Wish there was a shade..

Mt Sicapoo traverse to Mt Simagaysay Day 3

We woke up once again at 4am, this will be our last day in the mountains. We still need to cross Mt timarid and Mt simagaysay under the intense heat with no trail cover and limited water supply 

Hot And Dry, Yet a Beauty

It was a continuous up and down journey until we reached a small forested part of the trail only to emerge again into the open hot trail. Most of the time we are walking on a steep edges with just a little slip you will find yourself deep below the edges, if your lucky you will still be alive. 

See that? We just came trough that peak

 

The trail on the 3rd day. Pics courtesy or Rus de guzman.

The sun keeps on tormenting us troughout that long walk. Will just a little shade along the way, we found ourselves wishing and hoping for the clouds to covered the sky.There are at least 2 or 3 trees that at least an hour apart from each other. When we get there , we rested and cool down our body. We know that we might be in danger of having a heat stroke. Some of us have said that they will just wait for the sun to set before hiking again, even though they walked at night, but this idea didnt materialize as every now and then, our guide keeps on motivating us to move forward.

Open trail.Pics courtesy of R.de Guzman

With our tired body and dry mouth, we eventually reached the one degree plateu.This is the place where you can feast on duhat and recharge your body with water. I wish i have instilled in me the water disclipine they are talking about. And have trained more under the heat. However, I thank God for not giving me  a sore knees and weak spirits troughout the climb. Im tired but not wasted. We arrived at tatay emilios house at 4:30pm. For me , its alway an added bonus if you arrived in your target destination just before the darkness came in.

Hot and dry. Wish there was a cloud. Pics of R.de Guzman

 

One degree Plateu.Just like africa. Pics of R.de Guzman

Mt sicapoo is one of the hardest trek i have done so far, Second only to the real deal Talomo-Apo traverse. Ill be back soon to experience once again the long walk, as I found myself more intrigued and fascinated and motivated by long and hard trek. I might be slow, but i know eventually ill get to where I want to go..

Team Russell

With Melo, Tatay Emilio and Dan Pogi

The event itenaries

MT. SICAPOO ‘CLIMB OF THE ABNORMAL’
By PTN (Philippines Team Neverest), powered by Tingguian Tribe

DAY 0
1600 Meet up/assembly @ Partas Cubao Terminal
1730 ETD to Laoag via Partas liner

DAY 1 

0330 ETA Laoag City
0345 Assembly Jollibee Bacarra Road ; Breakfast; buy packed lunch
0430 ETD Solsona Poblacion
0500 ETA Solsona Poblacion, Register @ PNP station,
0515 ETA Tata Emilio Hauz @ Brgy. Manalpac, last preparation
0600 Start Trek
0700 ETA Gate
1100 ETA Parpar Creek Camp;Lunch
1200 ETD for Saulay Junction
1415 ETA Balbalitok Peak, coffee break
1700 ETA Mt. Saulay Junction, Pitch tent


Day 2 

0400 Wake up/ Breakfast
0630 Start Trek
0800 ETA Mt. balbalite peak
0900 ETA Mt.Pakpako Peak Camp Site
1100 Lunch Along the trail of Mt. Matalidong
1130 Resume Trek
1400 ETA Sicapoo Summit; Pictures
1415 Start descent
1600 ETA Matalidong “coffee break”
1715 ETA Mt.Pakpako Camsite
1800 ETA Campsite

Day 3 

0500 Wake up/ Breakfast, prepare for breakfast, packed lunch
0700 Start trek to Mt. Timarid traverse Mt.Simagaysay
0800 ETA Saulay junction
0945 ETA Nagdata Camp site
1000 Start ascent Mt. Timarid via 70 to 80 degree ascent
1200 ETA Mt. Timarid, lunch/emergency snack
1300 Descent/ascent Mt.Simagaysay
1415 ETA Mt. Simmagaysay, descent to one degree plateu/Picture along the trail/ridge.
1530 ETA ODMG Plateu
1600 ETA Solsona Dam
1630 ETA Tatay Emilio hauz, party party

 

The penguin Beak

Mt Sicapoo traverse Day 2

We woke up at 4am under the only cold nights we had in the campsite. Immediately we prepare our breakfast and packed lunch. At 6:30am we began our way to reachead the summit of Mt Sicapoo.

The trail was the continuation of the steep edges and non stop assault that we already experienced in Day 1. With light packs, we easily navigated trough the trail. But the trail was too long, so even with light packs, we are dead tired. After a few hours of walking on the open trail, We entered the short forest of Sicapoo.

