The complete idiot guide for Kibungan Circuit

KIBUNGAN CIRCUIT
Kibungan, BenguetJumpoff (closed loop): Sitio Tanap, Poblacion, Kibungan
LLA: 1820 MASL (Tagpaya); 1875 MASL (Oten); 2105 (Tagpew)
Days required / Hours to summit: 2-3 days / 6-9 hours (Tagpaya)
Specs (Version 1): Major climb, Difficulty 5/9, Trail class 1-4
Specs (Version 2): Major climb, Difficulty 6/9, Trail class 1-4
Features: Pine ridges, mossy forests, rice terraces, village walks

Source : Pinoymountaineer.com

Welcome to Kibungan!

Just before the Holy Week, Im looking for a multiday hike to do with less expense because we are only two in the group. And the video from Loyola mountaineer inspire us to drop all of our plans and instead go to kibungan benguet to try the kibungan circuit. Of course doing it with two persons , the itenary will differ from doing it with a big group. So I once again, researched how the locals would do it, how are the locals go to kibungan from baguio and from kibungan back to baguio. I reached out to Engr Kolbel for information and he replied that Sir Charo is the new head of tourism and he gave me sir Charo's number. Since January this year, I constantly get in touched with sir Charo for logistics and information about kibungan and he glady reply to all of my inquiries, without his help the climb might not pushed trough or might not be comfortable than what we have experienced.

Kibungan Municipality Town Hall

We Met at Victory Terminal in Cubao, After more than 5 hours, we arrived in Baguio City, walked all the way to session road to eat breakfast and to buy our packed lunched. Then we took a taxi to Dangwa terminal and wait for the first trip of bus to Kibungan.

The travel time from Baguio to Kibungan will take within 3-4 hours with 2 stop over. It was 30 mins past 9am when we arrived in Kibungan Municipality. There we were met by Ferdie, our guide assigned to us by sir Charo. We have our last minute preparation and bought our supplies. At 10am, under the heat and  humidity, we started to walked to Kibungan mountain ranges.

The trail of Kibungan Mountain ranges

The trail was comparable to Mt Ugu,with weather like Mt Arayat and Mt Balingkilat. With continous ascend and short descend, We arrived in the first campsite at 3pm. The first campsite is also called Buga campsite,there are reliable water source nearby and clean bombsite.

Buga Campsite

From the first campsite to the 2nd campsite which is near Mt tagpew , it will take you between 6-8 hours depends on how long you take a break and how fast you are walking. We arrived at the 2nd campsite at 2pm. According to the guide we are the 2nd fastest group to arrived, the fastest was at 1pm. The tagpew campsite is much colder than the campsite in buga. The water source is just 5 to 10 mins walk and there are also restroom nearby. From the campsite it will also take within 20 mins hike to the summit of Mt Tagpew, the highest peak of the entire circuit.

At Mt Tagpaya. The first peak of the circuit.

The dry part of the trail

At Mt Oten. 

The trail to Ilocos or La Union

Mt Tagpew Summit

The Second Campsite. Near Mt Tagpew.

The descend back to poblacion is the most challenging part of the trekked. We are all accustomed to descend all the way to the jump off with just short ascend and flat terrain. In kibungan, the descend back to jump off is the most crucial and difficult because the entire trail is open, meaning you are under the mercy of the sun's heat that will surely drain your energy and sometimes your sanity. When you reached the road , you think its over and all the way easy ? Think again! After the first store on the side of the road, you will be back again on the trail. When  you passed the last hanging bridge,you will be up again for the surprise, this is the only trail that will let you finished still hiking up. And you are hiking up with the bugs constantly bugging to get into your eyes. We arrived at the municipality at 15 mins past 3pm to end our kibungan circuit adventure.

At Mayo's River

Sweet. Another small group climb.

