After accomplishing the trails of Tinagong Dagat in Miag-ao, our awesome fambam decided to take a higher challenge – on to the higher mountain peak – Mt. Napulak. We also invited some personal friends to climb with us.
Through this time mountain has become a favorite hiking spot in Igbaras. Mountaineers are labeling this as a good mountain to climb for beginners giving it a rating of 4/9. But you see for me who weighs heavier than usual, it was like 1000000/9.
Here is our itinerary for a day hike in Mt. Napulak
3:00 AM – 3:30 AM meetup at Iloilo Terminal Market
3:30 AM – 5:00 AM – travel from Iloilo City to Igbaras town proper
5:00 AM – 5:30 AM – Travel from Igbaras Town to Brgy. Tigbanaba
5:30 AM – Start hike.
11:00 AM – ETA Summit
11:00 AM – 12:00 NN – Lunch at summit
12:00 NN – 4:30 PM Hike back to Brgy. Tigbanaba
4:30 PM to 5:00 PM – Travel back to Brgy. Tigbanaba to Igbaras town proper.
5:00 PM – Back to the city
The first stop is in the barangay where we ate our breakfast. The climb proper started and we took an improvised cane to help us as we hike.
We were accompanied by our guide and his dogs.
The next destination is the water source where you can refill your water. In the hike, this was the only water source so drink yours wisely.
No easy path. No flat path. There were only slippery soil, rocky and dry path. If in Tinagong Dagat, you have a lot of time to take photos, here at Mt. Napulak, you will be busy thinking of strategies on how you can make every step easier.
There were grasses taller than me, unclear path and steps that will make your knee reach your chin.
Every time we asked our guide how much time we needed to reach the top, his response was always 15 minutes. That was a countless 15 minutes.
Finally, we can see the peak of Mt. Napulak. But wait, it was just the peak. It took more than an hour to finally reach it.
We’ve made it! We’ve had our lunch and photo opportunities at the summit.
You can also climb up the nipple rock to capture a more awesome view. It was really a good feeling to be as high as the clouds.
We had a little rest and started hiking down again.
Everything is really impossible unless you give it a try. There are a lot of places to go in Iloilo. All you have to do is to set a plan, stick to it and enjoy the moment.
For someone who spends 40+ hours facing the computer, with sedentary lifestyle, can barely exercise and weighs 200 lbs, it was not an easy task. I couldn’t count the several times I said I couldn’t do it nor I couldn’t count how many times I stopped because I was too tired.
I got cramped. I slipped. I lost my balance. I lost myself. I am thankful for the people who stayed with me even if they had the choice to climb up higher faster. See you in the next adventure only here at shemaegomez.com.
