DUNTUG 8: Tacadang, Kibungan,Benguet via Mt. Tagpew

Diary:D April 1-2, 2017 Libro Mo, Inspirasyon Ko Bookdrive at Batangan Elementary School
Photo Courtesy of Kuya Carl, Kuya Mel and Lhen:)
Kasing tahimik ng akyat ko ng Marso ang lablayp ko.gg😁. Nakakabinging ingay ng paulit-ulit na gawain ang pumupuno sa mga araw ko at idagdag pa na ini-stress ko din lang sarili ko sa isang bagay na meron naman akong magagawa pero pinapairal ko na naman ang kayabangan at ka echosan na pag-iisip ko. Mabagal dumaan ang araw ngunit nagmistulang mabilis dahil sa halos the same parehas din lang nangyari kahapon sa ngayon. Ewan ko ba, kahit naglakbay ako through movie screens pero sadyang manhid na siguro ng puso ko at nabobo na naman utak ko kaya, yown:nganga.
So, muntik nang di ako sasama. Pinaalam ko na in advance kay kuya Carl but something came up kaya pinaalam ko then kay ate Ivy that i wont go. Then, namove sa friday ung dapat na April 1 na event kaya, row row ur boat pagpapaalam ko.
•How to be a good pack girl?(heard of this term in Purga, legit yan kahit sounds so sagwa) Syempre, pack the essentials and pack light. Ihanda ang kapote,flashlight,water,extra clothes,trail foods and money. Ayus na yan.
Kuya Carl and Kuya Mel, Lhen(i always say Lyn. Hihi) and Carol (namamali din ako, nagiging Carla.) tas ako. From 13 sa first tacadang climb to 5. Imba ang range ng pinag iba. Yowsh!
Bago ko ituloy, ang hina ngay ng tagalog ko. Hindi ko tuloy nakandong ung kid ni Kuya Carl due to language barrier. Haha. Which then happened again. (i can write in tagalog though, as u can see naman from this write up).
Anyways, nagulat ako nung lumagpas sasakyan sa tollgate. Pala ngay ket, sa Tonguey dadaan doon sa Madaymen. Akala ko di ko alam route na un until I woke up and remained such kasi naalala ko na noong binabagtas namin route na un a long time ago on a full moon when it was still rough road, dun sumagi sa isipan ko that there's probability na when I die, face to face kami ni death or something na ill see it coming. Weird.
BEYENG

 

How do I remember thee? Kung di ako nagkakamali, Nabisita na kita nung di ka pa naaabot ng kalsada. You had a lot of blueberries to offer and ewan ko pero parang madaming descend ang trail mo. Nag reunion there. Nag conduct ng Catholic Mass together with Father Songyap and friends where i joked back ung sa sermon nya about the 3 routes in life which are marriage, single blessedness and mga magsisilbi sa simbahan.
When i steped again, 11pm na ng march 31, 2017 with the cold na nanunuot manen.Kagawad, maraming salamat sa hospitality and kwentuhan. Sa uulitin.How to surmount a mountain without a guide? Use a well versed front liner as a compass who will navigate based on instinct, information and instructions at ihuli ako na sweeper, not because that's the position of the alpha in a wolf pack pero dahil sadyang di ako malakas.haha
•Tagpew, ang hirap mo talagang matagpuan. U made kuya Mel carry our backpacks, divide the group, made me filingera like i was aggy smith or sandi menchi, and made my veins endure running na pababa pero in the end nasaktan din lang pala pero no choice kakayanin. The view from the summit from the adjacent viewpoint is breathtaking. Kahit paubos na siguru hininga ko pero aalay ko pa din sa u. Char. Ewan, magkatabi lang ung summits pero epic ang view.

Despite the bra challenge effect in Mt. Lobo, i still want to do it again. Kung gumawa ka ng ka echosan, bakit di mo nalang dagdagan? Since si kuya Carl lang kasama kong umakyat, kelangan ko syang paunahin tas itimer nalang sa phone. Ayus naman, malupet ang output.
•The next type of trail is undeniably deng,clouds engulfing the mountain√,dramatic pine trees√,nakakatransport to LOTR na daan√nakakamatay ng kuko√,descend na tuloy tuloy u will be forced to let ur knees kiss the ground√
Then, Lamew incident came back. Ung akala ko, dun na ang destination kasi may mga bahay na pero hindi pa pala. Dakilang paasa lang. Then, the hosts sa reunion dun sa place invited us for lunch. I swear to God, hindi lakas loob rason why I went first. Gutom lang ako and uhaw. Hahah. Plus, i dont want to feel again the Patullok incident regarding hospitality to happen again. Ung may nag effort magluto for u pero di mo man lang tinikman kaya un afterwards, u felt bad ngem anya ngay ta u have a ride to catch. Ngem, nu sumaruno et ulay wat paupasan tapnu mayat.Thank you Gumuyod - Lunesa clan for inviting us, serving us rice wine, barako, water, rice and chicken.
Btw, to the guy who was majority in pink, i salute u. Only real men, wear pink.
•Lakad manen, kebas isdi ya sina...2 girls came to fetch us, kunak manen nu asideg ket haan. Pagna manen adi ladta until Batangan elementary school.
The kuyas asked us, what we prefer: Are we going to sleep there or we'll hike going to Es-Esa Elem school after the program and book transfer. Logically, based sa logic ko to at that moment ha, kahit gabihin makarating sa ESAES and late makapagrest since probable time to hike is 2-3 hours, basta late din magising at mas mahaba pa ang pahinga. Compared to making ur feet rest and lalamig kaya mas mafefeel nya ang sugat ng kahapon plus long hike kinaumagahan considering that Battangan is the starting point up to Tanap jump off. Pero, why not stay there para naman makipagkwentuhan sa kanila and to experince sleeping in their school. Syempre para maiba.

