Mount Pulag: The Challenge

As I stepped out of the bus, I was greeted by the chilly wind and the smell of morning dew on pine trees. Cordillera is dubbed the “country’s summer capital”, but this place is no beach. Mountainous, it earned its moniker when people form an exodus to this area during summer to escape Manila’s warm weather.

A nudge from my friend jolted me back to the present and with it, the reason why I am here. When this trip was first broached, I simply was not interested. I recall my friends saying something about scratching off this trip from our bucket list, but I don’t remember having it in mine, so how did I end up joining them for a weekend trek to Mt. Pulag?

With anticipation, I moved along with my friends to the ranger station where we were oriented on the “rules of the mountain”. Stories of altitude sickness and fatal accidents almost made me run out of the shack. But there is no turning back now.

With our porters, we started the ascent to the enchanted mountain. The rocky and narrow trail was muddy and slippery due to the heavy rains, but the scenery made our trek bearable. The view was breath taking that we had to stop frequently to catch it.

During one stop, I had a chance to interview my porter, a girl in late teens. She was born and raised in the area; did not finish school; recently got married and had a baby. She prefers to guide seasoned climbers as this will enable her to take 2 round trips in a day and earn more. But beyond the means to survive, she admits that she guides climbers to ensure that they will respect Mt. Pulag the way her ancestors did and to make sure that the mountain will remain a sacred ground that her children will one day share.

Back at home, I realized that the porter and I faced a thing in common: CHALLENGE. At 45, I was challenged by Mt. Pulag to prove that I can still scale the country’s 3rd highest peak. At 18, the porter was challenged to continuously protect and uphold her ancestors’ natural legacy, Mt. Pulag.