Related Searches: |
|
Wonderful views of Cordillera Mountains en route to Mt. Osdung for a day hike. |
Mount Osdung, having the 16th highest peak in the entire
Philippines, is an easy day hike for mountaineers. It lies in the municipality
of Kibungan, Benguet and is situated about 3 hours from Baguio City. The
jump-off point is at Collideng Junction in Buguias, Benguet (marker is the
yellow Trader’s Café) and from there an hour of walk trail is expected along
the way to the peak of Mt. Osdung. It may be one of the easiest climb but the
view from the mountain is awesome. Road trails going to Sagada, cabbage farms,
mountain walls and other peaks can be viewed 360 degrees.
See a sea of clouds under mountain peaks in the road part of Buguias, Benguet. |
Part 1 of Hiking Benguet Mountains: Mount Osdung
If you plan a day hike to this part of Benguet, these are a handful of tips
that you may want to consider when you visit the scenic views from the peak of
Mount Osdung.
THE TRAIL. If you’ve been to Baguio and walked to Camp John Hay several
times already then walking the trail to Mount Osdung will surely be easy for
you. It is one of the easiest trails to a mountain peak. It was my first time
to actually day hike a mountain peak (well the daily hiking I do in Baguio City
does not really count). I am not really into hiking but when I tried it, it
felt good. The scenic mountain views are refreshing. You’ll just have to walk
like 1.5 hours from the junction to the main peak. But if you will be luck
(like us) you can catch a truck or jeepney where you can do back load or top
load and drop off at the Madaymen-Cagam-is intersection and voila! The walk
trail is now reduced to 15 minutes! Easy indeed!
Truck load--the easiest way to hike! Haha. (From left to right: Agnes, Bryan, Dane, Ivan and Allan) |
THE PEAK. It may not be as scenic as the other mountain peaks but it is at
least worth it to hike Mount Osdung for good. From the peak you can actually
view like endless farms of cabbage, ranges of the Cordillera Mountains, road
trails to Sagada and pine trees of course! I don’t know if in any chance the
sunrise is spectacular that there will also be sea of clouds. But going there
for Mt. Osdung via the buses bound to Sagada at early in the morning is already
a sight to see. Morning fogs and sea of clouds plus the cascading views of the
mountains is indeed one of the best sceneries in the province of Benguet.
Farms and farms of cabbage on top of Mt. Osdung. |
THE TRANSPORTATION. Three things to remember: ride-drop-hike. From Baguio
City you’ll have to ride a bus bound to Sagada (or Bontoc) then drop off at the
Collideng Junction (remember the yellow café). From there, you’ll have to walk
the trail to Mount Osdung (you can ask the locals for directions). Or you can
top load to any truck getting to somewhere near the peak (in case the barangays
of Cagam-is or Madaymen) and tell them to drop you off either to the
Cagam-is-Madaymen junction or the Kibungan Municipal Hall branch then walk your
way to the peak. On going back, you’ll have to walk the same route again. Do
not worry as the route is not really confusing like other mountain trails
maybe. (Check out How to Go to Mount Osdung, Kibungan, Benguet
for details and maps)
To get to Mount Osdung, you will have to ride the GL bus bound to Sagada. |
THE TIME. Getting from Baguio to the junction part in Buguias, Benguet will
take around 2.5 to 3 hours of bus ride. I suggest you to do the hike early in
the morning (catch the first trip to Sagada leaving at 6:30 AM) and arrive at
the junction around 9:00 – 9:30 in the morning. The walk trail to the peak is
about 1.5 to 2 hours, though we haven’t really computed because we hitch-hiked
to the trucks getting to and getting from the peak. In our day hike we finished
it at around 12:30 in the afternoon and got back to Baguio City at around 3:00
PM. If you are coming from Manila and you want to catch the earliest trip to
Sagada for Mt. Osdung day hike, then you will have to leave the city by
11:00-12:00 midnight so you will have time to eat breakfast because the first
bus stop will be around 8:30 in the morning already.
Collideng Junction and the Traders Cafe, on your way to walk trail to Mt. Osdung |
THE FOOD. There will be a bus stop before the junction (roughly 2 hours
away from Baguio City). From the bus stop you can eat your breakfast and pack
some more snacks and water you will need for the hike. There is this café
though in Collideng junction where you can also buy food.
Kibungan Municipal Branch Office |
THE BUDGET. Not much. If you are coming from Manila then you have to allot
your budget for the bus fare to Baguio. From Baguio regular fare to Collideng
junction is P96 (as of October 2012). It’s open-air but no worries, it’s cold
during the road trip. Your food will depend on you. Excluding fare from Manila
to Baguio, the day hike budget of P400 will already be okay.
Madaymen-Cagam-is intersection (follow Cagam-is trail) |
OTHER NOTES. We did not register of any sort and thus it does not require
any guide or guide fee. If you happen to see locals smiling at you, just smile
back at them. It’s a friendly custom. Remember that Mt. Osdung is also a farm
so be careful not to walk on their veggies. You also have to take note that
Igorots and other cultural communities have their own traditions. Respect them.
One of the traditions you may encounter in your trip is their burial customs
and rituals. Taking of pictures during their ritual is a no-no. They do not
want any sort of disturbance during their ceremonies.
The cabbage terraces of Kibungan, Benguet (side slopes of Mt. Osdung) |
So there I hope it helps you in planning your day hike to one of the 20
highest peaks in the Philippines! Mount Osdung although rated as 2/10 over its
difficulty is still worth it because the views are just so beautiful and
refreshing!
Sea of clouds over Cordillera! |
At the peak fo Mt. Osdung, from right to left: Dane, Bryan, Agnes, Ivan and me. |
Hiking Benguet Mountains:
Mount Osdung Travel Series:
Part 1: Planning a Day Hike to Mount Osdung
Part 3: How to Go to Mount Osdung, Kibungan,Benguet
Is the article interesting? Useful? Funny? Inspiring? Or simply worthy? Then Follow @TravexTravels . Read, read, and lead! More related posts below. |
- Được, trước hết cứ giết chết tên tiểu tử này.
ReplyDeletesắc mặt của Phượng Tôn trầm xuống mà nói.
- Tiểu tử, ngươi xem còn có thể chống lại ta được không?
Thân hình của Phượng Tôn xoay động hồng mang, thân ảnh đung đưa chuyển động tới bên cạnh của Nhdongtam
mu private
tim phong tro
http://nhatroso.com/
nhac san cuc manh
tổng đài tư vấn luật
http://dichvu.tuvanphapluattructuyen.com/
văn phòng luật
tổng đài tư vấn luật
dịch vụ thành lập công ty
http://we-cooking.com/
chém gió
trung tâm ngoại ngữạc Thành, trong tay của hắn phóng ra một hỏa diễm trực tiếp quét về phía Nhạc Thành.
- Xoẹt xoẹt.
Một màn hỏa diễm phát ra, Phượng Tôn phát hiện ra Nhạc Thành ở trên không trung đã để lại một đạo tàn ảnh.
- Hừ, thử một chút sẽ biết.
Lúc này thân ảnh của Nhạc Thành đã đột ngột xuất hiện bên cạnh Phượng Tôn, trong tay của hắn xuất hiện Toàn Phong Trảm mà đánh xuống.
- Xoẹt.
Thân ảnh của Thanh Sơn lão tổ cũng như điện đánh về phía Nhạc Thành.