Pulag Paradox
The first person to bring this mountain to my psyche, many years ago, was my climbing coach and buddy, Frienli. He was narrating how great the view is from atop Pulag
I got to visit Pulag recently for some photography. One word to describe the place? Cold. It was freaking cold! The thermometer read 6 degrees Centigrade as I stepped onto Pulag’s summit. This temperature is not normal for a tropical country like the Philippines, hence, my susceptibility to it.
It was 4 in the morning. The winds just started to pick up as I stepped onto the summit; dipping the mercury a few degrees lower. Other climbers were trying to stay warm by huddling into bamboo shrubs and emergency blankets. Hypothermia a constant thought ever since starting the hike at 12 midnight a few hours earlier. Quite frankly, it scared me. Sometimes I ask why I put myself in these situations, quickly snapping out of this train of thought by the need for adventure.
Cold. It was freaking cold
These single digit temperatures were part of Pulag’s appeal. Suck it up. You are here now I said mentally.
By 5:30am, the first bits of light started to break through the clouds. My hands were numb, I was shivering, and I couldn’t feel the camera controls. Pacing around and grunting helped a little to warm myself up. I looked and sounded weird, but what the heck, I needed to start taking photos. This is what I came here for I reminded myself.
Golden hour came — that time of the day when the sun gives everything a soft, warm glow. This thawed my tired and cold innards; it definitely lifted my spirit up. Everywhere I gazed, a composition could be captured. The scene is nothing I have seen before. Light bounces off the landscape that is quite beautiful and unique to this place.
The sea of clouds, the most prominent element in this landscape, is otherworldly. This phenomenon is heavily reliant on many conditions, and isn’t always present. Armando, my guide, mentioned I was lucky to have witnessed this during my first time here. Thank you mountain gods, I uttered under my breath.
I shot photos, attached new lenses, added ND grad filters, switched to wide angle, moved back to telephoto, took more photos... I was a kid in a candy store basically.
The hours flew by quickly. Before I knew it, the hordes of hikers on the summit were down to only a handful. It was time to leave this place.
The natural appeal of this mountain, and many other summits around the country, fueled by social media, has raised the level of interest in outdoor adventure sports.
three hundred individuals on that small summit
This interest with the outdoors is a paradox. For one, it raises people’s awareness of these locations and the need to conserve them. On the other end, this large influx of people may be too much for the mountain to handle.
As we were on our way down, Armando mentioned that 300 people were expected to summit the day after ours. Think about that, three hundred individuals on that small summit. The mountain is sure to suffer in the long term.
This issue is one that is part of a bigger debate: tourism or preservation?
For Pulag, it is even more difficult to solve. The livelihood ecosystem of the local community is heavily engrained with the tourism brought by the mountain.
There have been several essays discussing this specific topic. They may speak specifically about Pulag, but their opinions hold true for every other mountain, sea, island, river, waterfalls, and beach that us humans visit.
Thank you mountain gods
However we decide to move forward, I can only hope that we strike a balance with nature and its fragility. I hope we find a way to preserve these natural wonders so we would still have mountains to climb, and oceans to dive in for generations to come.
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Images copyrighted by Nick Aguilos unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
