After an early dinner in Banaue, we proceeded to Kiangan, Ifugao, to spend the night there. Its a historical town, being the oldest town in the province. The heart of Ifugao settlement and culture, it used to be the capital of the province, and also known as the surrender site of Gen. Yamashita at the end of World War II.
With sore legs and knees, I still joined the Team Mandirigma on a day hike to Mt. Kapugan, the town's highest point at 1305 MASL. After I bought hot pandesal from a store near Kiangan Youth Hostel where we stayed, 2 tricycles brought us to Mt. Kapugan's jump off point.
From the dirt road, we descended to cross the Ibulao river, before we hiked up the mountain. It is 90% continuous steep trail, with tree cover for the most part. There are dangerous ravines along the ledge parts of the mountain trail, so the usual caution must be applied.
We saw nets placed strategically between hillsides. Then we saw some locals holding live bats that were caught by the nets. Aside from wild boar and local cloud rat, they also trap the bats for food, as part of their practice.
Nice views start to unravel at this part of the trail.
Nearly 1.5 hours of hiking took us to the summit, where a hut was constructed as a viewpoint area. The views on this part is amazing, as we saw the whole town and distant rice terraces.
Fur remains of the cloud rat that were consumed by the locals at the summit.
One of the floras also seen in the mountain.
Another shot of the river during our backtrail descent.
Mt. Kapugan as seen near our jump off point.
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