First team

After almost 8 hours of hiking the first group arrived at the Peak, kiss the penguin beak and congratulate eachother for a job well done. After just a few minutes, the 2nd group arrived. We just spent a few minutes taking pictures and enjoy the surroundings, because we know that its a long way back to our campsite, and all of uagree that we dont want to hiked at night. Will less visibility and anticipated cold weather, we rushed our way back . Our guides informed us that most of the group arrived at night . Some arrived at 10pm the earliest would be 7pm. But to our surprise we arrived at the campsite just before 6pm , just in time before the darkness engulf the whole area. 

The Penguin's Beak

 As usual, We prepare our dinner and share our personal challenges of the trail onwards . 

Little did we know that the last day would be the toughest and most difficult part of the entire traverse..

A celebration of a job well done.Smile Guys.

Climb for the Pringles

Mt. Sicapoo/Traverse via Timarid-Simagaysay (2,354 +)

*MT. SICAPOO
Solsona, Ilocos Norte
Entry point: Gasgas River, Brgy. Manalpac, Solsona
Exit point: Solsona Dam, Brgy. Manalpac, Solsona
LLA: 2354 MASL
Days required / Hours to summit: 4 days / 16-18 hours
Specs: Major climb, Exploratory, Difficulty 9/9, Trail class 2-5
Features: Pine forest, Traverse trail, River crossing

*source : pinoymountaineer.com

Group pics at the penguin beak.Courtesy of Russel De Guzman

 Day 1

Dubbed as the most difficult traverse in the north, with the rating of 9/9, together with few known friends and first time climb buddies, we venture and accept the challenge to traverse sicapoo in 3 days. The climb labeled as "The climb of the abnormals". Onedegreemountaineer suggest in their multiply page that for much comfortable itenaries, the traverse should be completed in 4 days. However, we dont want to comfortable arent we? We all want a new challenges that can bring us to our knees and tell ourselves " Why on earth am i doing this ? ". 

So the adventure begins..

Start of the trek

I already planned and gather logistics for this climb last year. I already coordinated trough email to onedegree, already have the budget and the form to fill out, but with lack of charisma, I failed to gather enough participants for the climb to materialize. So It remains a big dream until the right time comes. 

Melo Sanchez was popular in local mountaineering, as having done a enormous climb records and feats, he is one of the living legend in the field. Some called him "halimaw" (monster) for having successfully completed some of the country's toughest mountain in shorter itenaries, and to be able to have a long stamina and endurance as he can keep walking with no rest until campsite.

Melo Sanchez. Picture of Dan Garcia Samarita

He posted in Facebook that he will be organizing a climb in Mt Sicapoo. I, Myself have this kind of ambition to climb with him, to see how strong he really is. So I send him a message that I want to join the event. However Im not yet comfortable to climb with strangers, and it would be more fun to climb the toughest mountain with someone you already know. So I invite some of my climbing buddies to join me on the event and to my joy, they said say. So the plan begins, to gather information for the event, logistics planning, food preparation and some other things. 

And the climb begins..

We all met at Partas Bus station in Cubao. We arrived in Laog at around 3am, have breakfast, bought packed lunch and dinner, then rode the jeepney to jumpoff. We started to trek at around 6:30am.

First part was a long walk in the flat road,then we entered the first river crossing of Gasgas River. Luckily for us the water was only knee deep, so we dont have any trouble crossing the river. To my count there is at least 4-5 wide river crossing and 3 or more short river crossing or i might be mistaken.I have a climbing strategy to cross the river, as I knew that the rocks below the river might at times became too slippery or the current might be strong deeply, so I pick up a short walking stick, and never left it until Im back at the jumpoff at the end of the climb. Having a third leg in river crossing is also a safety precaution for me, and it help me secure my footing many times, and I have escaped a number of slip and fall.

The First River Crossing. Picture of Dan Garcia Samarita

River Crossing with Walking Stick.Picture of Dan Garcia Samarita

At 11am, we reached the end of the river crossing and took our lunch at the area after the crossing. After 30mins, with the sun shines at its fulles, we began the non stop ascent to the mountain. With numerous ascent and short descent, only to hike up again, on the ridges under the scorching sun, We eventually reached the saulay campsite or crossing at 4pm. We supposed to camp at bubuos campsite, but with some of our companion already showed signs of fatigue, we all agree to call it a day. Of course we all know that tomorrow, another set of challenges, torture and pain awaits all of us. 

Start of the Assault. Picture of Samuel Solidarios

Assault under the heat

Picture of the Gentleman, Russel De Guzman

Campsite.Picture of hiking buddy Dan Garcia Samarita

To be continued...