Mt. Ampacao 1889+

February 2017 - Mt. Ampacao, Sagada, Mountain Province - Philippines

On our third day in Sagada, we decided to go hiking again and finally get to Mt. Ampacao by ourselves since we already knew which way to go after getting lost the other day. We just started the day with a huge breakfast at our favorite shop, Strawberry Cafe.

Strawberry Yoghurt please!

We started walking at around 9 am and on our way to the jump off, we saw an amazing view of rock formations! We stopped for a while to take a closer look. There were hanging coffins in the rocks. It is the famous Igorot tribe tradition of burying their dead. We did not take time to explore the caves to see it because there were too many tourists. But I was glad that we were able to have a glimpse of it.

Sagada Rock Formations

We passed through a village and we started to trek on an uphill road. It was sunny but the wind breeze was cool, so we just took our time walking until we reached the end of the concrete road. We rested for a while and enjoyed the sound of the wind and trees. Manuel had always a tale to tell.  

Rocky road

We were not really alone for some time. We were greeted by carabaos and we thought that some farmers let them feed and wander around in the mountain. There was a lone carabao in the middle of trail. For a moment, we felt a bit nervous to pass through because it might suddenly ran and attack us, just like the other water buffaloes running wild after people in the videos, too much social media I guess. LOL. The carabao had its eyes following our movements, we slowly walked at the left side of the road without making any sound and I was overjoyed when we got through the road. We also  met an old man along the trail. He was using 2 long canes to help him walk, he said or asked something in "Kankanaey" an Igorot dialect in Sagada, but we did not understand so we just smiled and said "Magandang Araw po." and "Ingat po." (Good day. and Take care.) when he reached the pathway going to his hut.  

Lolo lives in the mountain.

After an hour and a half of walking, resting, laughing & photo ops, we finally reached this wonderful place! They call it the ranch, which I just learned now. The summit is 20 minutes away from the ranch with the SMART tower on it. We did not know where the trail leading to the summit during that time. We got lost looking for it so after a few minutes, we returned back to the ranch and decided to chill in the area. Despite, we enjoyed staying in this spot of Mt. Ampacao. 

Majestic scene of mountain ranges

We did it!

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