Elevation: 1328 masl
Difficulty Level: Backtrail 5/9
Specs: Major Climb, Trail Class 1-3
Hours to Summit: 5-6 hours
Days Required: 1-2 days
Registration Fee: Php100 / head
Guide Fee: Php500 (dayhike)
Guide to Climber Ratio: 1:7
Jeepney Fee From Regitration to Jump Off Roudtrip: Php1,500

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It feels really good to be back at the top of a mountain. Mount Pigingan in Benguet was my first day hike climb for this year 2019. Had you taken this trail before?

From Manila and Pampanga, we had a long trip all the way to the registration site of Mount Pigingan which is located in Dalupirip, Itogon, Benguet, Philippines. After the registration, the group had a quick briefing and orientation with the local official and met the tour guides. From the registration site, a jeepney will be provided to take you to the jump off area which is approximately 30-35 minutes ride. It will be your hint that you are already at the jump off when you are already seeing the river.

We started trekking at 6:30am. Just after a few minutes, you need to cross a long hanging bridge to get to the other side of the trail. From then, it will be a long walk. I don’t remember anything really special or specific with the trail. Before getting to the half way going to summit, there is resting area and some vendors offering boiled eggs and banna, drinks and ice candy which is a famous dessert in the Philippines especially with kids.

After resting for a few minutes, we continued to trek and saw some few water sources in case you need to refill and hydrate. Even if we were in Benguet, the heat of the sun was really irritating and dehydrating during our climb. By about past 10am, we’ve reached the camp site of Mount Pigingan which was fenced by the locals. This is probably because they want to secure the area because of so many cows along the trail. At least, in case there will be mountaineers and campers who wants to stay overnight at the mountain, the area was clean already and tents will be easy to set up.

Trail of Mount Pigingan

Ridge to Summit of Mount Pigingan

Another 30-45 minutes have passed before we reached the ridge of the mountain going to the summit. It is not allowed to have everyone to be at the summit at one time. The locals and protector of the mountain only allows 6-8 people at the top. Since we were 13 in the group we had to regrouped into 2. While the first group takes their photo at the summit, we already had our lunch. When we had our turn, I easily noticed that the summit really occupies just a small area.

The other side of the summit is already a cliff that is why, the only way to get down of  Mount Pigingan is really just to go backtrail. The return was much easier. When we reached the jump off, the jeepney isn’t there yet. This is just the part that I didn’t like on this climb because we were forced to stay there for an hour just waiting for the jeepney to take us back to the registration area. The sad part was, there was no chairs nor anything you can rest by comfortably so we just sat on big rocks while the others patiently took a nap even if it’s very uncomfortable.

After an hour, the jeepney arrived and we had a quick clean up at the registration site where there are 4 shower rooms. We left Dalupirip by 6pm and went back to our provinces. Still a fun climb with my Mumugan ng Holy Water family with the other joiners.

Thanks for reading up until here. Until on my next adventure trip.

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-Echo http://www.byahecho.com