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| The article below is lifted from Pinoy Mountaineer website. For details, go to http://www.pinoymountaineer.com/2007/09/mt-pulag-2922.html |
Mt. Pulag is accessible throughout the year, but it is much more advisable to climb it during the early months of the year, for many reasons. Bad weather, for instance, may not allow the jeep to reach the Ranger Station. Also, clouds may very well obscure the fabled Pulag views, which may lead to disappointment. Moreover, rainy conditions would make it even colder. Thus the advisable time frame for Pulag is between December-early May. However, Pulag may be climbed year round and if you're lucky you can have nice weather even in the so-called typhoon months of June to September.
Logistics. If you wish to do Pulag by yourself, there are two important contacts to know when climbing Mt. Pulag. First is that of Gina Epi who arranges jeepney transportation from Baguio City to the Ranger Station (and elsewhere, i.e. the Akiki jump-off). She may be contacted at +63.919.816.9234. For the itinerary detailed above, the going rate for the jeepney transportation ranges from P8000-9000. For small groups, the mode of transportation is by bus -- take the A Liner Bus in Dangwa at Baguio City (around P120). This passes by the Visitors' Center in Ambangeg, and from there you can either rent a jeep up Ranger, walk the road up, or have motorcycles ('habal-habal') to take you to Ranger Station at P150/trip/
The other contact is the DENR Park Superintendent for the Mt. Pulag National Park, Ma'am Emerita Albas. She may be reached at +639196315402. You do not have to worry about guides or porters because the system in Pulag is orderly. If in need of an extra tent, one may be rented at the Ranger Station for P75. As for guides, the rate is P500/guide for 1-5 persons, and P100 for each addition person thereafter. The maximum number of persons/guide is 10 (P1000) but with 11 persons, the cost is just (P1100). Porters may also be secured at P300/day.
Victory Liner is the bus line with the most number of trips to Baguio. Seats are numbered and it is advisable to reserve tickets beforehand especially for large groups. A 2300H departure time is optimal for the itinerary above. As of Jan. 2011 the bus fare ranges from 440-460 PHP. Facilities. You can take a bath or rinse either at the Ranger Station or the Protected Area Office. There are latrines in Camp 2, and a water source is also present in the mossy forest just before the grassland. Cellphone signal exists in many parts of the trail, including the ranger station, the campsite, and the summit.
Health and safety: The extreme weather of Mt. Pulag has taken its toll on climbers; hypothermia is a common complication. Also, take note that high altitudes have less oxygen content. Persons with asthma or other pulmonary conditions must seek a physician's go-signal first before proceeding. Medications such as epinephrine and may be included on the group's first aid kit. Epinephrine is also useful for anaphylactic shock (severe allergic reaction) which is a possibility considering that Mt. Pulag's conifers and pollens . Even veteran climbers, when scaling Pulag from December to February, should prepare for weather extremes. The wind chill factor at the summit can take its toll, even as temperature very rarely goes subzero. Check your equipment also if it can withstand such. One advantage of the cold, though, is that food is better preserved, acting like a refrigerator.
Another must-bring medicine is Meclizine (i.e. Bonamine) because the rough-road trip from Baguio to the Ranger Station, and back, is really nauseating. If you forget this, however, you can buy them at the stopovers shops along the road (i.e. Km. 50).
Miscellaneous. You can buy souvenir bonnets (P35) and shirts (P180) at the Protected Area Office. Also, you can leave your group or personal effects (i.e. IDs, pictures, posters) to join the memorabilia displayed at the office lobby. If you wish to have climb certificates, you can print them in advance, leave them before you climb, and pick it up upon signing out.
TRIVIA
There used to be a dog named Chica which guides mountaineers up the mountain. In 2003, when the blogger first climbed Mt. Pulag, Chica followed all the way to the summit. It was a chillingly cold November.
Parts of Mt. Pulag are claimed as "ancestral domains" of the different tribes, such as the Kankaney, Ibaloi, and Kalanguya tribes. The guides and porters belong to these indigenous communities.
Each mountaineering group has its own trivia about Pulag. It is the mainstay destination in the Philippines - of which they'd say "you're missing half of your life if you haven't climbed Pulag!"
The other contact is the DENR Park Superintendent for the Mt. Pulag National Park, Ma'am Emerita Albas. She may be reached at +639196315402. You do not have to worry about guides or porters because the system in Pulag is orderly. If in need of an extra tent, one may be rented at the Ranger Station for P75. As for guides, the rate is P500/guide for 1-5 persons, and P100 for each addition person thereafter. The maximum number of persons/guide is 10 (P1000) but with 11 persons, the cost is just (P1100). Porters may also be secured at P300/day.
Victory Liner is the bus line with the most number of trips to Baguio. Seats are numbered and it is advisable to reserve tickets beforehand especially for large groups. A 2300H departure time is optimal for the itinerary above. As of Jan. 2011 the bus fare ranges from 440-460 PHP. Facilities. You can take a bath or rinse either at the Ranger Station or the Protected Area Office. There are latrines in Camp 2, and a water source is also present in the mossy forest just before the grassland. Cellphone signal exists in many parts of the trail, including the ranger station, the campsite, and the summit.
Health and safety: The extreme weather of Mt. Pulag has taken its toll on climbers; hypothermia is a common complication. Also, take note that high altitudes have less oxygen content. Persons with asthma or other pulmonary conditions must seek a physician's go-signal first before proceeding. Medications such as epinephrine and may be included on the group's first aid kit. Epinephrine is also useful for anaphylactic shock (severe allergic reaction) which is a possibility considering that Mt. Pulag's conifers and pollens . Even veteran climbers, when scaling Pulag from December to February, should prepare for weather extremes. The wind chill factor at the summit can take its toll, even as temperature very rarely goes subzero. Check your equipment also if it can withstand such. One advantage of the cold, though, is that food is better preserved, acting like a refrigerator.
Another must-bring medicine is Meclizine (i.e. Bonamine) because the rough-road trip from Baguio to the Ranger Station, and back, is really nauseating. If you forget this, however, you can buy them at the stopovers shops along the road (i.e. Km. 50).
Miscellaneous. You can buy souvenir bonnets (P35) and shirts (P180) at the Protected Area Office. Also, you can leave your group or personal effects (i.e. IDs, pictures, posters) to join the memorabilia displayed at the office lobby. If you wish to have climb certificates, you can print them in advance, leave them before you climb, and pick it up upon signing out.
TRIVIA
There used to be a dog named Chica which guides mountaineers up the mountain. In 2003, when the blogger first climbed Mt. Pulag, Chica followed all the way to the summit. It was a chillingly cold November.
Parts of Mt. Pulag are claimed as "ancestral domains" of the different tribes, such as the Kankaney, Ibaloi, and Kalanguya tribes. The guides and porters belong to these indigenous communities.
Each mountaineering group has its own trivia about Pulag. It is the mainstay destination in the Philippines - of which they'd say "you're missing half of your life if you haven't climbed Pulag!"
