Nine months prior to this climb, I was able to scale Mt. Manmanoc, my first hike in the Province of Abra. Back then, we had a stopover in the province’s capital, Bangued, and saw a majestic mountain that resembles the shape of a woman’s face lying down, as if she were in deep eternal slumber. I knew back then that this was the famed Sleeping Beauty of Abra known as Mt. Bullagao. Nine months after, I was finally able to climb her and see what lay ahead on the trails of the western fringes of Abra!
Mt. Bullagao is located in Langiden, bordering the provinces of Abra and Ilocos Sur. The mountain is said to be comparable with that of Mt. Balingkilat in Zambales — despite its proximity to the Cordillera Mountains, Mt. Bullagao possesses an open, dry trail reminiscent of the latter mountain. Its elevation gain, as comparable with Balingkilat, commences from almost near sea level (~60+ MASL from Barangay Malapaao), ascending almost 1000+ of elevation up to the summit. Additionally, according to some of my companions in the climb, some sections of the barren trail of Bullagao reminds them of some portions of the infamous Mt. Tuwato in Ilocos Sur!
The characteristic of the mountain are as follows:
MT. BULLAGAO (1,119+ MASL)
Jump-off point: Malapaao, Langiden, Abra
Days required / Hours to summit: 1-2 days / 4-6 hours
Specs: Major climb, difficulty 6/9, Trail Class 1-4
Features: open trails, views of Abra and Ilocos Sur
For this day hike, I joined an event organized by ILocanang Gala, Rochelle Guelos, the same hiker who organized our Mt. Mandalagan climb last August. Present in the event is Cristine, one of my close buddies in the hiking community. We were also joined by some elite trail runners and accomplished hikers. All of them rendezvoused in Manila before fetching me in Bulacan and another joiner in Pampanga. It took us almost 8 hours to reach Bangued, the capital of Abra, where we had our early morning breakfast.
From Bangued, it took us another 2 hours to Langiden. Despite being just beside the province’s capital, the road conditions to Langiden are not ideal, as some portions were destroyed by typhoons. Some portions, on the other hand, are unpaved and are carved along loose mountainside soil. Due to some uneven and broken road sections, the driver was forced to bring her van down to the dried Abra River and traverse it onwards to Barangay Malaapao. Since the dried riverbed had a sandy ground, there were times when we had to push the van as its wheels were stuck on the large volume of sand underneath! Thankfully, we reached the barangay proper safely. It was 8:30 in the morning.
The hike commenced past 9 in the morning. From the barangay proper, we proceeded to the dried riverbed of the expansive Abra River under the scorching heat of the sun. Almost all of us opened our umbrellas as we basked in sunlight! From the river, we could already see the contours of Mt. Bullagao all the way to its summit. From our point of view, it really does resemble Mt. Balingkilat in terms of its geographical shape.
After at least thirty minutes of walking under the sunlight, we reached the base of the mountain where we passed by three dried river sections dotted with boulders. In between these three dried river crossings were some short sections of a trail filled with shrubs and bamboos.
Past the third dried river section is a short ascent on a scree. From this point, I could already sense the acid in my stomach, making me slow down my pacing and placing me in as the last person in the group. Welp, I managed to bring this acid up and down the mountain!
Past the scree-like section is a water source where we rested for some long minutes. Here, we refilled our water bottles. Due to the immense heat of the surroundings, I gulped my two-liter water and managed to refill them for the ascent!
We continued with the hike, where we were greeted with some semi-exposed trails on a mountainside. I noticed here that the soil of the mountain seems to be consistently dusty and sandy, despite some portions being inside a forest. This would go on up until the summit. I reckon that this may probably be a characteristic of the mountains of Abra.
After three hours, we gained almost 600 meters of elevation. We were now at the halfway point of the hike! Here, we rested at a grassy slope under a shade of a lone tree (very Cawag feels). There, we took our lunch, while our guides fetched us some water at a nearby water source. From the slope where we were resting, we could see an expansive plateau at the other side of the slope in front of us. According to the guides, this plateau serves as the campsite of Mt. Bullagao.
