MOUNT UGU
LOCATION: Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya Provinces
ELEVATION: 2,090 meters above sea level
LEVEL: Major Climb, Level III, Strenuous
JUMP-OFF POINT: Itogon, Benguet and Kayapa
Nueva Vizcaya
iNFORMATION:
Mt. Ugu is one of the major peaks in the mountainous Benguet
and Nueva Vizacaya provinces. The site was discovered as a
new hiking destination last 1987 when a PAL plane crashed
on one of its slopes. Mountaineers who volunteered on the
ensuing rescue operations was awed by the adventure experience
of exploring this mountain making it a part of their succeeding
explorations. Then for a long time, it was a place known only
to a handful until the time when the other mountaineering
groups started to re-discover the place.
Mt. Ugu is another proof that the Cordilleras is one of the
richest hiking destinations in the country. It is a cross-country
hike traversing several territories cutting across the provinces
of Benguet and Nueva Vizcaya. It is a part of the "Cordillera
Way" which is a series of trails crisscrossing the Cordillera
Mountains. In fact you can create other exploration trips
within this destination like a Mt. Napulauan-Ugu or a Mt.
Ugu-Pulag hikes. The Mt. Ugu hike itself is already visually
rewarding and physically challenging enough for you to reconsider
the other routes. Nestled between the vast mountain lies the
2,090 high summit of Mt. Ugu. From the summit, you can catch
a panoramic view of Mt.Pulag on the North and the Nueva Vizcaya
Mountains on the South. It’s not only the experience
of the Cordillera wilderness that is rewarding but as well
as the cultural experience of interacting and passing by the
remote villages of Itogon and Kayapa. Definitely Mt. Ugu is
a better alternative to Mt. Pulag especially if you want to
get away from the "beaten tracks".
LEGENDS:
Mountaineers who climbs Mt. Ugu bring back stories of ghostly
experience they attribute to the victims of the PAL crash
site. But as any other ghostly stories, it’s up for
you to decide what to make up for slightly extra-ordinary
experiences. During the two three I had trekked the place,
I have never experienced anything that will qualify as such.
|