 The complete idiot guide for climbing Kibungan Circuit

9pm  : Assembly at Victory liner Cubao. Fare : P445
10pm: Etd Cubao to Baguio

Day 1
4am   : Arrival in Baguio, walk to session road to have breakfast and to buy packed lunch/ dinner
5am   : Take taxi to Dangwa terminal. P40
6am   : Take first trip Bus to kibungan. The second and last trip was schedule at 11am. P130
9:30   : Arrival in Kibungan. Meet the guide, buy supplies. There are small stores in kibungan that sells meats, vegetables and other canned foods. No butane .
10am : Start trek
11am : Arrival at the Church, lunch break. Watersource nearby
12pm : Proceed hiking
3pm   : Arrival at the Buga Campsite : Restroom available. Watersource nearby

Day 2
5am  : wake up call
6:30  : start descend
7:00  : water source
10:00: Mt Bulalakaw. Lunch. Water source nearby
11:00: Proceed hiking
2pm  : Arrived at the 2nd campsite . Watersource and restroom available
pitch tent, relax . Enjoy the surrounding.
4:00  : Hike up to the summit of Mt Tagpew
4:15  : Eta Summit. Take pictures. Enjoy life.
4:30  : Start descend
4:45  : Back at the campsite

Day 3
6 am : wake up call
7:30  : Start descend
9:00  : Arrived at the church. Watersource. Take 30mins break
9:30  : Proceed
11:00: Mayo's River Lunch.
12:30: Proceed
3:15pm : Back at the Municipality. Rest.

Lodge is available for 200/head. There's a clean restroom so you can take a bath and change clothes. You can also cook in the lodge for your dinner. The small market and sari-sari store will be closed at 6pm.

First trip bus back to Baguio is at 5am. Fare is P130. Travel time 4 hours.
From Baguio take taxi to Victory liner. No need to reserve ticket.
Baguio to Manila : P445

Registration fee : P30
Guide fee          : P500/day
The guide have their own tent, cookset and food. Of course we can share our foods/trail food to the guide. The guide can only share your load up to 3kg. Because remember the guide have the same load as you are..

Enjoy The Kibungan Mountain Range Experience..

For guide and other information please contact : Charo - 09108771725

Kibungan rice terraces.

Dont forget to reward yourself for the climb. Try Goodtaste Beef Broccoli for less than P100

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...











































 

Dry Trail of the North

 Mt Arayat

After 2 months of hibernating, I found myself on the trail again. This time it was on the uncovered ,exposed and hot trail of Mt Arayat.

I told myself that after this climb, its only a couple of days and I will be hiking up in Mt Sicapoo.
So I should be conditioned enough and rested enough for another multi dayhike. But with 2 months of no practice, no running Im dead tired after this dayhike. Maybe next time I should squeezed out even just one day hike a month and couple of jogging exercise will get my legs the desired condition I want.

I dont want to be the fastest or the strongest on the trail, I leave that title to those who hike years before me. I just want to finish the climb with no injury and not caused any burden to the group Im climbing with. Not that fast, but not very slow either..

This is just a minor climb, and can hike up for 2 hours, unfortunately those 2 months of not hiking can have a big effect on my legs and lungs as I find it taking a toll on me. With less preparation and anticipation, I did not bring enough trail water that can sustain me for the entire climb, much less of the traverse trail that we initially planned. It took us almost 4 hours to hike up, and 2 hours to go down. The trail was just easy to follow, with much less confusing for. However most people said that doing the traverse is not that easy, with less visible trail sign and more confusing fork, to our dismay because we do not have enough water, we aborted the plan of going down in san juan bano area.

This mountain should be climb early in the morning if you plan to do a dayhike , or traverse, and late in the afternoon if you plan to stay for the night. At the campsite, where the basecamp of the military is, there is no water source. Its completely dried up there and in the entire trail

                          My hiking buddy doing his signature planking pose

                     

                              At the south peak,looking at the north peak


How to do it..

From Cubao you can take the bus going to mariveles,orani or any buses that will pass by Sm San Fernando.
Fare : P102

From SM San Fernando take the jeep bound for Magalang, Alight in Jollibee Magalang.
You can buy your packed lunch and get some trail water there.
Fare : P35

Ride tricycle to Jump off.
P100/head

Sunday Afternoon with MCAP

Last Sunday I was invited by my friend to join the ropemanship and knot tying training with Marc Gana. Those people who are into rock climbing and rappelling they know and climbed with  Marc. He was the founder of the extreme adventure zone, and have years of experience using the rope. He is a rockstar (working with rocks ) on his own right.

                                   Marc showing his ways with the rope

Mcap-short for- Mountain Climber Alliance of the Phillipines another group created on facebook by Edwin Gatia- whose name always associated when you mentioned Guiting Guiting.As he, among others-included in the first group who was able to reached the Peak of  Mt Guiting Guiting back in the days.

