It was almost a year ago
when I found a comrade-in-arms in the art of moving on. A knack – because it
takes a while figuring how to pull it off, and requires keen imagination to
create a way for one’s self to wiggle out. A heartache that punctures deeply
and hurting necessitates a massive redo of one’s routines. A friend of mine;
Cha found a progression to distance herself from that madness; by indulging in the
sport of mountain climbing. Mountaineering - my first love back in college,
which I had abandoned except during sporadic hiking trips that happens far in
between.
 |
| Always good to be in the company of these Pine trees |
Since her own break-up,
Cha has scaled five mountains and counting at that time, while my last climb was
at Mount Pulag - a year before with the ex-girlfriend. This made the trip
invite from Cha a wonderful opportunity for myself to create a space fodder to
separate that memory with a new one; this time with old and new
friends alike. As a man back in singlehood – ascending the trails of a place fittingly
called Mount Ulap, I am also bringing a
version of myself ripe for breaking out of a cracked shell.
 |
| A few from our group were first time hikers, and they pulled it off easy. |
The Great Gig in Mount Ulap (Yes, a homage to Pink Floyd’s Great Gig in the Sky)
The jump-off of Mount Ulap
is at Brgy. Ampucao, Itogon, Benguet and caters to mostly beginner hikers –
which appealed to myself who at that time, was just beginning a comeback trail
at the gym and hasn’t built up stamina and endurance yet. An easy climb is
what I yearn for.
Our guide promised us “five to six hours of trekking starting from
Ampucao to Sta Fe Ridge, completing a traverse”. Most mountains offer a
more difficult traverse route, but at Mount Ulap – descending on the opposite
trail is the easiest and afford climbers to cover more scenic spots. “It is going to be a chill hike, the five
hours already includes rest stops and picture taking time” he tells
us.
 |
| Channeling a young Jack Kerouac as a fire lookout |
Our trail started at a
blistering stride until our guide reminded us to take it easy. As if saying “slow down and smell the flowers” – we
switched our hurried steps into dawdling paces and as soon as we took it slow, the
spectacular nature surroundings revealed itself to me. The best the Cordillera Mountains
are known for; towering pine trees, swaying green grasses and rolling hills –
all colluding to form a postcard-material scenery - quickly arrested my attention. Our
hiking trip to Mount Ulap has started to unveil itself as one great gig in the
sky indeed.
The first Boulder Pit-stop
After less than an hour we
reached a saddle with a protruding boulder where one can sit and stand while
staring at the vast greatness of the outdoors. On the far right side one can
see the mining town of PHILEX and the community surrounding it. We rested and
took our sweet time taking photographs on the rock, which reminded me of the
kind of backdrop the young Jack Kerouac
might have gazed at, while he worked as a fire lookout at Desolation Peak in
the North Cascade Mountains of Washington State.
 |
| Cheerleader Cha |
“I
could stay here the whole afternoon and pretend to be good ole Jack”
I thought to myself. “With this kind of
view, creative juices shall flow like wine inside my mind” and before I
could entertain the idea of excusing myself from our group and opting to stay,
our guide motioned to us to get moving.
Ambunao Paoay to Gungal Rock
An hour of slow hiking later, we exposed ourselves to an open space of lawn-covered hills and
away from the canopy of pine trees. The change of landscape meant feeling a
stronger gust of wind blowing from all direction. The highland weather just
became cooler. We negotiated various snaking path uphill into Ambunao Paoay,
where we saw scattered loose rocks piled up on top of each other in a pyramidal
shape.
 |
| I recently learned that rock balancing is a good calming activity |
A lone tree stands offering
a miniature shade but we all chose to be showered by the gleam of the sun and
once again stared at the distant gifts of Mother Nature. We took a minute to pose
for a group photograph. And as Cha was setting up her iPhone she directed us to
“make continuous movements”, it turns out she’s using an app called Boomerang.
 |
| Tanya practicing a yoga pose |
A little further ahead, we
finally reached the popular landmark at Mount Ulap; Gungal Rock. A massive slab
of rock that sits on the ridge overlooking a dropping ravine. Perfect for some daredevil photo-op, it
usually attracts a line of hikers stopping by here for a prolonged time.
 |
| Wow at that! |
As big as Gungal Rock, the
insects flying around also boasts of a humongous size that it looks a steroid
version of blowflies. It quickly covered the cap I was wearing and it obviously
bothered the rest of us – forcing us to take photos at Gungal Rock in a hurried
pace.
The Running Downhill Trail from the Peak
The last part of our hike took
us to the peak of Mount Ulap and into the vast downhill stretch of the rolling
hills. At the top, we all took a much needed rest. As Tanya practices her
yoga poses, I sat over a patch of grass and once again directed my gape at the vast adjacent
highlands.
 |
| Postcard for you |
After a lengthy moment of being isolated with my thoughts, I stood up to gather my backpack. About the same time, I sensed the signal coming from our guide to proceed. I took first dibs in attempting a downward
dash towards the camp site. The steep hill – angling at almost 45 degrees,
proved to be a bit difficult to negotiate.
With gravity pulling me down, I summoned my legs to run at a faster pace, while knowing fully well that I could break my ankle in the process. Fortunately, I reached the camp site with my two feet still standing, glad that only my Merrell shoes suffered the inconvenience of being covered with grass and cow dung.
Easy Day-Hike Becomes an Instantaneous Moving-on Pill
Our traverse was supposed
to take us also to the Pong-ol Burial Caves, but during that time the trail that leads to the caves was
closed for some restoration work – so we ended up hurrying our trek back to the
town.
 |
| Ankle-breaking steep hill |
The whole day-hike seemed to be a wonderful departure from my usual travels. I feel like being charmed
back into the activity of hiking and still feeling strong afterwards, I believed I
could still take a shot at another mountain.
More importantly, I
started seeing life as clear as the azure skies that prevailed that day. I met
new friends and saw how the beautiful nature make up the rest of my world. ‘How could I go mad at this beautiful world?’
I asked myself.
 |
| Baguio City night cap. |
I have to admit, I have gotten the
blues over and again after that day. However, our little gig at Mount Sky
delivered me an effective drug that helped me heaps in moving on.
As they say “There’s no
such thing travel can’t cure”, guess – I should make it more specific; “There is no such thing as a hike in the
woods can’t remedy”
