Our recent climbed in Mt. Bulusan was in March 23-24, 2013. Prior to the climb, we did an advance registration by coordinating with Ms. Angela, On-line Customer Service Representative of Wild Boars Philippines (+63-939-377-35-02 / +63-927-268-06-09/ [email protected]). Upon receiving go-signal, we paid our registration fee through bank and satisfied all the needed registration requirements. The registration required some time and little sacrifice, but the rejoinder will be more!
Together with Ms. Jhelyn Relopez and Mr. William De Arca; I went to Bicol for a three-peak climb (Bulusan, Mayon and Pulog). We went to Legazpi City via Philtranco Bus, headed to Sorsogon City via van, and to Irosin via jeepney. Then, we had brief stop at Irosin to explore the vibrant town and eventually proceeded to Bulusan Lake via rented tricycle.
Notes: A hiker from Manila may utilize buses which directly run to Sorsogon City or buses to Visayas which passes through Irosin, Sorsogon! Bulusan and Irosin are actually separate or distinct municipalities of Sorsogon. The town proper of Irosin is more accessible to Lake Bulusan (which is under the political jurisdiction of Municipaliy of Bulusan). Although, I would recommend for hikers to visit the town proper of Bulusan to further experience the warmness of the locals. |
We headed to the trail end by crossing the lake with a kayak at around 1:20 PM and reached the trailhead after fifteen minutes. The initial phase of the trek was a relaxing gradually sloping trail chilled by thick forest; prettified with ‘natural sound effects’- chirping of various types of birds; and exemplified by meaningful stories of Mang Badong.
The peak was so different now than the last time that I was in this mountain. Precisely because of the series of eruption that happened between 1996 and 2013. Bulusan was no longer the mountain that I knew before… but it was equally enchanting. Truly, every climb is a different experience… climbing same mountain again is not a ‘hiking redundancy’ but a totally different undertaking, a totally different adventure.
Unknown to my fellow hikers, I had something in my pocket. A small metal box holding an ounce of ashes of a very special person. In accordance to the person’s will; I dug a small whole and carefully interned the metal box while sincerely praying for his eternal repose and reminiscing the time when we climb Mt. Bulusan together few years ago. The lofty Mt. Bulusan is now one of this person’s tombstone.
At 11:30 AM, we reached Lake Aguingay and immediately, we packed all our things and started descending to ranger station. We reached the ranger station after an hour and fulfilled our duty of planting trees. Then, we further trek downhill, this time using the overgrown logging road and reached ‘kilometer 0’ after another hour. We reached Lake Bulusan at around 3:45 PM and soothed with herbal foot massage and cheering gesture for completing the adventure. To cap the totality of hiking experience, a certificate was given to us. We almost decided to stay longer in Bulusan Lake than our schedule but we need to catch up the 5:00 PM mass at Irosin Catholic Church.