[Gimpilator]

I flew to Mindanao, the southern island in the Philippines, to climb Mount Apo with David Hart. Apo is the highest in the country and 99th most prominent on earth. Unfortunately for us, shortly before we arrived, the government closed the mountain for fire risk, also including most of the mountains on the island. These drier than normal conditions were totally ideal for our purposes, but we would not be permitted to prosper from it. As day hikers, we intended no fires and therefor posed no risk, but the mandates allowed no exceptions. This was a tough pill to swallow. 4-16 Mount Matutum – 7500' As we discovered, there was only one peak we would be allowed to hike on Mindanao, and our itinerary had to be adjusted accordingly. Matumtum reminded me of many of the Javanese volcanoes I did with Steven last year, a standard jungle-trek, getting steeper near the top, with a bit of scrambling on tree roots. The flora was a bit different with an abundant variety of fern species. I was enthralled by some unusual looking mushrooms during the descent.

can you see the frog?

mangosteen!

4-19 Mount Isarog – 6562' Seeking easier access to peaks, we flew to Luzon which is the main island of the Philippines, and home to 70 million people. I found some giant snail shells, and the local guide told me, “we eat those”. The trail ends at a notch in the old volcanic rim. There is sign here used for photos. The guides were extremely reluctant to follow us, bushwhacking into the dense jungle to reach the true summit, a place which they had not been before. They tried to tell us the summit was located in the notch.

bullsh!t summit

real summit

Back near the start of the trail, Dave suggested we check out a side trail which goes to Malabsay Falls. It was hot and generally I reason that if you’ve seen one waterfall, you’ve seen them all. I was not keen to add a few hundred feet of gain to the day. But I was wrong this time and followed Dave down to see the falls. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. A serene natural swimming pool awaited us below the pristine falls, and neither of us could resist taking a dip.

4-20 Mount Labo - 5066' Labo is sort of a longer trek if you start from the main road, and there are leeches in the middle portion of the route. As we learned, the first 3 miles are on a road, passable by motorbike. So we hired a few bikes to take us back out during the afternoon heat. The route follows an older road until the final saddle next to the peak. Various portions of the old road are washed out to varying degrees and the guides set up a hand line for us in a vertical section.

leech!

We did see a few leeches, but thanks to the dry spell, they were less active and nobody was bitten. On the way to the peak, we went over a few passes, dropping into unspoiled wild jungle. The character of our surroundings changed immediately with different plants and noises. Dave measured the output from the insects in the trees to be well above 70 decibels.

High on the peak I saw my first pitcher plants, a whole bunch of them! We ate some berries, similar to thimble berries of the PNW, but different in flavor. I had been warned by the local guides to avoid a certain plant which they called “poison ivy”. This plant stood 2 or 3 meters high, with half-meter long leaves branching out from a central stalk. I thought I got stung by an insect, but when the guide inspected my leg and the angry, red rash, he said it was the plant. The pain was alternating between burning sensations, and sharp penetrating jolts. It was intensifying as I walked to the point were I was making some unintended verbal expressions.

To remedy this, the guide located the offending plant itself and cut down a section of the stalk. He removed the bark of the plant and crushed that up until it yielded some fluid. He rubbed the liquid over the rash on my leg, and within minutes the pain had subsided by 80%, although I would continue to feel it flashback for several weeks.

4-23 Mount Tapulao – 6706' This day, and as is typical for this peak, it was going to be very hot. The route affords little shade. We started by headlamp, just after 4am. The trail had a few rocky sections, but was easier than anything thus far and we made rapid progress.

The final portion abruptly transitions from sparse pine forest to dense jungle. It is locally referred to as “mossy jungle” and this seems to be the name of this biome, not just on the peak, but anywhere it occurs. As reported by Rob Woodall, there are leeches here, but it was too dry on this day, and we didn’t see any.

3 soups (1 fish, 1 chicken, 1 veg), greens with coconut sauce

4-24 Mount Pulag – 9600' The highest on Luzon. We were forced by the park officals to get a late start and also watch a video which was a strange mix of piano music, religion, long-exposure photography, and finally the more relevant park regulations. Most visitors hike the peak over a period of 2 days. My ascent time was an hour and 39 minutes, with the guides and David arriving only a few minutes later. The upper slopes of the mountain were covered in grass and dwarf bamboo, which was unlike anything we had seen elsewhere.

fried bananas, okra, green chili, some kind of bitter vegetable

Thank you Dave for organizing a very successful trip, despite our not getting Mount Apo (yet).

