San Jose, Tarlac has been very close to the heart of the UP Mountaineers ever since the club help develop the trekking destinations there. Spearheaded by Boboy Francisco, several mountains were opened in the early 2000's, and UPM has since become a regular visitor to this part of Central Luzon.
For this reason--and because we haven't been as active in the area as before--that I chose the mountains of San Jose as venue for the training climbs of this year's batch of applicants. I led the team going to Mt. Bungkol-Baka. The other team went up Mt. Tangisan
It got its name from the prominent feature along its ridge that resembled the back of a cow ("bungkol" = bump + "baka" = cow). When it was first offered, Bungkol-baka was designated as a "Level 2" mountain, or a venue for the second climb of the applicant-in-training. Recently, the mountain has become somewhat "tamed" because the trail is very much in use of the local farmers. It's still a long hike, but not a difficult hike as before.
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| Last time I went up, I went full retro (photo: Candy Alipio) |
The trail starts from the house of the local chieftain. This is where we registered and met our guides. From here, it is a long walk through the village until you pass the irrigation dam, which was nearly dry by this time. We shared the trail with the Tangisan team until we reached a small river and they took the fork on the right while we followed the stream.
Unlike Tangisan or Puange, the way to Bungkol-baka is not straighforward; hence the long walk. You can see the mountain at a distance, and it seemed no matter how far you have hiked, it is still far off in the distance. The trail meanders through small hills and farmlands; sometimes rising steeply, only to drop again. It becomes more difficult to manage during the monsoon season, as the trail is basically packed earth that easily becomes industrial-grade sticky mud when the rains pour. We're in the midst of summer, so this was not a big problem. Or so we hoped.
It was not a particularly hot day, so the team was in relatively good spirits. I've been trying to recall the previous hikes I've had here, and the landmarks, to familiarize myself again, because it feels like a totally different trail. The rest stop that I have the most vivid memory seems to be in a different spot from what I remmember. In any case, after reaching that stop, I knew we were very close.
We reached the ridge finally. Just like before, the surrounding vegetation is newly-burnt. I still couldn't understand what benefit could be gotten from burning the weeds and small plants trying desperately to survive. This is supposed to be a non-grazing and non-agricultural zone. We perched our camp at an area lower than our usual campsite. Evening came and it was cool and perfect. The socials went well; everyone was game and laughing.
And then it rained.
It seemed a hard downpour, but for very long one. My tent's waterproofing still held, thank goodness. Later on, I asked one of the guides about the rain. He said it has been a few weeks since it last rained in San Jose, hence the dry irrigation dam. My "lucky" rainy climb streak continues. And because of this, hopefully the lake gets a inch or two of fresh water because of me.
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| With Vice Mayor Capitulo |
We head back to the jump-off to meet up with the Tangisan team. The vice mayor of the town, Romeo Capitulo, invited us to drop by at his house for lunch. This means we had to hike for another hour and cross Ngile river to reach his house, which was a good chance for the newbies to learn about safe river crossing (despite the water being only knee deep).
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So how does Valentine's Day figure in this post? I'm not really sure. It wasn't meant to be a romantic climb, but the fact that Cece was with me and we are under the light of the stars brings about the fuzzy feelings now and again. It sure beats fighting over tables at crowded restaurants with other desperate dating couples. We had the mountain relatively on our own. A worthy Valentine's Day date.
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| signature shot |
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