Mt. Mangisi, popularly known as Mt. Purgatory is located in Benguet. A mountain with many summits and weird name that exhibit the presence of mossy forest, pine trees, and picturesque view of its neighboring mountain such as Mt. Pulag and Mt. Timbak.
The blogger at Mt. Tangbaw
Overall, we summited six mountains on our 2 day journey. Luckily the weather favored our stay and we were gratified bythe view offered, painting a perfect scenery. I’m very thankful of my fellow hikers for the the companionship that was formed and transpired since the event.
Background
Mount Purgatory in Bokod, Benguet is an ideal site for adventure seekers andoutdoor enthusiasts. It features centuries-old mossy forests in the mountains of barangays Poblacion and Ekip in this landlocked municipality.
The complete Mount Purgatory traverse includes a 26 – kilometer trek which starts from Japas, Bobok-Bisal and ends at Barangay Karao or Barangay Poblacion (additional 4 kilometers which makes it 30) if trekkers would opt to.
Mount Purgatory used to be a jump pole tram line site of the Benguet Consolidated Incorporated until the early 1980's. The name Mount Purgatory was credited to Mr. Durham Hale Bennett, a logging superintendent of BCI. He named the mountain to Mount Purgatory because of the mountain's characteristics.
Trail
Mt. Purgatory’s trail starts from the Japas jump-off point. From the Japas jump-off point is a trail going to Mt. Mangakew which also traverses Nadaclan ,Bangtinen and Prospect. From Prospect,the trail goes up to Mt. Pack.
Mt. Pack is one of the highest mountain in the Municipality of Bokod with an elevation of 2310 meters above sea level. Its summit showcases breathtaking views of its surroundings such as Barangay Poblacion, Barangay Ambuklao,Barangay Pito, the Municipality of Kayapa, Nueva Viscaya and many more. It also serves as a resting place for hikers though it is not that wide since its primary purpose is for viewing.
Trail going to KomKompol, Purgatory, and Pack
From Mount Pack, two-hour trek leads to the tourism trail’s name-bearer Mount Purgatory.
Mt. Purgatory , once a jump-pole site of the Benguet Consolidated Incorporated serves as the main resting area. If you are scheduled for a two-day trek, this will serve as your camp site for the night or it will be your lunch or snack site otherwise.
From Mt. Purgatory , two hours trek leads you to Mt. Bakian where you can refill your hydration bottles. Just above Mt. Bakian is Mt. Tangbaw. Mt. Tangbaw possesses a flat grassland summit. This mountain serves as the second campsite for those who are scheduled for a three-day trek. It provides a view of Northern Bokod and Northern Benguet.
KomKompol Trails
After Mt. Tangbaw, lies ahead Mt. Komkompol. Mount Komkompol is a mossy forest-filled mountain. It has also a viewpoint where you can view Mt. Salingsingan and Mt. Pulag on one of its sides. This mountain's challenging trail adds thrill to adventurers and nature explorers.
The descend to Giweng ( Kalanguya word for junction) and to Mt. Tinengan, a short stretch of mossy forest and pine forest leads you to Ekip Proper where trekkers can rest in the Barangay Hall situated along the trail.
Tangbaw Trail
From the barangay of Ekip , a 2 hour traverse will lead you to the culture and history-rich Barangay Karao. The trek culminates in the Karao-Ekip river (or if one would like to extend his/her trek, another one hour trek can be done going to Barangay Poblacion).
And of course, let us not forget our side trip to the Bajombong Falls which is located at Uwak, Karao, Bokod, Benguet. For more information, visit the official website: http://mtpurgatory.weebly.com
Itinerary
Day 0
1000pm Take bus to Baguio City
Day 1
0400am ETA Baguio City. Take chartered jeepney to Bokod
0600am Breakfast along the way
0800am Arrival in Bokod / Registration / Orientationn
0900am Start trekking
1200nn Lunch along the way
0100pm Arrival at Mt. Pack
0230pm Arrival at Mt. Purgatory
0430pm ETA Bakian Elementary School / Set-up tent
0600pm Dinner at campsite; socials
1000pm Lights out
Day 2
0530am Wake-up call
0630am Breakfast / Break camp
0700am Resume trek
0900am Arrival at Mt. Komkompol
0930am Start descent
1200nn Arrival at Pethal / Agno River.
