After hiking Mt. Patullok (Mt. Lobo) the previous day, we went on climbing one of the most scenic mountains not just in Bakun, but in the whole of the Cordillera region, Mt. Kabunian! Believed to be a sacred mountain to the locals of Bakun, Mt. Kabunian bears the name of the deity, Kabunyan, the supreme god of the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera. Its cultural significance is perfectly paired with its steep yet scenic colossal crags where the trail is carved beautifully along its slopes.
The hike up to Mt. Kabunian’s summit takes around 3 to 4 hours, taking hikers to exposed and grassy ridge contours of the mountain. It has a moderate difficulty suited for those wanting to have their first major climbs in the country. Those who have tried hiking it give it a 5/9 difficulty rating. Although the main challenge of the hike is the combined steepness and exposure to heat, the view of the surrounding Bakun mountains, and even the slopes of Mt. Kabunian itself, overcompensates for the difficulty of the hike. If it ain’t obvious after hyping up the view for the past two paragraphs, I don’t know how to make it more apparent!
We started the hike at 4:45 in the morning. This was a good time to start as we were able to lessen the time hiking under the heat of the sun. Coming from our homestay in front of the Bakun National High School, we followed a descending pathway in the middle of the village onwards to local farmland pathways. As with any other person who have tried hiking Mt. Kabunian, we dreaded the thought of ascending this trail on the way back!
The end of the descending path is marked by the first hanging bridge of the entire hike, taking us to the foot of Mt. Gedgedayan, which we climbed all the way up to its shoulder to reach the halfway point of Mt. Kabunian (Mt. Gedgedayan is actually visible from Bakun Poblacion; it is the nearby mountain crag nearby the high school, blocking the view of Mt. Kabunian). This portion of the trail, with its gradual ascent, is reminiscent of the Lonely Trail in Tirad Peak. In fact, just like the Lonely Trail, Mt. Kabunian’s trail is also considered a Spanish Trail—our ancestors and our colonizers have used this path to access different parts of the town since time immemorial.
The initial parts of this trail was on a small meadow, leading to a pine-tree filled fork where the other path leads to some of the waterfalls in Poblacion, such as Pattan and Mangta Falls. Past this were some gradual ascents along a shrubby trail. To the right is a view of Lon-oy Hydropower Plant and Bakun River below. Majestically in front of us is a view of the imposing Mt. Tenglawan. Looking at Mt. Tenglawan while ascending made me realize why it is considered by the locals as the Devil’s Mountain—it isn’t because of the Carrot Peak. It’s because, from this angle, its two summits form horn-like shapes crowning the top of the mountain, serving as an antithesis to Mt. Kabunian.
Towards the end of this section is a metal structure with an inscription that reminds hikers of the sacredness of this mountain. Just shortly after this marker is another hanging bridge that connects the mountainside of Mt. Gedgedayan to the halfway point of Mt. Kabunian. This now signals the the start of the steep ascents all the way to the summit. It was a good thing that we didn’t take this trail under the midday sun! I can only imagine the exhaustion.
The ascents, still, were quite enjoyable since we took it in the early morning. The wind was still quite cold and fresh which we felt whenever we were taking some breathers along the trail. Leading the group, I marched on vigorously, leaving my companions behind upon reaching the portion of the trail marked by metal railings installed on the side of the trail. After some round of ascents, I reached a cemented waiting shed, where I took some time to rest and wait for my companions. There was a nearby water source available here.
I decided to leave my companions and continued with the hike up when they arrived. Past the waiting shed was a continuation of ascent on a grassy hill. Here, I waited for my companions as I hear their laughter emanating from the waiting shed below. When they decided to leave the waiting shed, I continued hiking as well.
After the short ascent on the grassy hill, I reached another fenced trail providing views of the surrounding mountains of Bakun being illuminated by the rising sun. To our right, Mt. Tenglawan looms, as if watching us climb his neighbor’s abode. I hope they guide us into safety, I pray.
Each few meters of this fenced trail on a cliffside provided me with different angles and views of the surrounding mountain range. As I reached the opposite side of the hill that the fenced trail led to, I stood at the base of what they call as Stairway to Heaven, a very steep trail carved on a narrow slope with ravines on both sides. Metal fences were installed here for safety and to assist hikers in climbing the steep, rocky trail. Here, I waited for my companions so that I could take a picture of them climbing the stairway. Being at the base of it really felt like climbing staircases to heaven! Would I meet the supreme god Kabunyan atop the stairs?
As my companions reached the top, I followed afterwards. Contrary to what I was expecting, climbing the stairway was relatively easy despite its technicality (however, descending it, as I would find later on, was much more difficult). After the stairway, we had another round of ascent up a grassy ridge. This portion was reminiscent of the upper reaches of Mt. Pigingan in Itogon, Benguet, where there are views on both sides of the ridge. Since sunlight was now getting a bit hot, we took the chance to rest under the shade of a pine tree. Mt. Tenglawan loomed still by our side.
After resting and eating some of our trail food, we continued with the final portions of the hike. We were now face-to-face with Mt. Kabunian’s upper crag, forming the mountain’s forehead. To reach the base of this crag, we had to climb some narrow rocky ridges and a short hanging bridge. Imagine crossing a hanging bridge on top of steep ridges! I put on every trust on the fact that this was taken by our ancestors and by previous hikers.
After the hanging bridge, was a short ascent leading to the base of Kabunian’s crag. The ascents here were gradual. The trail traverses the entire crag from right to left diagonally, passing through some grassy and pine needle-filled path. The topmost part of the left portion of the crag was where the final water source is located. From here, the plateau summit of Mt. Kabunian is accessible. Since my companions were still filling up their water containers, I decided to go on with the final assault to Kabunian’s summit, located on a hill at the right side of the crag.
