Mount Damas Traverse (+ Ubod Falls)

7-8 February 2015

In preparation for my Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar trek, I joined my colleague Luther and his friends on their hike to the peak of Mount Damas, Tarlac. Luther’s friends took care of everything (logistics, food, tent… everything!) and all I had to worry about was carrying myself and personal pack. To a regular person, the trail should take about 5-6 hours but it took us 9 hours (as usual, I was part of the tail of the group). Despite being only 685 meters above sea level, the trail has 3-4 hours (my pace) of 60-70 degree continuous ascent and a few hours of some of rock climbing and rappelling.

Rappelling

The trail also passes over one mountain to get to the summit of Mount Damas. That means, we went up and down and then up again to reach our camp site. It got dark before we reached campsite so we had to hike with our headlamps. 

 

The trail challenge

3 hours of ascent this steep

The summit was just a few minutes away from the campsite, so we didn’t have to wake up that early to catch the sun rise. After a couple of photos on the summit, we broke our fast and headed towards Ubod Falls. The trail included climbing over rocks and a small waterfall. But since I was acrophobic, it seemed like going through a death zone. After one particular climbing part, my legs felt like jell-o and I succumbed to zombie-mode.

Ubod Falls

We had lunch at Ubod Falls, which was a refreshing stop considering the heat and humidity. Going back didn’t get any easier. We also had to go up and down again. The trail was so steep that I was on all fours going up and I climbed down backwards (others slid on their way down). Several parts of the trail had ropes (or more like trunks and bamboos) to pull you up or guide you down. It was such a good thing that the trail wasn’t wet.

 

Sunrise over our camp site

I didn’t expect much from this trip but it was well worth it. The trail was fantastic and challenging (especially to an acrophobic). And the best part was the group—I had never encountered such nice and friendly mountaineers. :)  

Almost Conquering Kanlaon

Date of Trip: 27-28 December 2014

I've been constantly sick for the last four months, hindering me from getting in shape for my plan to trek to Everest Base Camp. So, while spending the holidays in my hometown in Bacolod City, I decided to hike Mount Kanlaon.

My dad had been encouraging us to join him at Mount Kanlaon for the last two years. Finally, this Christmas Season, my 10-year old sister Belle and I joined my dad, our relatives and his friends to Mount Kanlaon.

Despite having barely any physical activity for the last couple of months, I was pretty much confident with my ability to hike. I had just bought a 35+10L Deuter ACT Lite backpack, which felt comfortable to carry and having learned my lesson from Mount Bulusan, I limited my pack to 8kg. My dad also hired 2 porters to bring the rest of our stuff. My dad and uncles took care of all the logistics, meals and well, just about everything! So all I had to do was bring my healthy self (I really didn't need to carry a large pack but I decided to carry 8kg for practice).

Steep trail

We took the Guintubdan trail going up and going down. As I have hoped, the trail was forested and cool. It was also steep, had a lot of obstructions (fallen trees and rocks) along the way, and involved some technical climbing. This was Belle's first hike and although she effortlessly ascended the steep trails, she got pretty overwhelmed crossing on logs, and climbing over mud, roots and rocks. Since I was watching over my little sister and we were trudging up the mountain slowly, the ascent didn't feel that difficult to me. I have already learned to pace myself and slow down once I start having difficulty breathing. I already warned my dad and Belle that I'm an awfully slow hiker. At some point, Belle just wanted to turn around and go home, which was of course impossible because we were already about a quarter away to the campsite and it would be getting dark soon. When she realized she had to go through everything she went through to go back, she started to panic. She eventually calmed down and we finally made it to camp after about 6-7 hours of hiking.

Camping at the saddle

After a cold and windy night, we woke up to a cold and windy morning with news that we couldn't summit because of the weather. And even more unfortunate, we also received news that our grandaunt died.

The foggy trail to the summit left us summitless

I had more difficulty going down the mountain. My ankles were in pain and my toes were dying. I was also feeling tired already that I had difficulty keeping my balance. At one point, I fell and rolled down, leaving me shaken and dirty. Belle, on the other hand, didn't have any trouble on our way back. How I envy healthy kids!

After the climb, I realized that I always find myself exhausted on the way back, from the mountain. If I were to go trekking for 14 days in Nepal, how will I manage days 2-14? Sigh. I need to hike some more.

Mount Kanlaon Photo Gallery