One Day Hike, A Lifetime Memories: Mt Pongkay Traverse

Peterson A. Oropa
Bagong Silang National High School
Butuan City, Caraga Region.
Cabadbaran is equal to beaches, candles, arts and churches , so I said..
Who would have thought that Cabadbaran City then is also a place for
hiking?
Three days before the closing of the Junior Executive Seminar for newly
head school teacher of Butuan City Division . Mr. Arsenio Cornites , the
School Division Superintendent of Butuan City introduced us the hiking
potential in Cabadbaran City on Mt Pongkay , an active volcano. I started
packing with the hope of doing the sunrise hike together with my coparticipants of the seminars.
Hesitant but also excited as I was, the teacher-participants both left the
gazebo resort at 5:00 am . We walk as far as 3 to 4 kilometers going to
Barangay Kauswagan . Walk as to practiced and familiarized ourselves since
all teachers has no exercises being too busy of many classroom works and
reports.
We started our adventurous hike around in the cold morning breeze. While
on trail, I started doubting the weather for a promise of sunrise. But it didnt
stop me. We continued our hike until we reached the foot of the mountains .
We are already perspiring in the cold environment we walked for a kilometers
before the real climb began.
We continued trekking up to the mountain . Good thing that the trail was
generally hiker-friendly composed of greyish to blackish soft soil with a man
made stairs made of bamboo and other bush in the mountain . We finally
reached the summit lodge area at 6 am after the 3km walk from the jumpoff. It took me 1.5 hours to reach the summit of Mt Pongkay at 1,717m
above sea level I was expecting a 2-hr hike, based on the reviews. I have
ascended about 500 m asl in the dark!
Mt. Pongkay

The prayer mountain. Located at brgy Kauswagan. A 15 mins tricycle ride from the
bus terminal. Its easy to locate. Widely known by the locals. Its approximately 700+
steps above the grounds it will take you 30 mins to 1hr to climb. The best part of
the day to go up is in the morning at 5am where the sun has not yet risen. An
entrance fee of 10 pesos for the maintenance. Owned and developed by the
Saladaga family a local in Cabadbaran. With the aide of the local government

and some private peoples.

It is regarded by locals as a prayer mountain during Holy Week where
pilgrimage are making the holy week retreat....
At the summit all teachers took a lot of memories by taking pictures, posed with teachers,
with teacher in the same district , and with the SDS Arsenio Cornites . At the top of the
mountain a small kapilyaor church then we paid respect and offered thanksgiving prayer
to the small kapilya , and also in a marker of Mt Pongkay . We saw some local tourists.
At around 9am, We started descending to the longer trail. It was a refreshing view. I had a
different vantage point of Mt Pongkay and I saw some flora within the area