AT ONE time, George Herbert Leigh Mallory was asked: “Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?” His answer – “Because it’s there” – has become “the most famous three words in mountaineering.”
At 9,692-feet in elevation, Mount Apo is the country’s highest peak. I had the opportunity of scaling the majestic mountain when I was still younger – during a Holy Week.
Since there was no work, my friends and I decided to climb the mountain. We were not alone. There were several others who were ahead of us. After almost a day of hiking, we settled and rested at Lake Venado. In the early morning the following day, we climbed the highest peak and after more than an hour or so, we descended.
Yes, I did climb Mount Apo. It was my first – and definitely my last. I never imagined myself doing it again. It was a hell of an adventure. It may be tiresome – even dangerous in some cases – but for those who like climbing, it is always fun to climb it again and again!
The first two attempts to reach Mt. Apo’s summit ended in failure: that of Jose Oyanguren in 1852 and Señor Real in 1870. The first recorded successful expedition was led by Don Joaquin Rajal on October 10, 1880.
According to Fr. Miguel Bernad, Rajal had to secure the permission of the Bagobo chieftain, Datu Manig, prior to the climb. The Datu reportedly demanded that human sacrifice be made to please god Mandarangan. Fortunately, the datu agreed to waive this demand, and Rajal and his team started to climb the mountain on October 6, 1880.
On May 9, 1936, Mount Apo was declared a national park with Proclamation no. 59 by President Manuel L. Quezon, followed by Proclamation no. 35 of May 8, 1966 then Proclamation no. 882 of September 24, 1996.
It has been listed in the ASEAN List of Critical Areas for Conservation.
Mount Apo Natural Park has a typical volcanic terrain. Its features exhibited within the park area are cinder cones (Mount Talomo, Apo complex), volcanic plateaus (Todaya Plateau now known as Kapatagan) and breached craters. Interestingly, the mountain is rich with minerals like sulfur, copper, and coal.
There are four major lakes in Mt. Apo. Popular of these are Lake Agco (used to be called "The Blue Lake") and Lake Venado, a famous mountaineers camping site and a stopover towards the peak. Lake Macadac and Lake Jordan are found in the summit grassland.
Mount Apo is also home to several waterfalls, the most scenic of which are the Todaya falls in Sibulan, Sta. Cruz, and the Mabbu Falls and Tagibaka Falls at Bongolanon, in Magpet, Cotabato.
Today, Mount Apo has attracted a lot of attention from hikers all over the world. After all, it possesses a formidable array of landscapes: from craggy rockscapes to virgin forests and from mossy swamps to volcanic structures. The mountain keeps the widest spectrum of environments and provides an experience for mountaineers that lives up to their expectations from the country’s highest peak.
The different flavors of a Mount Apo climb are reflected in the different trails. So far, the two major passages are the Kidapawan Trail in North Cotabato and the Kapatagan Trail in Davao. While the former features hot springs, river crossings, and a steep forested trail that leads to a swampland then to Lake Venado, the latter has a more “volcanic” feel – initially wide trails which lead to a mossy forest and then arrives at the challenge of bouldering your way up to the crater and ultimately reaching the summit.
In fact, it is this trail that attracts the participants of the annual International Mount Apo Boulder Face Challenge. In a span of 24 hours, each team must pass through several hurdles, including rugged terrain, and the raging river of Sta. Cruz, before making the climb to Mount Apo.
“The 113.30-kilometer race is considered as one of the toughest races in the country if not in Asia,” says Arturo Boncato, Jr., the regional tourism officer who organizes the competition through the Department of Tourism 11 and the local government of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
So, you’re ready to scale the mountain. But here are some notes you need to remember. Being an inactive volcano, Mount Apo has sulfuric vents and there are some parts that have a mildly sulfuric smell on both sides of the traverse, more so on Kapatagan. Mobile phone signal is absent in some parts of the trail but it is strong in the summit and good on Lake Venado.
If you’re going with a mountaineering group, they could always take care of stoves and cooking utensils for you. For personal needs, you need the following: water container (that can carry three liters of water), raincoat, three T-shirts (preferably quick dry material), gloves, bonnet for the cold summit, sleeping bag, and tent.
One person who climbed the mountain considered his experience as “a dream come true.” He wrote: “The grandfather of Philippine mountains, the majestic peak of the south, and the highest peak in the country – one adventure of a lifetime.”