0100pm End of trek at border of Brgy. Ekip
0200pm Exit at Bokod, Benguet
0500pm ETA Baguio City. Dinner.
0800pm Head back to Manila
Journey
Day 1 - We started our journey at the registration area where porters and guides are settled. It was a wonderful morning at that time witnessing my fellow hikers faces that blooms into excitement and curiosity. And I began to wonder about what the mountain would be like merely because of its horrifying name.
While having conversation with fellow hikers as we prepare at the jump-off, I noticed the familiar faces and dialect of the locals who were with us.. They are also Kalanguya’s like me. So I began to draw a conversation with them; sharing jokes and stories. They were very much surprise when I opened my mouth uttering the same dialect. They cannot believe that a forest person like me also exists in a mountaineering community. And I silently enjoyed our brief conversation with them.
From right to left: Sara, Me, Shirley, and Irwin
At the registration point, the guides inform us about the status of the mountains and point out the different trails that will be ventured. We were also reminded of the LNT philosophy especially the matter about littering.
A bulletin board about Mt. Purgatory
It was fine and briskly weather that day when we began to scale the trail extending to an area full of pine trees. The discussion was lively as I began to tease one of the porters named as Mia– a brave girl who support herself in doing such porter activity; I was also able to inquire of the possible community where we can do outreach activity in the future and enjoyed those little talks until the adversity of hike halted us to purely concentrate of the trails.
We were able to first reached Mt. Mangagew. Mangagew is basically composed of community. At Mt. Mangagew, we took a break and had our snack and continued the little talks with our fellow hikers and our guide/porters.
At Mt. Mangagew
Subsequently, we started the hike again after our 30 minutes break. I was able to notice some of my fellow hikers having fun running in the trail. Seeing them run made me also want to challenge myself to pace with them but I know the trails can wait. I just concentrated in taking care of the beginners and pace them.
We were able to mingle with the children upon passing through the wide road surrounded by several homestead. Entertained by their cuteness my friends took pictures with them and were able to share some of our trail food.
The cutie kids
After our descend reaching the last store, I began to noticed a "Martinez" - a bird that can talk when trained merely loitering around the area where my fellow hikers rested. Only few of us had a chance to see the beautiful bird up close and those few unfortunately didn't include me. It made me conclude that the bird is a male because he seemed tamed and even showing off whenever surrounded by ladies. Now that's a hokage move. Lol!
"Martinez"
The enormous mountain ranges of Purgatory
We were pretty much a big group so as expected the group was subdivided according to their pace. Some teams were fast enough to get to the campsite since it was getting dark. Together with some of the seasoned hikers I paced with those who were lagging behind making sure they were okay and can still keep up. It's not that they were weak they were just enjoying the laughs and companionship of each other thus they named themselves as Team Omega.
Team Omega: Sara, Kim, Julius, and Shirley
After I made sure Team Omega was having fun I started to advance regularly checking and waving at them. After catching up with my buddy and the rest of the team who was in the lead in the rocky wide trail similar to Mt. Ugo we rested for a while in an area where a signboard for Mt. Purgatory is located.
The blogger sitting near the signboard
Our second summit is Mt. Pack. The mossy and ascending trail going to the said summit challenged us. There was heavy breathing in everyone upon arrival and sitting on the woods which served as our resting chairs. With the view offered of Mt. Pack, there’s was a glimpse of hope to pursue until the campsite resuming our hike after taking several pictures together with the group.
At the summit of Mt. Pack
The journey to the campsite after Mt. Pack is like rolling trail. A rolling trail is where you will experience ascend and descend trek repeatedly. It was a matter of patience of journeying the mossy trails along with dangling sound of the humid air. Amidst our trek, we began to run in the trail with a friend named Irwin coping up with the time because the night is fast approaching.
We stopped at the summit of Purgatory and decided to wait for the others to arrive and discuss a plan for us to cope with the weather and time. We rested, took pictures, and mingled with the team. We had an exemplar of fun.
