THE BEST OF SEA OF CLOUDS AT MOUNT AMUYAO SUMMIT

Location: Municipality of Barlig, Mountain Province, Philippines

Major Jump-off Point: Sitio Macalana, Barlig, Mountain Province, Philippines

Exit Point: Sitio Macalana, Barlig, Mountain Province, Philippines

Elevation: 2,702 MASL (8,865 feet)

Total Elevation Gain: 1,300 Meters

Days Required/Hours to Summit: 2 days/5-6 hours (Ideal)

Specs: Major Climb, Difficulty 6/9, Trail Class 3

Features:  Its trail commence with rice fields and terraces; with pine forest, mossy forest, with knife edge, cardiac assaults at Monkelat trails; it has highland grass and orchids; both sunset and sunrise can be viewed from the summit; the summit has bunkhouses with limited bed with no mattresses; the summit also house ABS-CBN radio tower and relay stations; and it has three mountain zones, to include: tropical moist forest (1,600 - 1,800 MASL), tropical premontane wet forest (1,801 - 2,400 MASL and tropical montane forest (2,400 - 2,702 MASL).

The sea of clouds at the summit of Mount Amuyao

Mount Amuyao has been the 10th highest mountain in the Philippines at 2,702 MASL elevation.  However, with the recent discoveries, it slid to 12th ranking.  Mount Kalawitan at 2,714 MASL, also in the Mountain Province and Mount Ragang of Piapayungan Range in Lanao del Sur also holds the same elevation of Mount Kalawitan now hold the 10th ranking of highest mountains in the Philippines.

Day 0 - Departure

Waiting at the May Flower Car Park

The usual climbing package leaves Manila in the evening of Friday.  My pick-up point was the May Flower Car Park in Greenfield District, Ortigas of Mandaluyong City as requested from our tour service provider.  Our service van left the place at 9:30 A.M. heading to Barlig of Mountain Province.  It was an overnight trip, though I was not able to sleep while on board.

Day  1 - First Day Climb

Arrival at the Municipal Hall of Barlig

We arrived at the Municipal Hall of Barlig, Mountain Province at 8:50 A.M. for climbing registration which means, our road travel was 11 hours and 20 minutes.  It was a typical rural area.    When going to Barlig, you will pass thru Banaue and then the key road junction leading toward Barlig (via the Junction Talubin - Barlig - Calaccad Road) in Bontoc is Barangay Talubin specifically in Sitio Pingew/Pingiw, which serves as the critical intersection point to travel toward eastern Mountain Province  like Barlig and Natonin, as well as routes connecting Back toward Bontoc proper and Banaue.''  If one drives straight without heading to Barlig, it will reach Sagada for a distance of 37.6 kilometers for a travel duration of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

The view along our way heading to the jump-off point

After the registration, we had a short drive heading to the Sitio Macalana of 3.3 kilometers or 6 minutes where along the road are magnificent sceneries of rice terraces.  We were already feeling the cold temperature which is a characteristic of high altitude place, considering that Barlig has an average elevation of 1,500 to 1,848 (4,921 to 6,063 feet) above sea level.

Barlig town proper

Barlig is a remote fourth-class municipality in the Mountain Province within the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).  It has a population of 4,363 and comprises three main cultural geographical areas:  Barlig Central, Lias, and Kadaclan.  It is divided into 11 barangays, including Gawana (Poblacion), Lias, and Kadaclan.  It is bounded by Bontoc, Sadanga, Natonin, Tinglayan, and Mayoyao.  It celebrates unique locals festivals like the Fortan festival in Barlig proper, Changyasan in Lias, and Menaliyam in Kadaclan.

A typical local sari-sari store and restaurant

Mountaineers always stop at this point for breakfast and to buy additional necessities before heading to the summit.  Meal order varies from P100 to P150.  More expensive compared to the carenderia in Metro Manila where a certain  viand only cost P50 to P60.   A cup of hot water for coffee or milk costs P5 to P10.

Passing thru Saint Michael the Archangel Parish at Central Barlig

Our group started the trek at exactly 10:00 A.M.  By the way, there is a very strong historical presence of the Episcopal or Anglican Church in Barlig, as the province and Barlig fall under the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines.  There is also a local segment of the town who are Roman Catholics.  Other Christian Denominations in Barlig includes groups the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Iglesia Filipina Independiente, and Iglesia ni Cristo.  On the other hand, many residents, particularly in outlying areas like Lias, maintain indigenous spiritual practices tied to traditional social structures and council houses known as the ator.

The trek leading to another registration stop

I think, what we signed at the municipal hall was for our climbing permit and at this point was the registration at the jump-off point.

The view along the trail at 10:42 A.M.

What so fascinating of the climb was most of the trails unfold the view of the rice terraces.   The terraces here are generally called Barlig Rice Terraces.  Other rice terraces here is called Lias Rice Terraces located in the Lias cluster of villages.  Local rice terraces in the area are also broadly referred to in the indigenous Liallig/Finallig language as payyiw.

Overlooking Barlig town at a higher elevation at 11:25 A.M.

Passing thru a mossy forest

The trail along the mossy forest at 12:35 Noon

This mossy forest is a high-altitude cloud forest wrapped in perpetual fog, cool temperatures, and dense, goblin-like vegetation where trees are heavily draped in thick moss, wild orchids, and ferns.

An improvised wooden trail stairs

A resting shade along the trail at 12:59 Noon

Advancing farther at 12:07 Noon

Ascending thru concrete stairs at 1:10 P.M.

Passing thru this point at 3:07 P.M.

Open trail with the view of sea of clouds at 4:28 P.M.

Arriving the summit bunker at 4:55 P.M.

The view from the summit at 5:14 P.M.

The best thing for Mount Amuyao is its "sea of clouds" can be viewed anytime.  Since our climb is package tour, it included food and we do not have cooked for our meals.  So, for the whole time, I was just viewing the sea of clouds endlessly.  I did nothing but to look around completely speechless of the beauty of the sea of clouds.  While in Mount Pulag, you need to catch up its sea of clouds early in the morning.  But honestly, Mount Pulag's sea of clouds is incomparable.  It is like an ocean of clouds, so vast and massive.

The sunset at 5:15 P.M.

My sunset silhouette at 5:24 P.M.

The sunset's hue at 5:38 P.M.

Finally, the sun sets completely at 6:06 P.M.

Dinner was served at 6:45 P.M., but everybody was not willing to have socials as it was completely a freezing night.  Unfortunately, I did not bring with me a tent and sleeping bag because we were assured that we will sleep inside the bunker.  But, extreme cold was like piercing my skin while I was lying at a thick mattress and my thick blanket was not enough to warm my shivering body. It was really a bloody night of sleep.  May I borrow the word "bloody" from the Britons, as intensifier to mean "very" and "extremely".

Day 2 - The Highlight of the Climb

The magical sunrise at 6:03 A.M.

I did not have a good sleep but I managed to wake up at 4:30 A.M. waiting for the sunrise.  Breakfast was served as early as 5:05 A.M.

Our group picture taken before our descent at 8:40 P.M.

On our way to descent

Reaching the jump-off point at 11:52 A.M.

It only took me 3 hours and 12 minutes to descend back to the jump-off point in Sitio Macalina.  The trail was slippery.  I find it difficult to ascend than to descend the mountain.  But as a whole, the climb was really rewarding.  It was really worth it.

THANKS FOR READING!