Travel Blog #3: Way Back to Mt. Agad-Agad
My first visit to Mt. Agad-Agad was last February 19, 2015, and it was a Chinese New Year on that day, so we decided to climb up since it was a holiday for us and it was a very tiring one because we climb at around 9 in the morning and the sun is already high.
One day, my ate asked me if I wanted to climb up at Mt. Agad-Agad, I told her I already climb up and it will be my 2nd time if I am going to climb up again and I said yes to that.
We left at our house around 6 in the morning, we stopped by in the vulcanizing shop at Buru-un, Iligan City because the tire of my father's motorcycle was flat. Then after that we proceed to the meeting place which is Jollibee Aguinaldo (Aguinaldo because it is located at the Aguinaldo Street) or we called it Jollibee Main since it is the first Jollibee in town, and we said goodbyes to our father that we are going to leave, we went straight to Jollibee while my father went to the market to buy vegetables and fruits. When we were in the Jollibee my stomach hurts like nature is calling me, we were supposed to eat but we leave already because our tour guide and my elder sister's friend was already on the outside though we already had a breakfast (for us it is called pamainit means drinking something hot to keep us warm).
While we were on our way to the Pugaan, Iligan City (the place where Mt. Agad-Agad is located) my stomach doesn't hurt anymore unlike when we were in the Jollibee main. The tour guide which is a friend of a friend of my elder sister parked his car near the checkpoint, he told us to bring lighter objects like things we should be needed, he checked us our bag's weight and he kept telling us just water, foods, towel and shirts will do. While I was on the hanging bridge it brings back memories to me on my way to Mt. Agad-Agad on our 1st climb.
When we were in the area where there are a lot of residents, there was a group composed of 3 persons that are following at us so we thought that they are going to climb too, so they just followed at us since we were the 1st to walk on the pathway.
We choose the shortcut way that leads us to the forest instead of on the main road because if we choose the main road we will be exhausted when we will get in the middle going to the mountain. There were 2 small rivers that we encountered, the land was wet and so does the trees and the plants because on that night it was raining, the pathway was not so small in that area but after on the 2nd river the pathway became narrow and our body was so close to the plants so literally our outfits were kinda wet because of our sweats and because of the plants and trees.
When we got out to the shortcut, we hit on the main road that leads us to the residences of the Pugaan that lives in the middle of Mt. Agad-Agad. We had a short break because my elder sister was almost out of breath since she was tired on her gym on the other day, so the other group lead the way 1st since we were having a short break but it's not like we stopped by hiking but we were just slowing down out pace to have a little rest like we were walking backwards.
We passed on the residences and we went straight to the logging area, where we need to log in ourselves on a small hunt and there we literally had a 5 minutes break.
After 5 minutes break, we continued on hiking because it was already 7 in the morning and we need to hurry before the sun will rise up and it will be more exhausting to climb up if it is so hot. Our pace was slow because we are climbing almost 30° - 80° angle and my elder sister is catching up her breath and of course, we kept having a picture taking.
my elder sister @kneelyrac climbing through the tree
My elder sister is catching up her breath and it is my same reaction when it was my 1st time to climb up on Mt. Agad-Agad.
We are on the 3/4 on the mountain and I can feel the tiredness of my feet, my elder sister told me that we were almost there and it was my late reaction to feel a tiredness and she was right on that though and I don't know why I feel so tired. We exchange bags of my ate because I thought that her bag is heavy and when she gave it to me I was right and I don't know why her bag is heavy than my bag.
There are times that you will climb up 90° in angle and you need to hold on the roots of the trees or in the big stones to help you climb that angle and it is kinda terrifying because one mistake and you will fall.
After 10 minutes of trekking, there is a path going to the top that you can see the city that is facing the sea already and I just stop there to have a picture and proceed on following them. Few more steps and we will be going to reach the top.
We feel so happy when we saw the signage of Mt. Agad-Agad like we let out a big sigh and a happy face because we can rest just a little and have a tour on the top after almost 2 hours of trekking.
After taking a lot of pictures when we entered we paid 10 PHP for the entrance and on our way to this top I already saw the small buildings that are facing the sea but in here you can see the whole city that is facing the sea. On my 1st climb, it the cottage that we've rent that they put a tarpaulin now.
And I took a rest after picture taking and I drink a lot of water because I am so thirsty I need to replenish a water for my body while they were eating already and I told them I need to rest just a little bit before eating something. And I went to the small hut that there is a man guarding the top of the mountain while living and selling some small drinks like a coffee, milk, cup noodles and etc. and I saw those guys who're with us when we were going up taking the shortcut and they were sitting on the hammock while we were taking one of the tables.
Then the man who's guarding the mountain called us that our energy drink which is "milo" is now available I mean we can drink our milo even though it is still hot. And I asked my elder sister to took a picture of me in front of the Mt. Agad-Agad signage while sipping my milo and after that, we went down just a little bit to have a picture taking especially on the hammock and on the are where we can see the whole city in a different angle. And we saw that there are a lot of people on that are having a picnic and camping and I think they were there overnight.