Having said that, yown transfer ng books and play time. We call it "binungbungan" in Ampusongan while they call it "touch the body". Yeah, learned of this difference when we played with Kibungan cousins a long time ago and it was how they call it also in Bakun (yes, we dont call it Central or Poblacion,Bakun). Their patentero is entrance,exit with some other rules while we play it nga simple. We did "sidking bistida" also. Even the teachers tried it pati kuya Mel, Carol and Lhen. Next time, we'll make sure kuya Carl joins. Haha. Ay ket, why not? Walang ganung opportunity back in Baguio.
Batangan elementary school caters grade 4-6. Legleg elementary school which is about an hour hike away caters grades 1-3. Imagine how long kids gotta walk everyday to school!?Salamat po sa dinner and place to sleep. We slept na agad, even if the omega i applied on my legs only kills the pain i am feeling and not the source. Malamig sa rikna ngay and the feet gotta be elevated.
•At dawn, we star gazed. We saw the hook of Maui! Ang Moana fan namin ni Kuya Mel! I wanna brag about being able to see the milky way sana but when Kuya Carl lent his phone for me to check if what i saw was the milky way, iba ngay. Pero feel ko, milky way pa din un, hindi lang sya clouds. Haha. Stubborn. And, the hook of Maui is actually scorpio.Breakfast then saka mobile to ESAES. 2 teachers accompanied us, salamats mga mams.
Ang epic ngay nakita ko na ng malapitan ung nakita ko from ESAES. ayay, nag imasen talaga. Tsaka, I was able to see the so called crying mountains and tagged as the lost world by sir batikan na mawnteynir. Wohooo . Hindi ko man napicture an, pero masarap pa din sa sistema. As usual ako na naman nahuli dumating sa ESAES. Haha.

Mam Eva, salamats sa food. Daan ulit kami jan siguru someday para sa next tapey session natin. Na kahit di ako umiinom hanggang lasing pero i always enjoy the storytellings ng mga lasing na. Their library is a WIP, pero salute u pa din kasi ur on ur way na to completing it. Ayee. Sana, pagpalain tayo para makacollect ng madami pang books and sana madaming artist would want to hike going there para ma fulfill request ninyong mural. Alfortunately, it's not my talent ngay. Kaya pag babalik sila tas mga artist kasama eh di ako counted na nyan sa pagbalik unless they just need me to paint the walls na plain. Haha
Ending with a hug to Mam Eva and bidding gudbye, ket back to Baguio via Tagpaya na. Bilibak man, only 3 mos ket madaming changes agad. Pabalik, i was able to keep with the pace of Carol and Lhen. Achievement.hihi. Palapit sa jump off, biglang bumuhos ang ulan. Mayat. Coz it somehow contributed in lessening the heat and making us focus on how to keep ourselves dry than focusing on how steep the ascend.
•A mountain's difficulty is not just based on its trail. It includes how you prepared, your type of gears, your nutrition and mindset, and the weather. Pinoy mountaineer has already provided most of every philippine mountain's specs but it can always change depending on how you control the controllable variables. If this was a major hike, then my preclimb was a 3/9 from feb 29's Bontoc hike. Haha. Well, i still wanna congratulate myself for being able to endure the pain in my legs and was able to got back to Tanap jump off. Yeah, first time to trek with a minor injury. Cheers
•To make this a bit informative, van fare from Kibungan to La Trinidad costs 120 and duration of trip is 2 hours and 20 minutes. Karagdagan, Dap-ayan 3 is on self service.We dined there that night, ket tadtak lang naamuan. Or, sadyang wala lang and nobody was available na crew?
•Again, #LibroMoInspirasyonKo, bahut bahut shukriya! May God bless you so that ull be able to bring more books and hopes to far flung schools and be able to break the wall, bridge the gap and build connections as we JPIAN's say.
To mera kuya Carl,Kuya Mel and Ate Ivy, lalabs u for accepting mera request. (Yaman din lanG na mahaba na to, at mahaba pila ng van this holy thursday, sinulit ko na magsulat.)
To whoever was able to finish reading this, thank you. Pasensya na pero pang diary manner of writing ko.
Yours Truly, Supasayan Jha😊