Mount Pulag
The Third Highest Peak In The Philippines, A Sea Of Clouds At Dawn, And A Sacred Burial Ground Where People Still Get Hypothermia · Kabayan, Benguet
PULAG IS THE THIRD-HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN THE PHILIPPINES AND THE REASON PEOPLE CLIMB IT IS THE HOUR AFTER SUNRISE, when the valleys below fill with cloud and the summit grassland stands above a white floor. THE TOP IS NOT FOREST BUT DWARF BAMBOO, a low grassland that runs unbroken over the ridges, and below it is a MOSSY FOREST so wet and overgrown that it looks staged. TWO THINGS GET UNDERSTATED. FIRST, IT IS A SACRED MOUNTAIN AND A BURIAL GROUND for the Ibaloi, Kalanguya and Kankanaey, who mummified their dead in caves on these slopes - it is not a viewpoint with a queue. SECOND, PEOPLE GET HYPOTHERMIA HERE. It drops close to freezing at the summit campsite, climbers arrive from the lowlands in shorts, and there have been deaths. REGISTRATION, A PERMIT AND AN ORIENTATION ARE COMPULSORY, and numbers are capped. The mountain has also been closed for extended periods after grassland fires burned the summit area, so confirm it is open before travelling several hours out of Baguio.
Mount Pulag National Park, Benguet, Cordillera, Kabayan, Benguet, Philippines
PULAG IS REACHED FROM BAGUIO via AMBANGEG, several hours by road, and the usual climb is an overnight with a summit push before dawn. A PERMIT, REGISTRATION AND A COMPULSORY ORIENTATION at the protected-area office are required before anyone walks, and DAILY NUMBERS ARE CAPPED - this must be arranged in advance and is enforced. GUIDES ARE MANDATORY. THE AMBANGEG TRAIL IS THE EASIEST OF SEVERAL ROUTES; Akiki and Tawangan are considerably harder. THE MOUNTAIN HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR EXTENDED PERIODS after grassland fires - a major fire burned the summit area and the park shut while it recovered, and it can close again. IT DROPS CLOSE TO FREEZING at the campsite and hypothermia is the real hazard. Peak season is roughly December to February, which is also the coldest.