Then we walked back to our area and packed our things, but we decided to have a picture a little bit in front of the signage and I changed again my shirt again because I let it dry my t-shirt until it dries and I wear it again. And we went started to move down because the tour guide and the friend of my elder sister have something to do individually.
Out of nowhere, I saw roots that binding up that is composed of 3 roots that are binding with each other, I told my elder sister that it is like on a Disney movie of Tarzan but my elder sister told me that I am not gonna depend on my strength onto that because maybe it is not strong enough to hold myself or my weight it is, but of course, I just hold on to it but I didn't fully depend on myself for it.
I saw my elder sister kept herself from walking fast and I asked her why and she told me that because of the shoes that she wears were on loose and I mean it is not totally fit on so I told her that we are going to swap our shoes even though our shoes were not for mounting trekking but a running shoes.
We noticed that the sun was so high I mean it is getting hotter than we were climbing up from the mountain than going down from the mountain.
We saw a mini falls on our way down when we took the shortcut, but it's kinda odd when we climbed up going to the mountain we didn't see a falls but we knew that there was one because we heard the water streams but when we go down we saw one and we kept ourselves going down because we knew for sure that we are close to the area were there are a lot of residents who live in there.
After 10-15 minutes we reached the near to the hanging bridge and we took a lot of pictures again, and we encountered less than 15 mountaineers going up to the Mt. Agad-Agad and we greeted ourselves of good morning or goon noon until we reached to the hanging bridge again and took a lot of pictures after that we went back to the tour guide's car that is parked in near the checkpoint and took a little rest before going to the town and separates our ways.
We went back to our meeting place which is Jollibee Main because we change before going to the mall to have some lunch, we were supposedly going to eat to Mang Inasal together with my elder sister, my elder sister's friend and my elder sister's boyfriend but the place were full so we decided to have lunch on big dipper in the mall that is located on the food court and after that we went home because we were tired and seriously I sleep whole afternoon until one of my SK-Councilors went to my house because we are going to have a meeting at the Barangay Hall on the evening.
Mount Agad-Agad is a mountain located in Iligan City in the Philippines which has an estimated height of 1,600 feet (490 m) above sea level.
Mount Agad-Agad is very accessible and is good for mountain hiking and overnight camping. It affords a full view of Iligan City by night or day. A small waterfall is featured on the way to the top of the mountain. Source
We started climbing 6:30 in the morning and we arrive on the top of the mountain by 8 in the morning. And when we started to left off on the top of the mountain, we started around 9:30 and we got back to the checkpoint where we left the car was 10:30 in the morning. So basically, it is just easy to go down in there than going up but be careful on every step you will going to take going up especially when you are going down.
HOW TO GET THERE?
The jeepney that is going to Pugaan, Iligan City is near in the Pala-o Market, when you will ride the jeepney you can ask the driver to drop you off near in the starting point of Mt. Agad-Agad or in the checkpoint near in Mt. Agad-Agad and it will take 5-10 minutes of ride from the city and the fare will only just cost 8 PHP
WHAT TO BRING?
You need to bring a lot of:
- Water - To hydrate yourself.
- Foods - The man who's guarding the top of the mountain and cleaning the mountain sell only a few foods and that is only a noodle because it is easy, and you can bring any food in there.
- Towel/Clothes - To wipe your sweat
- Camera & Battery - Because of the scenery going in there.
- Kitchen Utensils - You can cook in there if you wanted to.
- Tent - If you want to have an overnight in the top of the mountain.
- Jacket/Pants/Pajamas - Because if you are going to have an overnight in there expect the cold wind in there.
- Flashlight/Lamp/LED Light - Because there is no light in that area
- Book - You can bring a book if you wanted to because it is the night place to be cozy in there while reading.
- Money - Of course, if you will rent a small hut you will pay 50-150 PHP and the entrance which cost 10 PHP
TIPS
- If you are searching for the jeepney that is going to the Pugaan you can just ask the locals where is the terminal for Pugaan.
- When you got to the area which is going to the Mt. Agad-Agad, you will always greet the locals may be a good morning or good afternoon, depending on what time you meet one.
- You can ask someone of the locals in there for the directions going to Mt. Agad-Agad or you can ask someone to guide you going in there and you can just give the one who guided you going there a tip.
- Observe cleanliness in there because the man who's guarding in there kept the area clean and please NO TO VANDALISM because I observe on my 1st visit there was a lot of writings on the chair or in table especially on the trees and it is so unpleasing to see.
That would be all guys!
Thanks for dropping by!!
CHECK OUT MY PREVIOUS POST:
I WON THE 3RD PLACE OF THE COMPETITION
Ulog #23: I Decided to Join Silent Drill Competition Again
Ulog #25: Totoro got sting from a bee
Ulog #26: Catching up with our old-classmates
Ulog #27: Rainy afternoon 180825
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