"Got tight last night on absinthe and did knife tricks. Great success shooting the knife into the piano. The woodworms are so bad and eat hell out of all furniture that you can always claim the woodworms did it."
--Ernest Hemingway
© 2006-2021 SummitPost.org. All Rights Reserved.
atavist - Mar 30, 2017 6:37 am Date Climbed: Mar 30, 2017
ApoQuick update: the mountain was officially closed for most of 2016 stretching into 2017 due to a man-made forest fire on the summit. Within the last couple weeks the re-opening was announced. The reopening came with higher permit fees. Costs increase in peak season or if you traverse the peak. The most expensive combination will set you back 2500₽ or about $50 at current rates.
One more note: there are many more trails to the summit than described on the main page.
For my climb, I left Davao after my afternoon meeting. First by bus to Digos then 2 mototaxi's. first kapatagan then baruring. I couldn't remember the name of baruring and I was arriving after dark so I had a detour to the last village on the road.
I started hiking about 8pm. I got off trail somewhere below Lower Colan for unspeakable reasons. I found the trail after 1-2 hours bushwhacking, then lost it again sometime around midnight. Surely I wouldn't have endured such troubles had I started at a reasonable hour. I found a trail again just before the sulfurous rocks, which truly sounded like a raging river although nothing was escaping the maw besides volcanic steam.
Once in sight of the head wall, which happened to be around dawn, I left the trail, this time volitionally, and scrambled up a steep ravine. The excitement was substantially enhanced by the shit quality of the rock. In fact some of the 'rocks' seem to be nothing more than a dessicated residue of the volcanic fumes themselves which has accumulated to the point of qualifying as a solid although I doubted my own conclusions at the first moment I touched the stuff.
Anyway I made the rim and perambulated to all the highest candidates. I measured one at 2975m, which I took as the summit despite any calibration issues with my gps. I went down more directly to the south and got back to the road at about 2:15pm.
teddycricket83 - Aug 9, 2015 4:49 am
Top of the PIDid it with a guide. Great hike. And nothing like some videoke and san miguels back at the bottom!
LS - Jan 24, 2009 6:37 am Date Climbed: Dec 13, 2008
Top of MindanaoI did it together with guide Ruel and porter Georg on a beautiful day. Guide and porter are mandatory to get a permit for Apo. See the trip report here:
http://distantpeak.com/cms/story/213/mount-apo