Fujifilm x Mt. Pulag (Part 2)

We obviously experienced the not so good weather of Mt. Pulag during our first camping day. I wanted to back out and go home but the rest of the group was very supportive. Sabagay, isang araw na nga lang naman. How hard can that be di ba? Buti na lang the weather was slowly improving by noon the next day.

That was us hanging inside the shelter (supposedly) for local porters and guides. We had no choice because it's the only area where we can keep ourselves dry. Haha. Photo by Brian Santos.



Yung group namin puro boys so I'm glad Arlene insisted of having a group photo with the girls. Halata bang mga wala pa kaming ligo diyan? Lol. Meet Arlene, Therese and Jen. :) Photo by Arlene Donaire.


The rest of the group decided to climb up the summit to take sunset photos but I wasn't in the mood yet at that time. We stayed behind to take photos and selfies. LOL. Check out our sleeping bags on my left, basa sila niyan. Walang use. Hehe. Photo from Arlene Donaire's camera shot by Jay Ermitaño.


Here's another selfie taken by Jay using his Samsung Note 4. Sorry, fan boy kasi siya ng Samsung kaya kailangan nakalagay talaga if anong unit. Hahahaha.


While we were busy taking selfies at the camp site, the rest of our group enjoyed the sunset view from the summit of Mt. Pulag. Photo by RC Cipriano.

How cold is it in Mt. Pulag? Usok levels. 😄

A video posted by Czarina Maye Mariano (@czarinamaye) on Jan 21, 2015 at 5:00am PST

Super lamig lang di ba? Temperature at that time was 9-10C and I was looking forward to experience a "chilly" night once more. But before sleeping, our porters and guides suggested that we move back to Camp 2 since skies were looking clear meaning there's lesser chance for drizzle/rain. Clear daw ang sky so obviously maraming stars, everyone took advantage and started taking photos of the galaxy. This is the first time that I've ever seen a gazillion stars. Let me repeat: A GAZILLION STARS.

This is my first time to try and photography the galaxy/milky way. Thank you once again to Jay Ermitaño for the assistance. Hehe. I'm not prepared in terms of gear, mine sucked so I'll just share photos taken by the rest of the group.

 
The milky way and star trails by X-Photographer Randall Cipriano.

 
Star trails and sea of clouds by RA Valderrama.

Moving on, we finished shooting stars by midnight. It was getting really cold as fuck. Arlene and I both asked for extra blankets (you may ask the porters to get you one, rental fee is ₱100) hoping that would keep us extra warm that night. But no.. I was shaking the whole night. It was really really cold, mind over matter ang labanan or else bibigay talaga katawan ko sa lamig. If I'm not mistaken, temperature dropped to zero and may ice crystals na daw yung tent namin.

By 5:30AM, I got a wake up call from Jay and asked if I wanted to join their climb to the tower. The tower is actually a hill that is roughly around 30 minutes from Camp 2. This is where you'll find both Globe and Smart's cell site thus calling that area the tower. To make the long story short, hindi ako umakyat ng summit (tamad na kung tamad) but if habol ninyo sea of clouds, meron din naman nun sa area nung tower. HAHAHA.

Stupid me forgot to bring her tripod (tinamad na ako bumaba para kunin. dont judge me! haha) so to make up for the lost photos, time lapse na lang using my GoPro.


Here's another selfie with the tower naman from Jay's Samsung Note 4.


Sea of clouds photo grabbed from Randall Cipriano. Good job sir! Idol na talaga kita. ;)

The trip had a happy ending after all. Thank you Fujifilm Philippines for this experience. I shall forever cherish the moment that I survived Mt. Pulag. Until our next climb! ;)