We camp on the summit of Mt Apo campsite, near the peak facing the Boulders. The wind was so strong that I need to tie a guyline to my mountain hardwear sprite 1 for another protection. The dinner that we have that night is my pre packed power oat meal, to give us an energy boost and to warm our core. We keep on hoping and praying that Sir Castell,somehow is also warm and cozy on the place he choose to spend the night. We made a plan that first thing first in the morning , Bigboy and Datu will look for him on the trail to Sta cruz, because we know it will be for difficult to find him at night, with the cold weather and strong wind, we don't want to add more people to be worried about.
My SOL heatsheet emergency bivy protected me all night, high altitude, cold weather and strong winds, somehow I was warm inside my tent , not fearing any signs and symptoms of hypothermia.
But you see, I might have asleep with one eye open because I know that on the other tents, they are also worried about our lost companion. The night is darker just before the dawn as they said, this is our longest night, We havent had enough sleep, We keep on checking the time if its now safe to look for Castell.
At long last the darkness fade giving Bigboy the chance to descend to the trail which he believes Sir errol spend the night. And indeed he found Castell there, preparing his things to ascend to the summit.Imagine our Joy when we found out that he is safe and sound.Earlier , Max and I ascend to the peak of Mt Apo near the boulders to catch the sunrise, to witness the Gods wonderful creation. We have a sea of clouds everwhere, we were stunned by beauty of surroundings while the sun illuminate the entire area giving us the most magnificent view we have seen on top. As I said to myself, there I am on top of the highest peak in the country, Im not a newbie anymore, those people who have been looking down on me because Im not able to set foot on Mt Apo,well Im not only summitted Mt Apo doing your regular trail , I was able to conquer it coming from Mt Talomo.
After our reunion on the campsite, we prepared and ate our breakfast , quickly breakcamp , then passed by the summit again , then start our descend to boulders. This is the most difficult part of the descend. We need to make sure that when we set foot on the rocks, it will not slide. So slowly but safely we descend to the boulders, sniffing the sulfurs thats venting out of surface. After an hour the entrance to the forested trail emerged, then its an easy up and down trekked. We arrived in Gudi Gudi campsite only to be disappointed with a lot of trash everywhere. We know for a fact that organizers from Manila just went there a week or two prior to us, They charging their participants way to high, Imagine if they hire a locals who can manage their trash and bring it all the way down ? They dont want to slice up their profits, you corrupt mountaineers, shame on you.. You bring up a lot of people on the mountains but you cannot bring your trash down ?
Much to has been said about that issue, we continue our descend and 30 minutes past 3pm we arrived in the area they called paradise, and at 4:15 pm we arrived at the end point of the trek the sitio mainit area. We tidy up, wait for habal habal to take us up to digos. After an hour of habal habal ride, we arrived at Digos bus terminal, have our dinner and post climb meeting. Then after that, we take bus to Davao. We arrived at Davao ecoland bus terminal at 8:00pm and then the fellowship went their own way with the unforgettable adventure inside their hearts and mind.
Special thanks to Bigboy Sator and Jun Sicao for accompanying us to the toughest traverse in the country. For making sure we will not trek at night, and for always preparing our food in the entire journey. I will never forget the two of you..
Special thanks to Castell Faber for joining me in this climb.
and many thanks to sir Maximus for the help and support in making sound decisions on the mountains, for securing our ride from the airport to the jump off . For always walking with me on the insane difficult trail of the entire traverse, and for helping me document the climb and of course for the many pictures that will be forever cherished in our memories..
All of this would not be possible without you..
Until next time..
All the pictures used courtesy of Maximus tercerus
This itenaries based on Maximus documentation
This is a 4 day itinerary as based on the trekking we did for the Mt. talomo- Mt. Apo Traverse.
One can extend it to a 5 day traverse for a less exhausting trek though it may add to your expenses for food and guide/porter services.
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Day 1:
0600 – ETA Davao City International Airport (for the people coming from Manila) / Meet up with guide and transport service.
0630 – Purchase additional supplies at Bankerohan Market.
0700 – ETD Tamayong, Calinan
0830 – ETA Tamayong, Calinan / Breakfast and Repacking
0900 – ETD Sicao Village
1000 – ETA Sicao Village ; Register: P150/head ; Meet our porter and co-guide
1030 – ETA Mt. Talomo
1200 – Lunch on the trail
1400 – ETA Utan River
1730 – ETA Camp 2/ Lumot Campsite ; prep dinner
2030 – Lights out
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Day 2
0500 – Wake Up Call / Breakfast
0640 – Break Camp / ETD Mt. Talomo summit
0920 – ETA Mt. Talomo summit
1000 – Descent from summit, ETA for Lipopoccan Peak
1100 – ETA Lipopoccan Peak
1200 – ETA Canlelang Peak / Lunch
1500 – ETA Kabacan Falls / River
1730 – ETA e-camp site
1800 – Dinner
2100 – Lights out
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Day 3
0500 – Wake Up Call / Breakfast
0645 -- Break Camp / ETD Basinan Campsite
0850 – ETA Basinan Campsite
1400 – ETA Lake Venado
1500 – ETD Mt. Apo summit campsite
1800—ETA Summit Campsite / Dinner
2000 – Lights out
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Day 4
0520 – Wake Up Call
0545 – Assault peak, viewing and picture taking
0630 – Breakfast
0800 – ETD Descent to Boulders
1030 – ETA Godi-Godi Campsite
1200 – ETA Baroring
1300 –ETA Upper Sabwag / Lunch
1530 – ETA Sitio Paradise
1615 – ETA Sitio Mainit / End of trek / Clean Up
1700 – ETD Digos Bus Terminal
1800 – ETA Digos Bus Terminal / Dinner
2000 – ETA Davao City
How to do it :
Please contact Bigboy Sator for complete information and climb package. He will be happy to help you.
Bigboy : 09297976642
For another information :
Please visit pinoymountaineer.com
For maximus own word description of the traverse please go to this link
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.529324833768421.123054.100000727261650&type=1
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