Mount Palali

Elevation: 1,705 meters
August 18-19, 2001

Participants: PSI – Vic (TL), Mamu, Jinkee, Tonton, Obet, Kitty; MMS – Naidz, Mark, Amy, Oyie, Yebha; Others – Paul, Liza (Wetrek)
Guides: SSOC – Ali & Angelo; locals – Oliver & Cesar

The Objective

When we went spelunking in Capisaan last month, we couldn't help but notice Mt. Palali looming over Solano and its neighboring towns in the Nueva Vizcaya valley. We vowed to come back and climb it just to satisfy our curiosity. So, why do we want to climb this mountain? Because it's there!

The Plan

As the team leader, Vic made arrangements with members of Sang-at Salug (SSOC), the local outdoor club, for a successful ascent of the mountain. Apart from the locals, our group would be only be the third group of outsiders to climb the place, so the trails are not well established. This means limiting the group to a maximum of 15 participants. Besides, the basecamp can only accommodate the same number of climbers.

The Dangers

Unfamiliar with the place, all of us would be at the mercy of our local guides who haven't climbed the mountain for a long time. If the trails are not well established, there's a possibility that we can get lost. As of August 17, Friday, typhoon Jolina just went as far north as Zambales. Typhoon Gorio is raging over Batanes, while Typhoon Pabuk is moving westward from the Pacific Ocean. We just hope and pray that these three storms do not converge in the Vizcaya region when we climb Palali that weekend. Locals warned that baboy ramo (wild hogs) , monkeys and snakes roam the place. It would be nice to observe these creatures from a distance, not face to face. In short, we are taking a calculated risk.

The Adventure

Friday, August 17

9PM – It's raining cats & dogs outside, thanks to Typhoon Jolina. Got a text message from Jinkee, “we r hir na J” (at the bus station). Jeez, time to go now and brave the rain. I carried my heavy backpack and texted back, “on d way na ko.”

10PM – I arrive at the Baliwag bus station in Cubao. Yeabha & Oyie arrive shortly. We are all soaking wet. Where's Liza???

10:43 PM – Last two minutes – Liza arrives!!! Paul and Amy are also headed to Solano from Baguio. Kitty will come from Santiago, Isabela. I'm on to dreamland as soon as I handed my ticket to the conductor.

Saturday, August 18

3 AM – I woke up and the bus isn't moving. Apparently, there's a landslide at the Dalton Pass. Our bus did not move for 3 hours.

9 AM – We arrive at Solano. Good thing Kitty arrived earlier. She bought already our food provisions at the local market. To SSOC, “Sorry guys, at least we're able to pass by the landslide. Sana maintindihan n'yu (a la PLDT commercial).”

10 AM – We are bound for Brgy. Maddiangat, Quezon, on board a jeepney.

!0:45 AM – Our jeep arrives at Brgy. Maddiangat. Ali & Angelo looks for the local guides. Surprise!!! They can't join us as they have a 3-day wedding celebration. Naidz & I accompanies Ali & Angelo and talk with the baranggay captain. Tough luck, we can't get a guide. We leave our names and thank him. Our only chance is to get a guide at Upper Dayug.

11:15 AM – We start or trek from Lower Dayug to Upper Dayug along a rocky but gently sloping, open road. It's quite similar to the first leg going to Tapulao or Natib, but much narrower.

12:00 PM – We reach a shed of farmers in Upper Dayug. Nobody is free to guide us.

1:30 PM – We resumed our upward trek through some terraced rice paddies and reached the houses of Oliver & Cesar in Upper Dayug. They readily agree to be our guides. We break for lunch at a picnic table in their yard. It affords a commanding view of the valley. There's a potable water source. We replenished our hydration packs.

2:00 PM – We resumed our trek through a muddy and slippery logger's trail. I couldn't believe there are storms in the nearby provinces. Here, despite the canopy of the forest, it was so hot. I'm starting to think about ice-cold bottles of coke. Here we are trekking when everybody is enjoying his siesta. After an hour or so of trekking, we gave in and took more frequent and longer breaks (“petiks”).

4:00 PM – The lead pack, which I'm part of, reached a big stone and took a slight U-turn on the left. We start bushwhacking from here. We reached a group of huge boulders shortly. This is a landmark in the Palali mountain range, where we start to traverse the ridgeline. We wait for the tail group before moving on, passing more huge boulders, and working our way on the trails on its sides. Feeling the breeze rustling through the tress, I sigh with relief. Ventilation is getting better. Gosh, where are the limatiks (small leeches)?

6:00 PM – Emerging from the forest line, vegetation changes to cogon grasses and bonsai trees. We climb on top of a boulder. It was open here, affording us a 360-degree view of the mountain range, the valley with its snaky rivers, and the neighboring mountains, most notably Mt. Ugu. They call the place Dinar-awan.

7:45 PM – Finally, we arrive at Subsuban Alingo Base Camp, so-called because it used to be a nesting place of wild hogs. We immediately pitched our tents. Our guides fetched water from a nearby water source.

8:30 PM – Midway through our dinner preparations, it started to rain. We retreated in our tents and divided the task.

11:00 PM – Hey, is that Bayang Magiliw playing on the radio? The local radio station signed off to be replaced by a Chinese broadcast. “Kitty, malambot na ba ang sinigang na baboy? (Is the stewed pork tender yet?)” It's a memorable lesson in the art of self-imposed starvation. Never cook sinigang na baboy high up unless you pre-cook the meat. The other group had pasta and is already fast asleep. Good for them.

11:30 PM – Wohooo! Dinner's ready!!! We hastily bolted our dinner of rice, fried fish and sinigang.

11:45 PM – The rain continued, but with two tentmates, it's very warm inside our tent. I spread my sleeping bag underneath, took off my shirt and slept soundly.

Sunday, August 19

6:00 AM – I woke up refreshed. The others are already preparing breakfast and drinking coffee.

8:30 AM – After breakfast and partial break camp, we are set to attempt a two-hour summit assault. Obet, Kitty, Paul & Liza chose to stay at the basecamp and volunteered to cook lunch for everyone.

9:45 AM – The trail is seldom trodden and we've been bushwhacking for over an hour. Oops….turn-around time according to Vic. It seems we took the wrong ridge turn-off.

10:45 AM – Heading back to the camp, the guides apologized profusely and admitted the error. We should have followed the ridgeline on the left side. Oh well, there's always a next time. We ate lunch and continued the break camp.

11:30 AM – All set for descent. We took a short-cut trail suggested by the guides. It's quite steeper, less muddy, more open and scenic than the trail we took yesterday. Got cuts and bruises from cogons.

3:30 PM – Rest stop at Upper Dayug. A lot of us took the opportunity to take a refreshing shower to alleviate the heat. Then it rained as we resumed our descent to Baranggay Maddiangat.

4:45 PM – Gee…nice to be back below. The rain continues. We waited for the jeepney that will take us back to Solano.