Tirad Pass, Ilocos Sur

Rest stop on our way to Hello Kitty campsite, the other side of the peak in the background

Hello Kitty campsite

It was getting late when we left the marker. The trail from the marker towards Quirino is more picturesque than our way up. At one point, we were chased by a herd of cows who all seemed to be intrigued either by the rustle of plastic bag which I used to wrap my camera or the red shoulder bag where I kept the latter. There were beautiful columns of Chinese bamboos lining the narrow trail.

We debated on whether we should push through with our original itinerary. We planned to spend the night in the town of Quirino. The following day, our group would be split into two, with one group traversing to Sagada and the other group going back to Manila via Tagudin. Well… it never happened.

It was twilight when we reached what they call Tirad Peak, where we camped for the night. Actually, it's the base of a landmark known as Three Sisters because of the three separate protusions on top of mountain face. At night, the silhouettes look like Batman's horns; to some of us, it's like the head of a cat. So the campsite is also known as the Hello Kitty campsite!

Dinner was a fiesta. I cooked “pakbet” for our veggies to offset the mostly-meat food selections from Joan's group. We all slept early so we could make an early start to catch our jeep in Quirino.

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