Marching alone, the plateau of Mt. Kabunian gave an awesome view of the mountains surrounding Bakun Poblacion to my right. It was as like an aisle that leads to a church altar, only this time, I was surrounded by grasses and pine trees. After a hundred meters of walking on the ‘aisle’, I reached the base of the altar, taking just 2 minutes of final ascent on a grassy slope. The summit (the altar) was a smaller plateau surrounded by pine trees on its edges, exposing the entire summit area in sunlight. It was 8:15 in the morning, 3.5 hours after starting from Poblacion.
The views at the summit were awesome! At the eastern direction is an expansive view of the mountains surrounding Bakun Poblacion, where Mt. Patullok, the mountain we hiked a day prior, dominates most of the view. In between Patullok and Kabunian is Mt. Gedgedayan being dwarfed by the two mountains. At the southern direction is a mountain range directly connected to Mt. Kabunian. This mountain range links Mt. Kabunian with Mt. Tagpew and the Kibungan mountains, making it possible to have a Bakun-Kibungan Traverse!
To the west, one can have a view of the La Union lowlands, although obscured by the tall pine trees by the mountainside and the summit marker. Lastly, at the northern direction, Mt. Tenglawan still looms. The devil’s mountain seemingly did not want to congratulate us with its cloud-covered summit! Getting shy there, Insaking? Or are you sulking that we weren’t able to climb you?
A few meters away from the summit marker is a fallen tree where its trunk protrudes from the cliff of the summit. With Mt. Tenglawan as a backdrop, hikers can snap a picture while posing on the trunk. Of course, extreme caution must be exercised here, as hikers may fall from the trunk towards the steep slope below. I snapped some pictures for memories’ sake, although I do not recommend it for those who are nervous.
After sipping my celebratory chocolate drink and snapping a group picture by the summit marker, we decided to descend. Leading the way, I ran all the way to the water source since I needed to refill my tumbler. After refilling, my companions arrived, and we descended together. I decided to leave them past the hanging bridge, and descended with a quiet companion who had a similar pacing.
The descent was quite reminiscent with Mt. Pigingan’s grassy slopes. It was hot and barren! Imagine having to descend the Stairway to Heaven with its hot metal fences that you need to hold on to. My companion and I decided to have a short rest at the waiting shed. Afterwards, we continued with the descent. Prior to reaching the second hanging bridge, we descended on a very steep and slippery grassy slope while being bathed in sunlight! I could hear the grunts of my companion behind me. Once I crossed the second hanging bridge, I rested under the trees near the metal marker. My companion decided to pass by and continued hiking, leaving me behind.
The entire descent along the slopes of Mt. Gedgedayan was just me trying to catch up with my companion. Still, I had some short stopovers along the way as I wanted to take a photo of Bakun Poblacion as seen from the trail. I also had some short water breaks along the way. Alas, as I encountered and crossed the last hanging bridge, I met with my companion resting at a nearby house. I did not rest and decided to leave her and continue with the dreaded final 200-meter ascent.
I approached the ascending path slowly and exasperatingly. Every few meters I was stopping to recuperate and lessen the pain in my knees. Still, with the rice terraces at the base of Mt. Gedgedayan, I was provided with beautiful views on the way up, compensating my tiredness.
Along the village, I decided to follow the signboards that tells the direction towards Bakun National High School. When I saw an open store in the village, I decided to buy some cola and cold water to quench my thirst. Past this, I reached the basketball court of the high school. According to some of the elders of the village, as one of my companions narrated, the court was donated by LA Lakers legend Pau Gasol and his friends. Despite their popularity, they did not leave any markers of their names anywhere on and near the court, unlike our politicians who relentlessly inscribe their names and faces despite using our taxes.
It was probably the most scenic basketball court I’ve ever seen in my life.
Past the basketball court was just a final ascent on some of the pathways inside the national high school. At exactly 12 noon, I reached our homestay, marking the end of the hike. Our companions followed, with most of them getting lost inside the village prior to reaching the homestay, leading them to hike the unpaved road instead of going to confusing pathways inside the national high school.
Mt. Kabunian was our second mountain for our attempted Bakun Trio hike. We were supposed to hike Mt. Tenglawan on the last day (actually, in our original itinerary, Mt. Tenglawan should have been our hike on the second day, and Mt. Kabunian on the last). However, since Mt. Tenglawan is now strictly under the jurisdiction of Barangay Sinacbat, this presented some serious logistic difficulties when coming from Barangay Poblacion. This hassle was further exacerbated by a road repair on the way to Sinacbat during the time of our visit. I really hope the tourism office of Bakun would permit hikers to make it easier for hikers to do the Bakun Trio without having any of the logistic difficulties.
Hence, for our third day, we decided to just have a side trip on a nearby mountain at the borders of Kibungan and Benguet—Mt. Kilkili.
Would I ever return to Bakun? Definitely. The mountains of Bakun and Kibungan are definitely one of the most scenic in the entire country. Its gigantic mountain crags coupled with pine forests provide unique mountain sceneries that can only be accessed here in western Benguet. I am hoping that I could do a Bakun-Kibungan Traverse, or any thru-hike within the villages of these breathtaking Benguet towns!
Itinerary
04:45AM Start hike, descend to Bakun River
05:15AM Hanging bridge (950 masl), start gradual ascent
05:50AM Second hanging bridge (1150 masl), start of steep ascent
06:20AM Waiting shed
06:50AM Stairway to Heaven
08:15AM Summit, rest
09:15AM Start descent
10:40AM Second hanging bridge
11:15AM First hanging bridge
12:00PM Back in Bakun Poblacion, wash-up
Highland Reflections: Kaisipan, Karanasan, at Kamalayan 
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