The High Peak

Destination: Mt. Tapulao
aka: High Peak
Location: Iba, Zambales
Elevation: 2,047 meters
Trail: Unpaved roadway



Mt. Tapulao has one of the most breath-taking sceneries in Northern Luzon. It towers more than 2,000 meters above sea level and is considered one of the highest peaks in the Philippines.


This was just my 2nd climb as a trainee of GAC and I would say that this is one of the easier climbs (compared to Mt. Tarak) because this this time I was more than ready. I already bought a North Face (Skareb 40) bag for only 2,800 bucks (not bad huh?) and trekking shoes to finally protect those precious feet of mine. I also made sure that trail food will not be a problem.

We hired a van to ease our minds from all the trouble of getting to the bus station on time (what happened last time was that we almost got ourselves killed when the mini-bus raced to catch the last bus to Manila). Our transpo dropped us at the jump-off point in Dampay Salaza, Iba, and did the usual courtesy call to the barangay. Our trek started at 6 am and it was going to be a long and torturous walk uphill.

Tapulao is actually a mountain range running through Zambales. It is also known that it will take around 10 hours to traverse 2 mountain tops until you get to the highest peak.

Well, we did it in 4 1/2 hours. Ahem.

Yeah right? It's true, man! That is if you hitched a ride on a truck. Hehehe. I know, I know it's a shame but I admit it. It just so happened that my co-trainee had problems with her bag. The pain that was caused by the bag was so unbearable that the Sweeper gave us the nod to hitch a ride.

Anyway, the ride uphill was just awesome. I have never seen such beautiful and picturesque mountains before. Everything looked amazing from the mountain top down to the sea. There's even a part of the trail wherein you are covered with pine trees overhead, and the breeze touches your face and cools you from the heat of the sun.




At 10:30 am we made it to a mine and it was going to be our stop. We didn't know that there was a mining operation for chromite that existed there. Anyway, the dudes there were cool. They helped us unload our bags. We didn't give them anything though except our thanks. Hehehe.

We walked for another 30 minutes 'til we reached the Camp Site, dropped our bags and ate lunch. Afterwards, it was all boredom. We literally had nothing to do because technically we should have been there later at 5 pm and by then we could set camp and cook dinner.



Everyone was bored, it was noon and it was hot. I found myself a nice shade under a pine tree, and slept through the afternoon while listening to Chillout songs from my iPod. Steady lang, mhen. One good thing though was that there was a signal on my cel so I called Tots and told her everything that happened that morning. Madaya daw kami. Hehehe.



At 5 pm I pitched our tent and started cooking dinner (I assisted, by the way). Dinner was delicious and en grande! Our group made chicken tinola and soup , and not those sissy-ass hotdogs or corned beef or instant noodles kind of stuff. The other group made pork sinigang, too! Yum!

Socials came in after and ended very early because only one dude brought alcohol! Sheesh. And I intentionally did not bring one because it adds more weight to my pack. In GAC, it is customary to bring at least one quatro-kantos during a climb. The members were pissed about this that they raised this issue in our post-climb meeting.

At 4:30 am the followin morning, we readied ourselves for the summit assault. Headlamps, jackets and all, and oh, cameras! Lots of cameras! It took an hour to reach the highest peak. Again, it was a beauty! Sunrises are just so spectacular to watch!


By 8 am we were back in the camp site, preparing breakfast and packed lunch. Break camp by 9:30 and descent by 10 am. I'm telling you, man, down trekking is hell! Imagine 7 hours of torture, sniffing dust from the dirt road, little stones seeping into your shoes, bigger pointed rocks hurting your soles and crazy downhill slopes threating to blow your knees! But fortunately, our prayers were answered that morning. There was not a hint of sun the whole afternoon and no one was injured. God is good indeed.

The last group to arrive at the jump-off point, the Sweeper's Pack, that's us, was at 5 pm. We took our baths and headed home. No pressure to catch a bus here! We had dinner in Chowking Olongapo and was back onto our precious beds by 1 am of Monday. Work starts in 7 hours, and I was not late =).

Costing:
Van fare = Php 400.00
Brgy registration = Php 20.00

Co-Trainees:
Pia, Jason, Janette, Hedda, Cecile, Mark, Rofil

Members:
Ria, Boyet, JR