MY FIRST REAL CLIMB

Although I’ve already been to three mountains, first was years ago, I don’t remember the name but I’m with college batchmates to do tree planting in one of the mountains near Dupinga, Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija. Second was Mt. Samat. I’m with friends here but we cheated. We rode a tricycle up and down the mountain because we have an itinerary in the afternoon.

After months of planning with my friend, finally, we pushed through with our plan of climbing Mt. Ulap. I knew there’s already a lot of blogs about Mt. Ulap so I’ll cut to the chase, itinerary and expenses.

DAY HIKE (January 22, 2017)

11 PM – ETD at Victory Liner Cubao
4 AM – ETA at Baguio City
Breakfast then walked to Lakandula St to ride Jeepney to Itogon
5:30 AM – ETD at Baguio City
6:20 AM – ETA at Ampucao, Itogon, Benguet (Brgy Hall/ Elementary School)
Registration and getting a guide. My friend and I joined a group of 4.
7 AM – Start hike
9:30 AM – ETA at Second Peak (Gungal Rock, 1814masl)
We waited 2-3hours for our turn to have pic.
12:30 PM – Camp Site 2
1:11 PM – Start traverse to Sta. Fe
3 PM – ETA at Sta. Fe
6 PM – ETD from Baguio
12 MN – ETA to Manila

I read a lot online before pushing through with this hike. A lot of people said it was an easy hike and beginners can do it. Yes, beginners can do it but, a lot of shortness of breath moments and it will take a lot of time going up. We didn’t get to the third peak because it’s getting late and there’s a lot of people that day and there’s hike traffic along the way. 

Unsolicited Opinion: I want to hike it again and I wanted to start from Sta. Fe Ridge. It may be steeper than from Ampucao Trail but there's ladder-like steps to walk on.

EXPENSES:
450 – Cubao to Baguio
31 – Baguio to Ampucao
100 – Registration Fee
600 – Guide Fee
50 – Sta. Fe to Baguio
600 – Baguio to Cubao (Every bus schedule were fully-booked that day. This is a UV Express fare)
500+ - Estimated budget for Food

TIPS:
- Wear comfortable clothes.
- As much as possible, make your backpack light-weight.
- You need a lot of water and/or Gatorade.

GALLERY:

On the way to this and we already experienced shortness of breath.
First time climber here without preparations.

To the viewpoint. There's actually a photo-op place at the top of this.

Jumpshot before my legs get sore.

Ambanao Paoay. First Peak.

Yaaaay! Second Peak.

Waited 2++ hours for my turn to have a pic to this famous Gungal Rock.

Our hiking group. Strangers we met at the Registration.

Camp site 2. Where the comfort room is located just don't expect too much.

Yes, there's a store around Camp Site 2 where you can buy food and made
them cook noodles/canned goods for you. The prices were a bit higher
but it's good that you can eat hot food.

The hanging bridge was an indication that you're almost finished.

Hold on a little more and you're almost there.

It felt so good to see the road. We survived!