TravelBudDear: Luzon 321 (Timbak-Tabayoc- Pulag)

Luzon 321 (Mt Timbak-Mt Tabayoc-Mt Pulag)

As Mindanao-based mountaineers, climbing Luzon's 3 peaks is somewhat less-prio on our list. Why? It's very expensive for us - airfare, hotels, foods, blah blah blah! Haha! We dreamed of conquering the top 10 highest mountain of the Philippines but not thinking we will try to fulfill that dream earlier than planned.

When Wowie Ernie of SicaoTours invited us to do a Luzon 321 climb, we kinda hesitated at first because we were thinking we might not be able to work on our budget in just a little span of time. But as the quote goes "You can always make more money, but you only have a set number of days to make more memories", so to Luzon we go!

We left Manila around 11:30pm and arrived at Baguio City around 4am.

Strawberry Taho

We then rode a jeepney to Benguet - our first destination is Mt Timbak, the 9th highest mountain in the Philippines.

Luzon 321 climb is half trekking and half road trip. It let us see how amazing the people of Benguet are with their Vegetable terraces - same concept with Ifugao's rice terraces.

After almost 4 hours of jeepney ride, we then arrived at Mt Timbak. Compared to all the top 10 highest mountains in the Philippines, Mt Timbak is the easiest. It only took us 10 minutes to get to the peak. Going to its trail is like going through the Stations of the Cross. When at the top, I felt like I've been very blessed (feeling very religious, in other words hehe).

After we took some shots, we then decided to head to our next destination - Mt Tabayoc, which is another 3-4hours of jeepney ride.

It was around 4:30 in the afternoon when we arrived at Lake Tabeo - campsite of Mt Tabayoc. We then pitched our tent near the lake. Before eating dinner, our guide gathered us all to give some important updates regarding our Mt Tabayoc climb - what to expect on the trail and how we can survive it. Compared to Mt Timbak, Mt Tabayoc is a little harder at 6/9 difficulty (as per Pinoy Mountaineer blog).

Lake Tabeo campsite

We started our trek at 3am. With our headlamps on, and as the only source of light during the trail (yes, it was so dark inside Mt Tabayoc's forest), we hiked through a plain grass land at our first 10 minutes - very easy haha! After that, we then climbed through a steep trail for almost 2 hours with a combination of rock and roots climbing. You really need to pay attention to where you're heading to! Other parts of the trail needs you to crawl under some branches of the trees, or "butt-slide" your way down to some huge rocks. Is this really a 6/9 trail coz for me this is already 8/9 hahaha! Mind you, there are no signs of trails here - there's really a chance of getting lost.

We arrived at the peak just in time for the sunrise. I was very surprised at Mt Tabayoc's peak/view deck (I did not do some research before going here, I wanted to surprise myself with the trail, etc). At least 5-6 people can only stay at the view deck at once. I believe they only setup this view deck so climbers will be able to see a 360degrees view of the summit as well as its neighboring mountains - you can see Mt Pulag and Mt Timbak at the viewdeck.

Mt Tabayoc view deck pictures:

Since there's a lot of us in the team, we only had a chance to stay at least 5-10minutes per batch at the viewdeck. After which, we then decided to go back to camp.

Mt Tabayoc at the background

After noon, we prep up and rode the jeepney again this time to go to Mt Pulag. Before climbing Mt Pulag, everyone is required to join a short seminar about the mountain and its trails as well as what to do and what not to do during the climb.

Our original itinerary was doing the Akiki-Amba Trail of Mt Pulag, but because of the recent fire incident at the Akiki Trail, we were told to do the Ambangeg Trail as the other trail was currently closed. As for us, it will still be Mt Pulag - same mountain, same summit.

After the seminar, it was another jeepney ride to Ambangeg Ranger Station where we can camp for the night.

Ambangeg Ranger Station

We started our trek around 3am on a very clear sky. The Ambangeg trail is very easy - no wonder they called it "the artista trail". Instead of going all the way to the summit, we decided to stay at the Tower site to wait for the sunrise.

We were blessed with a very good weather all throughout our Luzon 321 hike. We had a very beautiful sunrise with a marvelous sea of clouds! Every time we search for Mt Pulag on the internet, its sea of clouds view will always show up first. We never thought we would see them not just in the pictures but as well as in person - just right before our very eyes (char.. haha)

After being at awe at the magnificent sunrise and sea of clouds at the tower site, we climbed our way to the peak. Being a grassland with no trees going to the peak made us slow going uphill. The weather is cold but we can still feel the sun rays on our faces!

Mt Pulag Summit:

Wing and I only stayed for less than an hour at the peak. We then decided to do a trail run going back to the camp.

For me, it was a very successful Luzon 321 climb - very good weather all throughout the climb, clear summits (no fogs whatsoever), marvelous galaxy-like night sky, very beautiful sunrise, and the jaw-dropping sea of clouds. Every part of the climb you can always hear us say "Wow!"

Luzon 321 Team Pictures