A Walk in the (Mt Kalugong Eco) Park

The month of March marks the celebration of the Strawberry Festival of La Trinidad, Benguet, where I grew up and currently reside. As my way of celebrating the 2016 Panaspulan: La Trinidad Strawberry Festival, let me take you back to one of my revisits to one of La Trinidad’s “staples”, Mt. Kalugong,just last month.

I already blogged about this place in Echoes of the Past at Mt. Kalugong but since it was drizzling when we went there, no one was allowed to go up on the rocks, in case we slip and injure ourselves, or worse. So on an impulse, we decided to go there one Sunday afternoon.

Our group of five met up at a regular jaunt, Kairuz Cafe, at Km. 6 at 3pm, bought some pizza and drinks for take-out, and took a cab to Mt. Kalugong via Cruz. We nixed any idea of walking or hiking because we weren’t really primed for it at the time, and we were also running out of time. If we walked, it’d be quite dark when we get there.

There is an entrance fee to the park of Php50.00 per person. All guests are required to register.

There were only about 3 or 4 groups when we arrived, and 2 were just leaving. The introvert in me (yes, there is one!) was happy about that.

The original plan was to go up to the rocks, sit there with our legs dangling down the sides, and have a pizza picnic. But the park staff said we are not allowed to bring food at the rocks… and we were feeling obedient and law-abiding at the time, so we made quick work of our pizzas on one of the tables, and proceeded to clamber up the rocks when we were done.

On hindsight, it might not have been a good idea to stuff ourselves full with pizza, just before doing some major climbing and scrambling and clambering up rocks.. sharp rocks, at that. 🙂

It has been ages since I got to sit atop this rock. That was waaaay back in high school, which I won’t dare to say WHEN right here on the blog. So it was nostalgic and new at the same time.

It was quite precarious, so an attack of nerves is normal, especially when you are standing on the ledge. If you ask me, it’s not so much as the height that gave me the heebie-jeebies, but it was the fact that what awaits you down there are sharp rocks and uneven terrain comprised of heaven-knows-what.

But did that stop us? Nope, not really. Not when you get to behold the La Trinidad valley in all her late afternoon glory.

In the third pic below, you can spot Mt. Jumbo (or Mt.Yangbo) behind us. From our vantage point, we could spot several people already dotting the summit of Mt. Yangbo.

After several minutes, we decided to walk around (if you classify it as walking) to the other parts of the rocky ledge of Mt. Kalugong. So that means more clambering action!

You know those activities where you get to free your mind of anything else, because you are too engrossed on making sure you have solid footing, there is no room for much else? This is one of them.

You have to take care where to put your hands and your feet, otherwise, you’d slip. One wrong move, and the result is going to be excruciatinggggggg~ And totally not pretty.

Oh, and there is one other worry (aside from slipping) that plagued us. That is of our pants ripping, haha!

At the back of my mind, I kept thinking that if I were to do this on a regular basis, it’d be a great upper body workout. Especially when you are like me, who has short legs, and you’d have to rely mostly on your arms when your legs could not reach, haha!

At every turn, I could not help but oooh and aaaah at the sight of the rocks. Mind, they may just be rocks, but I find them purrrty.

Just to clarify things, the rocks aren’t really slippery, but I mean you can slip if you are careless. The rocks themselves provide good traction, but they aren’t any good if you do a good stumble or tumble.

We took another moment to lay down and take it all in. (And yes, rest. That, too.)

This is probably one of the best places to wax philosophical and go deep with your conversations with friends. Talking about politics and current events while staring at La Trinidad down below. We certainly did.

Oh, and when we ran out of “intelligent” things to discuss, we just decided to say CHEESE!

Caption this: A and B, sitting on a ledge, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…. eensy weensy spider went up the ledge…. and broke the moment.:)

If you have vertigo, this might not be the best idea all around.

My friends called this one the “Godzilla”.

We went as far as we could and, when it was getting late, we just decided to head back. There is great comfort in the knowledge that this is just a stone’s throw away from where we live and, when the urge strikes us, we can just get up and visit the Mt. Kalugong Eco-Park.

A loud shout-out to my wandering buddies. Thanks for this fun afternoon! Let’s do it again soon~

AND HAPPY STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, EVERYONE! (Check out their Facebook page.)