At Mt. Purgatory summit along my buddy and friends
Continuing the trek, we commenced on a rolling trail as the night started to spread darkness in our path.. Forcing us to light up the trail by turning on our flashlight.
We were able to catch up with the lady porters at Mt. Bakian where the group ahead of us settled to camp. We learned from the lady porters of the other group that Mt. Tangbaw campsite is still roughly an hour trek. Irwin had a lot of hesitations when I decided to keep moving forward since the original plan is to meet up everybody at Mt. Bakian and settle for emergency camp. I knew it was a risk and might cause confusions to the plan but because of my hard-headedness we decided to keep moving in the dark until the next campsite at Mt. Tangbaw.
Finally, after reaching Mt. Tangbaw which is the newly designated campsite, we had a break and settled for food to eat. And initiatively gone back to the trail providing help to our injured and tired fellow trekkers. Upon meeting them up at Mt. Bakian, most of them seem to agonized about the trek but still they took the challenge to finish the trek and reach the campsite.
We pitched tent and had the privilege to mingle with the locals after dinner while the others slept right away due to their tiredness. It was a night of cultural discussion; sharing information about mountains, indigenous plants; and a night of socialization which we were able to bond with each other along with our guides.
Day 2 - It was a cold morning when I woke up to have my coffee. The coldness reminds me of my past trek experience at Mt. Ugo and Mt. Pulag– the difficulty to wake up and the shivers of the body adjusting to the weather.The cold seemed to bother a lot of hikers especially those individual who are inclined in hot weather. Cordillera Mountains mesmerize you with coldness and enchant you with the view of Mother Nature.
At Mt. Tangbaw
Our last mountain to conquest is Mt. KomKompol - the highest mountain among the others. We scaled through the pine and mossy forest. The mountain is an hour or two trek from the campsite depending on the team's pace.
A view of Cordillera Mountains along the trail to Mt. KomKompol
It was an enlivening experience as we scale the mountain with so much joy along with Team Omega. I was able to team up with them discussing ideas and experiences seemingly new to us, until finally reaching the peak catching up with the others.
The team at Mt. Komkompol
It was the view of the mountains such as Pulag and Timbak that captivated us upon setting foot at the summit. Mt. Komkompol is way better in terms of the offered view added by the favorable weather at that time. The audacity regained after stumbling with the beautiful view which delayed our return to the campsite.
The view of Mt. Timbak and Mt. Pulag
Some would rather sit at the wooden chair to gaze the spectacular view while others took pictures. Hence, furthering the journey, we treasured the moments as we began to take group pictures along with team Omega. Amazed by the view, we even prolong our stay before finally going back to the campsite.
On the course of our descent, our concentration was destructed of the beautiful mossy forest including the overlooking view of the neighboring mountain in some parts of the trail that is open.
Back at the campsite, we drew to laughter and happiness while breaking camp and having lunch. We teased, admire and congratulate one another for the triumphant climb as we started our final descend.
The team at Mt. Tangbaw
The trail down to the jump-off has such a nice ambiance with a wide road surrounded by pine trees. The trail is pretty much gentle to the feet since it is an actual road accesible for vehicles. Because of the scorging heat we were thankful that in a few kilometers to the jumpoff we were able to hitchhiked in one of the trucks which passed by at that time.
Another view of Cordillera Mountain
We somehow took a shortcut finishing the trail by hitchhiking but never surrendered in conquering ourselves. We thanked each other for their bravery and declared our triumph as we head back to the Municipality of Bokod to register and log out.
The journey didn’t stop as we begin to celebrate while on the road – taking booze inside our rented jeep. We headed to one of our friend's home to wash up and continue the fun chatting and drinking session. It was because of the good companionship that made us stay for one more day though we knew we all have work the next day.
We would rather call it as "Post-Climb"
Served by master chef Jayson
We also had the chance to try wall climbing defying ourselves to the challenges that it brings and able watch drama movies before going back to Manila.
Wall Climbing
It was a defining experience that breeds to socialization and friendship. Indeed the stay was well rewarding.
Last picture together before we depart to Manila
|| End
Photo Credit: Maan Villamor
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