After that lengthy rest, we continued on with the latter half of the hike. While the first half provided us with some limited shade thanks to the presence of some dipterocarp and bamboo trees, the start of the latter half was purely exposed, as it was on a grassy slope. The first few portions of the latter half of the trail runs on some ascending slopes that lead to a long scree-like portion. This was the most perilous portion of the hike.
The trail on the scree-like section of the mountain slope was carved on a steep section. To our right is the wall of mountain slope that we need to hold on to, as our left is a ravine that we could fall onto if we weren’t careful. Metal wires were installed here to assist hikers. The end of this portion is marked by an easy scree-like slope that leads to the entrance to the forested portion of the mountain. We immediately rested as we entered the forest and took some time to recuperate!
The ascent inside the forest was more gradual compared to the earlier portions. Although more dipterocarp trees were present, there were also bamboo trees surrounding the trail, which I held on to while climbing. The soil remained to be dusty and dry. Along with the sweeper group, we marched ahead gradually, with a few stopovers here and there. After some long minutes of hiking, we exited towards a steep grassy slope reminiscent of the upper portions of Tirad Peak. From here, we could already see Abra River and the barangay way, way down below! We must be nearing the summit.
After some minutes of steep ascent, we encountered a protruding dipterocarp tree with its roots morphed with the trail. Past this is a short ascent inside a forest before the summit. At past two in the afternoon, we reached the small summit area of Mt. Bullagao. There wasn’t much to see at the summit as the entire view was surrounded by thick shrubs, except for a limited opening at the northern direction where one could see the continuation of the barren mountain range directly connected to Mt. Bullagao. Present at the summit are some communications equipment.
After snapping some pictures, we went ahead towards the southern portion of the summit, which took us almost five minutes of hiking. This southern portion was where the views were at! Although more of a view deck than a peak, this “South Peak” is at the edge of the upper portions of the mountain. As with the other parts of the mountain, its soil seems to be resembling a scree.
The views from this portion of the summit were spectacular! Below, we could see the slopes that we passed through, as well as the mountain ranges surrounding Mt. Bullagao. We could also spot the small Barangay Malapaao below. Past Abra River, the town of Bangued could also be spotted. In the background of Abra’s capital is an expansive field complemented by some of the province’s mountains in the eastern direction. I wondered if we could spot Mt. Manmanoc from here!
At the southern direction, surprisingly I was able to spot Ilocos Sur’s Tirad Peak with its pointy peak. Beyond Tirad Peak is a higher mountain slope in what I can only assume as either Mt. Tuwato or Mt. Monserrat.
After snapping some individual and group pictures, and after a quick munching of trail food, we immediately went down. As with our ascent, I was the sweeper of our descent as I had no choice due to the worsening acid in my stomach. On the way down, we had some fun taking the challenging scree-like steep slope past the forest. From there, it was a continuous descent until reaching the first water source where we had a long rest.
Past the water source, we negotiated the boulders dotting the dried riverbed thrice before reaching the main riverbed of Abra River. Here, the night sky caught up to us, darkening the place and requiring us to open our flashlights. As we were taking this long flat section along the dried Abra River, our companions were exchanging opinions on several present issues, which allowed us to pass the time effectively on this boring portion of the trail. We reached Barangay Malapaao past 6 in the afternoon, almost nine hours after starting the hike. Mt. Bullagao: completed!
After a hearty dinner of tinola and galunggong prepared by the locals, and after washing-up, we immediately started the ride back home, stopping over at San Juan, La Union to have some iced coffee break along the road. I was back home in Bulacan at around 5 in the morning the next day.
What can I say? Mt. Bullagao is just one of the many mountains of Abra that are still being discovered in recent years and up until today. With so many mountains that can be hiked in the region, I hope we find more like those of Bullagao that gives us a different side of the Cordilleras. Let’s be continuously ABRAmazed!
Itinerary
06:00AM Bangued, breakfast
08:30AM Malapaao, Langiden, prepare for hike
09:00AM Start hike (~60+ masl)
10:00AM First water source, rest (~330+ masl)
12:00PM Campsite junction (second water source), lunch (~600+ masl)
01:00PM Start of forested trail (~800+ masl)
02:00PM Summit, take pictures
03:00PM Start descent
05:00PM First water source
06:00PM Malapaao, wash-up
Highland Reflections: Kaisipan, Karanasan, at Kamalayan 