from that moment. I wish you were there to see exactly what I’m saying. At times, whenever we are at a higher side of the mountain, I sometimes see clouds run towards me touching my face and making it cold once in a while. It was epic man! And the best part on this trek, it was when a rainbow appeared on the side of the mountain. It was beautiful man!
Night in Mt Pulag
This
was one of the best and hardest night of my life. Best because the
sky was so clear and stars were countless and felt so close. It was
best because, for the very first time in my entire life, there was a
smoke coming out from my mouth not because of smoking but because of
the weather. Because of the coldness in the area that time. It was
really fun playing around and talking and seeing ourselves blowin’
smoke from coldness. Damn! It felt like I was in some other place in
Alaska. Hahaha Dream on Chud, dream on! So why did I say one of the
hardest? Because it was DAMN COLD! Being in a tropical country, I
ain’t used to being on that kind of weather. I mean, what the
f@$%?! I was wearing 3 layers of clothes, sweatshirt and 2 jackets
and still I’m shaking because of too much cold? You have got to be
kidding me! I thought that I won’t make it through the night
because of too much cold, lucky enough I did.
Shooting Milky Way in Mt Pulag
It
was past 4 in the morning when we all woke up. Cold enough and
freezing, I popped out from my tent after having a glimpse of the
sky. It was clear and stars were all over the place. And after a few
minutes, my eyes drooled from what I’m seeing, it was the Milky
Way! My first time to see such beauty from up above. I then grabbed
my camera and the tripod that Arnold brought and snapped some photos.
Having a 50mm lens mounted, I have no options but to adapt. I move
far as I could just to get at least part of the Milky Way and booyah!
Got it finally. It may not be the whole Milky Way but still, I’m
happy with the result. My settings for shooting Milky Way is Manual
mode, Manual Focus, 10 seconds shutter speed, 1600 ISO and F/2.8. So
try shooting one now.
Getting to the summit of Mt Pulag
Past
5 in the morning, everyone was ready to assault and hit the summit.
Cold and freezing, we trekked for more than 30 minutes on an empty
stomach. We all wanted to see the sunrise and the sea of clouds so we
decided not to have a breakfast at the campsite. Upon reaching the
summit, we were all in dismay, sea of clouds was far from our reach.
The mountains didn’t show off that time. Even for sunrise, we were
late. Damn! What a bummer! But it’s ok. Mt Pulag may have not shown
us the sunrise and the sea of clouds, but it has made us see
ourselves more. That we never quit no matter what. That we can
conquer mountains on any weather conditions nature throws us. No
words could describe the serenity that i’m experiencing at that
moment. The joy and fulfillment of reaching the summit was
beyond words.
All
in all, it was a great experience climbing Mt Pulag. I’ve meet
another unique group of people, which I haven’t mention that they
were all nice, fun to be with, kind of people who doesn’t complain,
and NEVER QUIT! Hooray to all of us! Nature may have thrown
everything at us, challenged us from those steep trails, gave us the
coldest night of our lives, but we all smiled and shook it off the
next day when we hit the summit! See you again next time! And thank
you all. And to you Mt Pulag, you haven’t shown me yet the Sea of
Clouds, so guess what, I’m coming back for more and I will take you
the hard way, the Akiki trail! Yeah baby!!!!!!!!
Your turn to talk, Speak up!