A WALK TO MOUNT YANGBAW

On the eve of the Chinese New Year, I reminded my kids that when they’d wake up the following morning I wouldn’t be beside them.  I would be somewhere scrambling up to the peak of a nearby mountain that has been featured on a local television some few days ago.  That mount is called Mt. Yangbaw.

The view of the mountain from the front of the La Trinidad Municipal Hall one sunset.

My climb wouldn’t have anything to do with the New Year celebration (Yangbaw sounds Chinese) but much of my yearning to discover more of the township of La Trinidad which I considered my second hometown.  I had been looking up the two peaks east side of this valley yet I never had an idea of the beauty to behold at the top except what friends tell about Mt. Kallugong which is the nearer one featuring a stone formation that resembles a baseball cap (which is probably why it is called Kallugong meaning cap/hat in the local dialect).  And then the TV feature that encouraged me to scale up the farther and taller one which I supposed is the Yangbaw.  The long weekend brought about by the Chinese New Year being a holiday was a good opportunity.

“Why won’t you bring us along?” the kids asked.  I brought them along the few times I went up the smaller Kesbeng knoll north side of the valley.  I told them I’ll have to discover the path to the peak first.  The TV feature wasn’t clear about a landmark where the trail to the top would start.  And when I’m sure of the path, that would be the time I’ll bring them along. “I promise,” I told them.

At 5:00 AM I rode a jeep at the town center bound for Tomay and got off the road intersection to barangay Tawang where Yangbaw is.  While walking through the road, I always look up for a possible path that would lead me up the peak.  My first try led me to a chayote garden and so I went back the main road.  An on the second crack, I found a track of cow’s footprints that seemed steering me to the peak.  After some minutes of ascent through tall grasses, I heard the hum of a generator which I recognized to be that of a telco transmitter.  I knew then I was nearing the peak as a transmitter  on top of the mountain was very visible down the valley.  As soon as the peak was in sight,  my shoes and my pants are drenched with the morning mountain dew.  But this was insignificant now as the view was amazing.  The valley was tranquil with some thin mist covering the green gardens at the middle collectively known as the Strawberry Farm and the sprawling compound of Benguet State University.  It was bound by houses and buildings all around and then lined by hills and mounts, green and yellowish with either trees or grasses and a pinkish horizon at the background.  On the far south, Mount Sto Tomas with parts of Baguio City at its foot is in sight.  The blue and greyish sky at the backdrop and some sporadic fog over the city made a beautiful scenery.  On the far north are views of mountain ranges probably still part of Benguet province.  The peak of Yangbaw, which is actually a combination of rolling hills and flat terrains, is itself a marvellous sight to behold especially with the sunrise slithering up a taller mountain farther east.  Foot trails criss-crossing at the terrains were obvious and from these, I figured out the more convenient path to this peak than the one I ascended through.

I went around the trails going through every possible corner I could.   I chose a spot on a flat periphery overlooking the valley and sat there to enjoy the cool air.  At around eight, a group of joggers ascended up the peak.  I suppose, the ascent part is routine to them as after a few minutes of stretching at the top most, they were already jogging down the mount.  But as a first timer to the site, I wanted to make the most time of it.  I stood up and proceeded to the trails eastward.  I realized that it was leading to another mountain.  I decided that the walk to the next would be reserved for another day so I proceeded back to the top most peak.

After some more minutes of enjoying the scenery, my stomach and shirt soaked in sweat suggest that I go down.  When I was near the foot of the mount, now via the more convenient path, I realized that I had been here before once although I did not know then that it was Yangbaw for a tree-planting activity.  And no one told us that there is something more beautiful to behold up the summit.  The footpath is connected to a concrete road leading up linked from the main Tawang road.  Parallel to this road is where I noticed some equipment and men working, perhaps for another road or perhaps a quarry.  Either of these, it came to mind that I should make the promise to my kids the soonest or they will miss much of the naturalness of the spot as the road development or quarry progresses.

The view of the mountain from the Benguet State University grounds.  Photo taken some five years ago.

I asked at some residence nearby for a shortcut to the valley without passing through Tomay. And they generously pointed to a foot path down to Barangay Balili.  Some thirty minutes of unhurried walking, I was at the main highway of La Trinidad valley.  Looking up from where I came from, I asked myself, was that Yangbaw? No signage told it was so.