Ropemanship is the skill climbing with ropes. All outdoor enthusiast, from some point of their lives probably used ropes one way or the other. Ropemanship is also important skills to have to rescue lives during natural disaster and catastrophe-such as typhoon- flash food, landslide, earthquake or any other emergency that requires rope to save lives and properties. Having said that ,being an ourdoorsman requires us to have a few skills with knot tying.

                                Marc is sharing some of his favorite knots

Ropemanship always goes hand in hand with knot tying. According to Marc and from the internet there are thousands of knots available. But you dont need to memorize all of it, you just need to learned  a few knots and how to used in a given situation really matters. Bear Grylls shared his Top 10 knots on his ipod/iphone applications . Marc Gana shared his top 20 on the training.

For simplicity, I will just share some of it. These are very easy to learned and to remember. As of all other things, practicing it ,until it becomes second nature should be your main goal, because you really never know when and where  you're going to need it-maybe the life you will save will be your own.

The following knots below are some of most used knots in backpacking and hiking. From tying your guyline to the peg, or making a makeshift tarp or tying your hammock to a tree.  These knots are very useful in the outdoors. 

1. Bowline - makes a reasonably secure loop in the end of a piece of rope. It has many uses, e.g., to fasten a mooring line to a ring or a post. Under load, it does not slip or bind. With no load it can be untied easily. Two bowlines can be linked together to join two ropes. Its principal shortcoming is that it cannot be tied, or untied, when there is a load on the standing end. It should therefore be avoided when, for example, a mooring line may have to be released under load.

2.Figure of eight - allows the simple and reliable Figure 8 loop to be tied to a ring, a carabiner, or your own harness. It is reasonably easy to remember, tie, and check. When completed it forms a Figure 8 Loop

3. Clove hitch -A clove hitch is a type of knot. Along with the bowline and the sheet bend, it is often considered one of the most important knots.^[1] A clove hitch is two successive half-hitches around an object. It is most effectively used as a crossing knot. It can be used as a binding knot, but is not particularly secure in that role.^[2] A clove hitch made around the rope's own standing part is known as either two half-hitches or buntline hitch, depending on whether the turns of the clove hitch progress away from or towards the hitched object.

4.Cow Hitch - The cow hitch is a hitch knot used to attach a rope to an object. The cow hitch comprises a pair of half-hitches tied in opposing directions, as compared to the clove hitch in which the half-hitches are tied in the same direction. It has several variations and is known under a variety of names. It can be tied either with the end of the rope or with a bight.

5.Overhand Knot - The overhand knot is one of the most fundamental knots and forms the basis of many others including the simple noose, overhand loop, angler's loop, reef knot, fisherman's knot and water knot. The overhand knot is very secure, to the point of jamming badly. It should be used if the knot is intended to be permanent. It is often used to prevent the end of a rope from unraveling.

6.Sheep Shank - The sheepshank is a type of knot that is used to shorten a rope or take up slack. This knot is not stable. It will fall apart under too much load or too little load.

7. Sheet bend (also known as becket bend, weaver's knot and weaver's hitch) is a bend, that is, a knot that joins two ropes together. Doubled, it is effective in binding lines of different diameter or rigidity securely together, although it has a tendency to work loose when not under load.

 8. Square Knot ( Reef Knot ) - The reef knot or square knot is an ancient and simple binding knot used to secure a rope or line around an object. Although the reef knot is often seen used for tying two ropes together, it is not recommended for this purpose due to potential instability of the knot.
A reef knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot and then a right-handed overhand knot, or vice versa. A common mnemonic for this procedure is "right over left, left over right", which is often appended with the rhyming suffix "... makes a knot both tidy and tight". Two consecutive overhands of the same handedness will make a granny knot. The working ends of the reef knot must emerge both at the top or both at the bottom, otherwise a thief knot results.

9.Taut-line hitch -The taut-line hitch is an adjustable loop knot for use on lines under tension. It is useful when the length of a line will need to be periodically adjusted in order to maintain tension. It is made by tying a rolling hitch around the standing part after passing around an anchor object. Tension is maintained by sliding the hitch to adjust size of the loop, thus changing the effective length of the standing part without retying the knot.It is typically used for securing tent lines in outdoor activities involving camping, by arborists when climbing trees,^[1] for creating adjustable moorings in tidal areas,^[2] and to secure loads on vehicles.