[Gimpilator]

4-27 Jiri-san – 6283' On the way back towards North America, I spent a few days in South Korea, renting a car and starting with the highest of the mainland peaks. This is a very popular hike with many constructed stairways. I passed at least 300 people on the way up, finishing 2 minutes shy of 2 hours. My hotel breakfast had been so extensive that I didn't eat anything on the way up.

mainly what you see here are varieties of kimchi, but the last one seemed like dried out minnows with chili oil

Korean breakfast (starting clockwise from noon, tofu, broccoli, seaweed, dried minnows, greens, kimchi, peanuts with fermented soy beans, ???, kimchi, meat, onion, ???. And in the middle several other kimchi's over rice)

on the left (lettuce, stack of unknown leaves with a strong flavor, basil, shredded ginger, radish, garlic, shredded soy paste, carrots, pickles, onion, cucumber, kimchi)

freshwater eel

4-28 Hwangmae-san – 3652' For whatever reason, this peak was drawing me, and even though I knew nothing about it, I budgeted time for it despite a long day of driving. Right from the trailhead it was already gorgeous, with a lot of rhododendron blooming. Looking up, I could see the rocky prow which most people consider the summit, but the flat ground further north is higher. Again, there were hundreds of people working the trail system here, and it was nice to see that Korea has a flourishing hiking culture.

Jiri-san over there

the summit seen from the lower south summit

Deogyu-san – 5295' This peak had not been on my itinerary, but the previous night I noticed a cable lift on the map, which meant it would be a good addition. The lift does not go to the summit, but it goes close enough to make for a very short hike. It is a very popular viewpoint.

gas station food is better in Korea

Baegun-san – 3996' Now originally I had planned to do this peak on my last day. Severe rain was set to start in the afternoon. I continued to monitor the weather forecast each day, which kept changing. Now, it seemed that if I started at 4am, I could avoid the awful rainstorm. But later in the evening, as I was laying in bed at the nearby guest house, the forecast changed one final time. To beat the storm I would now have to start at 2am and summit in the dark. Well, screw that! Despite my fatigue, I jumped out of bed and crammed a bunch of crap into my pack. I hit the trail just an hour before sunset, making sure I had the headlamp ready for the descent. The weather was good, and that’s the main thing. I pushed hard, hoping to have a summit view before dusk. There were two kind elderly people out for a stroll on the first portion of the trail. They seemed reassured when I gestured that I had a headlamp, but they must of seen me as a totally insane tourist.

Ascending the 2300 feet to the summit took me 51 minutes, which later I calculated to be an average ascent rate of 2700 feet per hour. I was elated to have lovely views and finish this peak unexpectedly early, wrapping up my trip with a 3 peak day. I spent 2 minutes on the summit, and then rushed down the trail in a hyper-focused wave of adrenaline and endorphins. Just barely making it down without using the headlamp, for a round-trip time of 1 hour and 33 minutes.

insane tourist

nice flavored vegan soup which they helped me by adding several dollops of a powder to. I have no idea what is in the soup. The owners of the restaurant kept coming over to assist me and make sure I was eating properly and combing the elements in the correct way. Very very kind people.

some badass kimchi

fruit, seaweed soup, udon noodles with mushrooms and meat

2 kimchi's with brownie and croissant, salmon sashimi with onion

[nickmtn]

[Stefan]

Its nice to see you exploring the world!

[RichP]

The thing about peakbagging is that it takes you to some really cool places. This looks great.

[Nancyann]

I love reading about your adventures in faraway places that I will never see. The food looks outrageously delicious too! Any chance you could let us know what it is that you are eating?

[Gimpilator]

Thanks everyone for your comments and thoughts. Appreciate the feedback. nickmtn - Yeah those grass and dwarf-bamboo zone have an immediate border with no transition whatsoever (above treeline). Nancyann - To be completely honest, much of the time in Korea, I wasn't certain what I was eating, because the menus are completely in Korean and without photos. At least in the Philippines, English is a 2nd language and commonly understood. I will go back through and label the food pics with what I can identify, but some of it, absolutely no idea...

[Redwic]

Cool trip!!! Thanks for sharing!!!