Mount Apo, from a distance, at the beginning of the trek.

It’s Sunday, 2:00 am of April 5, 2009. I am going to Mount Apo! Finally, after waiting for a long time I decided to go alone to Mt. Apo. Since college days we have been dreaming of going to this popular mountain where all mountaineers love to be — at its peak. This is the highest mountain in the Philippines! Mt. Apo towers over Southern Mindanao, and straddles the provinces of Davao del Sur and North Cotabato. It possesses a formidable array of landscapes, from craggy rocks to virgin forests and other wonderful sights; from mossy swamps in Lake Venado to volcanic structures.

There have been thousands of articles written in magazines and on the Internet about how beautiful Mt Apo is. This unique natural wonder is the Philippines’ highest peak at 3,144 meters or 10,311 ft. Its base covers about 72,796 hectares of mountain ranges that extend from Davao City, Davao del Sur, Northern Cotabato, Bukidnon and Agusan del Sur to Misamis Oriental. Apo means “grandfather or elder to its Ilokano folks”. Mt. Apo is an inactive volcano with no recorded eruptions. Mount Apo’s attractions are thundering waterfalls, rapids lakes, geysers, sulphur areas, primeval trees, endangered plant and animal species (baboy damo and deer are occasionally seen) and a steaming blue lake. Moreover, you will see an abundant rubber plantation on this mountain, rubber being one of the export earners of the country particularly in Mindanao.

Lake Venado in Mount Apo.

From Manila I traveled to Davao via Cebu Pacific airlines, availing myself of their promo fare, and from the airport I went to Ecoland terminal where one can find buses going to Kidapawan, P125 fare. I went to the office of the Department of Tourism to register, together with my two companions from Kidapawan City. We went through some seminar and briefing regarding the new trail developed by the department and of course the do’s and don’t during our stay in Mt. Apo.

At 5:00am of April 6, 2009, from Kidapawan market to Agco Lake of Mt. Apo we traveled 45 minutes using a multicab vehicle. We could start climbing from there. We hired a few porters to carry some of our baggage since we cannot bring other things needed during our stay in the mountain coz our bags were full of gadgets.

Author, center, with the porters.

From Agco Lake (where the entrance starts) to Kuong campsite is a 4-hour climb but we decided to finish the first trek until we reach Lake Venado, which is 7 to 9 hours for the others but we took it in 12 hours, you will have to cross Marbel river in an unforgettable adventure: you have to cross this river several times by walking through coconut logs and bamboo with another log to hold for support! Here, the roots cling to the rocks, and very tall trees rise majestically to the sky. The threat of flashfloods is always very real and expected, emphasized by the strong flow of water, and will remind the excited hiker that he is not climbing an ordinary mountain.

A stream flowing down from Mount Apo.

When we got to the hardest part of the mountain (100 meters of almost vertical incline of about 87-90 degrees) I never imagined that I could do this part. The landscape is full of stiff root trees. It’s a dangerous climb for a beginner; painstaking to old mountaineers. However, while walking and climbing, there’s beautiful scenery around you. So many beautiful scenes and landscapes! I am witnessing the true wonders of this mountain!

A brook in the wilderness of Mount Apo.

At last, we got to Lake Venado at 7pm. We pitched tents and and did a little cooking and were done at 8:00pm. It was so cold up there and we were so tired we decided not to have dinner anymore, just a little sip of choco milk and then we went to sleep. I eagerly awaited the sunrise.

April 7, 2009: after about an hour and a half of cooking, the group took our first breakfast at a place they call “Paradise.” Not only is this a dream climb; it’s also about getting to know the real Mt. Apo, creating not only climbing memories, but all kinds of mental peregrinations that bring a smile to our faces when we look back at this adventure. I’ve met different people and folks on this mountain because I decided not to climb on this day but to prepare for tomorrow’s trek. Wandering about in this rugged and so out-of-the way landscape, I noticed that there were quite a number of sari-sari stores in the Lake.

The author, center, with fellow mountaineers.

Day 3, April 8, 2009: it’s time to climb the peak. It took us 5 hours to reach the top, along the way we gathered berries, made photographs of a beautiful environment, bonsais and rested at the popular boulder which is 20 to 30 minutes from the peak.

At the top Mt. Apo campsite, there were three peaks of the same height that beckoned to me. But I’d rather take them on one peak at a time.

Finally, Im proud to say I CONQUERED Mount APO.

I am very proud of myself having climbed Mount Apo, my dream came true. It may sound corny to others but to me it is a fulfillment of my desire and dream because I know I did my best to get to the top of the Philippines’ highest mountain. A Filipino mountaineer worth his salt dreams of this. To GOD be the glory, that He helped me to achieve this 20-year dream of mine that finally came true. To my children, we will conquer this mountain together. God willing! Just DREAM, SURVIVE and CONQUER your DESIRE.

The author, Michael G. Loyola, is currently enrolled in the Advanced Photography workshop, after completing his Basic Photography training with the FPPF. He took these pictures before he went into the FPPF workshops He threatens us with even more beautiful photographs next time.

The FPPF welcomes contributions from all its students, past and present, for publication here at PhotoWorldManila.com and in Frame One, the FPPF magazine. Tells us about your photo adventures. Include some text, photos and captions for the photos. We’d be glad you kept in touch.

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