Trekking Mt. Purgatory

Province of Benguet. Mt. Purgatory.

Day 01: 18 August 2012

Jump-off point

Taking advantage of the the long weekend, 13 of us went up the mountainous province of Benguet to experience the trails and see the summit of "Purgatory". 

We left the Bus terminal bound for Baguio 15 minutes before 12AM. My group mates - Sir Martin, Angel and Gem took the same bus at Cubao station. 

At 6:30AM the following day, we saw each other at the bus terminal in the city of Pines. We boarded the monster jeep and left for the municipality of Bokod. We stopped at a nearby restaurant for breakfast and at the same time to pack for our lunch along the trail. 

Trail to Mt. Pugatory

On the way to Bokod, I and few hiker friends enjoyed staying at the top of the jeepney while we drove along steep and winding road. At around 8:00AM, we were at Bokod municipal office to register and to see a short audio-visual presentation of what to expect along the trails going up Purgatory. 

Mt. Pack summit

The briefing was quick and we headed on to the jump-off point. The jump-off point was not so far away from the municipal office and so we started our journey to Purgatory from Yapas jump-off point at around 10:00AM. 

Mt. Purgatory summit

Our guide said there are 5 peaks that we will have to traverse. The first peak being Mt. Mangakew (1709 MASL). It was a warm-up for the most of us starting the trek on an inclined trail from Yapas. Our first destination was Mt. Mangakew. 

Our journey to Mangakew was generally nice as the trail is wide and mostly covered with nice pine trees. It was also very nice to meet many locals along our way. At around 11AM, we were at Mt. Mangakew. Although, it does not look like a peak, I saw a signage "Welcome to Mt. Mangakew" so I told myself, this is the first peak. 

Bakian Elementary School

We continued our journey and just before reaching Mt. Pack, there was a drizzle and so our guide decided to have our lunch at a nearby hut. There were plenty of water source in the area. We arrived at the waiting shed at around 1:30PM and we resumed our trek to Mt. Pack. We entered the mossy forest. After 2 hours of trekking inside the mossy forest, we finally reached Mt. Pack at 2310 MASL. 

Camp at Bakian Elementary School building

Our guide said that if there was a clearing, we should have a nice view of Mt. Pulag on the view deck. However, the fog turns thicker and there was zero visibility. After taking pictures and few minutes of rest, we continued trekking to Mt. Purgatory. Still through the mossy forest, it was the longest mossy forest I'd ever trekked. 

We reached Mt. Purgatory at around 6:00PM and it started to turn dark and drizzling. Continuing our trek from Mt. Purgatory, it turned dark with the thick fog and getting inside the mossy even made the trail almost invisible. 

Preparing for Mt. Komkompol assault

Night trekking the mossy forest going to the Bakian Primary school was quiet challenging with only a very limited portion of the trail was visible. It was cold, the trail was slippery, we trekked inside the mossy forest for more than an hour going to the Bakian Primary school. 

We reached the school at around 8PM. It was dark and cold. Our guide decided to force-open the lock of the school door as the person incharge of the key could not be contacted with a fluctuating mobile phone signal in the area. After setting inside the school building, we were safe. We prepared our dinner and there was a quick socials and then finally lights out. See more photos.

Day 02: 19 August 2012

Pine Trees

Encamped at Bakian Primary school. Wake-up call time at 5;00AM, everyone was excited for the day. 

Trekking up to Mt. Kokompol is said to be the most challenging part of the entire climb. The sky was still cloudy and so we didn't have the chance to see sunrise at Bakian viewdeck. 

Crossing water stream

We had quick breakfast and then started our trek. This trek was really more chalenging as there are more steep part of the trail. 

At around 8:00AM, we reached Mt. Tangbaw (2193 MASL). Part of the long mossy forest is spread until Mt. Kokompol. After an hour and a half trek, we reached the highest point of the entire trail at Mt. Kokompol with an elevation of 2329 MASL. This was also the end of the mossy forest. 

Mt. Kom-Kompol summit

Continuing our trek, we reached Giw-giweng municipal hall and we had our early lunch there. At 12:30PM, we resumed our trek now going down to Karao where the vehicle that will bring us back to the jump-off point was waiting.

Giw-Giweng

Now trekking on a descending wide trail to Karao was also challenging. From Giw-giweng, the road to Karao is approxiumately 7 kilometers according to our guide. It was raining and cold, we trekked the road to Karao. 

Ambuklao Dam

At 3:30PM, we reached Karao, tidy up and then head on back to Bokod munipal hall to log-out. According to our guie, the length of the entire trail is atleast 24 kilometers, longer than the stretch of EDSA. It was a nice climb, the trails and the mountain are still magnificent although the weather was not so favorable. We left Baguio 10PM. See more photos.

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