 

  

10.Siberian Hitch (or Evenk knot) is a knot used to attach a rope to an object. The hitch is thought to have originated from the Evenk people of Siberia.^{[citation needed]} It is a quick release hitch often used by Ray Mears during his bushcraft television series. The hitch is known for the ease in which it can be tied even whilst wearing gloves or mittens in cold climates. This hitch is also slipped and therefore can be released by pulling the short end of the rope.^[1]

 

 

^{Disclaimer :} 

 ^{All pictures of the knots above and its descriptions came from the internet.} 

 

^{I wanna say thank you to all Mcap members for their warm welcome and hospitality . And to Marc Gana for sharing his talents and time to make this event possible.}

 

 

 

  

The longest night

Talomo-Apo Traverse Day 4

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.

                                         Mountain Hardwear Sprite 1

                                            Silangan Tent in Mt Apo

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.

                              The mighty Maximus and Jm on top of Mt Apo

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 ?

                                   Mt Tampurong seen form the boulders

                                    The famous boulders of Mt Apo

                                        Camp Gudi Gudi trash area

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.

                                          Mcap Max on the summit

                                   The Glorious Sunrise on Top of Mt Apo

                           At Sitio Mainit, End of 4 days Talomo-Apo Traverse


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.

+++++
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
+++++
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
+++++
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
+++++
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

Talomo-Apo Traverse Day 3

We woke up at 5:30am and quickly prepared our breakfast. We are still too far from Basinan campsite. It will took up to 3 hours to Basinan Campsite and from Basinan 4-5 hours to Lake Venado. The trail from e-camp to Basinan is the continuation of the trail from Talomo Summit. Still difficult , muddy, slippery, lots of logs crossing and to top if all , theres the chill being on a high altitude the trek became more challenging. We constantly found ourselves taking a small break,sitting and standing on the heat of the sun, trying to warm our bodies. Eventually , after couple hours of walking, we reached Basinan Campsite at 9:30am.

                                    Resting under the sun, getting warm.

                                     Approaching the Basinan Campsite.

From Basinan campsite to Lake Venado, the trail became less hostile, allowing us to walk without balancing on logs. Its 2pm when we reached Lake Venado , and took up our lunch facing the Almighty Mt Apo's Peak.

                                          At the Basinan Campsite

We know that it will be 3-4 hours ascend to Mt Apo Campsite. This time there will be no E-camp, We will pushed to reach the summit, even if it means we need to walk at night.

                                             Another forested area.

                       Almost there, I can see from here the peak of Mt Apo.

                           Lake Venado and Mt Apo, just a few minutes away.

 We expected that we will run out of sunlight before reaching the campsite, and with the constant ascend,meaning we are gaining altitude,We know that it will be windy and cold up there. So I ready my jacket and headlamp, I dont want to be caught unprepared when the sun's out and im already cold.

                                      Looking back at Lake Venado.

Slowly the air is getting thinner and the sun's moving quickly to set, so with little rest to take the pictures and enjoy the view,  we are constantly moving forward.

                                          The fogs are getting lower.

It is so difficult to walk at night up there, specially with the wind blowing in all directions, you might lose your balance. Lucky for us , it didnt rain. It just that the wind is so fierce,that my buddy got the first stage of hyphothermia. I was protected by my choice of gear. So the wind is not frightening me at the moment, because Im not getting cold.

                              Getting ready for the nasty weather up there.


I was constantly moving,only resting for a minute to check if Max still behind me. I can still see his headlamp , but we cannot hear each other because of the strong wind engulfing the whole surrounding. I know it will be more trouble if I proceed alone in the dark, so I decided to wait for my buddy finding cover on the big rocks on the trail. If your not moving and your on the open area, the wind will give you creeps, as it is so fierced and hostile, that I sometimes wonder what the hell am i doing there ? With constant movement and hope and will power, we made it safe.,then our guide approach as just before the campsite, saying that one of us is missing. We are shocked because we know that he went ahead of us. He was with our two guides. Imagine our fear and dismay to find out that he is lost somewhere on the trail, under the darkness and violent wind.

                       It might appear that this is an easy ascent, but hell no!!
                         The air is thinner and the wind is so fierce up there.

We just hope that he will not panic and stay safe all trough the night. We hope and pray all night that he is safe somewhere in the wilderness.

To be continued..