Hiking matters #129: Mt. Sicapoo Day 1: From Gasgas River to Bubuos Campsite

Due to time constraints, we had no choice to compress the climb into a three-day trip, albeit still adhering to the classic sequence of Gasgas-Saulay-Sicapoo-Saulay-Timarid-Simagaysay-Pleateau. We started trekking at 0730H on February 8, 2011. The first obstacle to hurdle is the Gasgas River, which has to be crossed more than a dozen times. Considering that I was nearly swept by this river in 2009, I was extra careful.

Yet, my feelings of caution were quickly drowned by the beauty of the river. Because of a rare combination of a cold February weather, and a recent downpour, the slopes around the river turned into an orange, autumn hue!

It took us almost four hours to negotiate the river trail. Finally, we had lunch at the end of it, in what Tata Emilio, twice my guide, calls the Saulay area. Beyond this, we followed a tributary of the river for a while, reaching the bamboo groves where we e-camped in 2009 on the second night of the first Simagaysay-Timarid traverse (the ONE Degree guys refer to this as Sim-Tim).

It kept raining as we ascended the steep trail up the Junction – which is, as it name implies, a three-way intersection: an East, upward trail towards Sicapoo and Apayao; a west, downward trail leads to Gasgas River, and a southward trail leading to Timarid and Simagaysay. By 1530H we had reached the Junction, and taking the upward trail we reached Bubuos Campsite by 1620H, and there, we decided to set up camp. It will still be a long way before we could complete the climb.