Kim's Quest #28: Mt. Kalatungan traverse Mt. Lumpanag/Wiji

_{[1/40 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.0 mm]}

Hello steemians and travellers!

Welcome to the 28th edition of Kim's Quest! This is the fourth part of my Mt. Kalatungan traverse Mt. Lumpanag (Mt. Wiji) series. This part will be about our ascent to Mt. Lumpanag (often called Mt. Wiji and also sometimes called Macaopao Peak).

Before spilling the contents of this post, let me share the links of the first three parts of this series. To be able to fully understand the context of this series, it's better to read those first three parts before reading this one. You can read them here:

_{Kim's Quest #25: Mt. Kalatungan traverse Mt. Lumpanag/Wiji - Part 1 (The Twists and Turns)}

_{Kim's Quest #26: Mt. Kalatungan traverse Mt. Lumpanag/Wiji - Part 2 (View Deck to Muleta Falls)}

^{Kim's Quest #27: Mt. Kalatungan traverse Mt. Lumpanag/Wiji - Part 3 (Kalatungan Peak then Bamboo Camp)}

We woke up at 3:00 AM because we had to watch the sunrise at Mt. Lumpanag. Some had their coffee, but since I'm not a fan of coffee, I just started to pack my things. It hadn't rain, but our tent were drenched in morning dew. We started the trek at 4:30 AM, a little bit late than expected. I had difficulty in packing all my things so I was one of the last to leave the camp.

It started flat and the trail twists throughout the mossy forest. And then slowly, it started to get steeper. It was very chilly because of the wind. It was still dark when the trail became steeper and steeper just like in Mt. Kalatungan. As the dawn started to break, the sky in the east started to get fiery red. It was one of the best view I had so far. The photos below are just fractions of the panoramic view of the sunrise.

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Mt. Lumpanag is famously known as Mt. Wiji which was named after the Japanese who first scaled its peak. It is also called as Macaopao Peak because of the bush fire that occurred in the mountain. Macaopao came from the Visayan word "opao" which means bald.

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Before, the mountain was full of trees, but became "bald" due to the fire. What remained were dead trees that were still standing. The mountain is now taken over by tall grasses, but the dead trees provide contrast to the lush green grasses.

_{[1/6 secs @ f/16.0, ISO 200, 15.0 mm]}

^{[1/3 secs @ f/16.0, ISO 200, 15.6 mm] | [1/3 secs @ f/5.0, ISO 200, 15.6 mm]}

_{[1/3 secs @ f/16.0, ISO 200, 15.0 mm]}

I guess I got too excited with what happened that I forgot to set my camera properly. Most of my photos during the ascent are blurred and those are the ones I salvaged, although they're still blurred.

_{[1/6 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 45.0 mm]}

Surprisingly, I didn't had a hard time with the trek even if it was of the same steepness with the trail in Mt. Kalatungan. It also takes a lot of effort to go past the dead trees. The wind became stronger as we went higher.

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^{[1/15 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.0 mm] | [1/5 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.0 mm]}

_{[1/6 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.0 mm]}

We stayed longer in the trail to take a lot of photos. I'm sure my friends have taken a lot of great photos. I realized that it was maybe due to the shutter speed that my photos were blurred. I didn't notice it because the interface of my camera became foggy.

_{[1/25 secs @ f/2.2, ISO 500, 2.26 mm]}

Because we were taking our time, the sun has risen while we were still along the trail to the peak. But no one's complaining because of the view.

_{[1/60 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.2 mm]}

^{[1/1 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.0 mm] | [1/6 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.2 mm]}

I was in awe of the whole view of the place the moment those obscured by the darkness were lighted by the morning sun. Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park (2nd Highest Mountain in the Philippines) can be seen in the north.

_{[1/3 secs @ f/5.0, ISO 200, 24.9 mm]}

^{[1/8 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.0 mm] | [1/20 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.0 mm]}

_{[1/20 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 15.0 mm]}

We reached the peak of Mt. Lumpanag at around 6:00 AM. It has an elevation of 2819 MASL. It's not included in the Top 10 highest mountains in the Philippines, but many would agree that it has a better view than Mt. Kalatungan.

_{[1/15 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 18.6 mm]}

There's this stump of wood that remained maybe after the fire that serves are a platform to have those instagrammable shots. I never missed to have a photo even if it was too windy.

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The expanse of Bukidnon can be seen 360 degrees at the peak. It was really magical.

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^{[1/20 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 45.0 mm]}

_{[1/40 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 45.0 mm]}

^{[1/80 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 100, 45.0 mm] | [1/20 secs @ f/22.0, ISO 45.0 mm]}

When everyone's satisfied with their photos, we decided to go down a few meters from the peak. There we had our breakfast hidden in the tall grasses which protected us from the wind.

After breakfast, we had some group photos before heading back to the trail.

_{[1/3800 secs @ f/1.7, ISO 107, 4.73 mm]}

Stay tuned folks as I will be sharing the last part of this series maybe tomorrow or on Thursday. Procrastination has been my greatest enemy lately so I hope I can update as soon as possible. Anyway, it will be about our descent back to Brgy. Mendis gym.

_{[Note: All photos with focal length of 15.0~45.0 mm are taken from my Fujifilm X-T100 while those that has focal length of 4.73 mm are taken from Zaniel's OPPO F11 Pro.]}

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in the Steem blockchain. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines) and the rest of the world (it will just follow since he's still a poor, corporate slave with tons of bills to pay and two siblings to support in college).}

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Kim's Quest #28: Mt. Kalatungan traverse Mt. Lumpanag/Wiji - Part 4 (Ascent to Mt. Wiji)