THE IGBARAS TRIO: A Personal Challenge

Up north, there’s what they call the “Bakun Trio”. They are 3 notable mountains that are proximate with each other, them being Mts. Tenglawan, Kabunian and Lobo in Bakun, Benguet. Bakun Trio climb is usually done by climbing these 3 mountains successively, either by (1) dayhikes with Brgy. Poblacion as basecamp or via (2) camping on mountain grounds and traversing each mountains. You can read my Bakun Trio climb report here.

Igbaras mountain range: eastern view from Igcabugao basecamp

BAKUN TRIO Duo Climb

It was my second year in mountaineering, but it still feels like my first. Afterall, it is only this time that I started to take this hobby seriously. Moreover,  I am now cultivating my new-found confidence in traveling. For my year-end climb, I have set my mind to the famed Bakun Trio... after setting eyes on Mt. Kabunian. I did a massive research starting as early as September 2008, and started contacting groups known to have scaled these babies. 

I found a group called SABIT Mountaineers who was scheduled to do these 3 mountains for the year-end. But unfortunately, they have to cancel the last minute. Since I am a person known for resolve in climbing, I made sure that this will push through, with or without them. So I informed my then buddy Liz about the situation at hand, and we prepared ourselves to do this adventure on our own.

To date, this is the one climb that I am very proud of. This trip gave us the confidence that we have now. Confidence that with sufficient planning and research plus ample resources and good amount of faith in people's goodness, we can go almost anywhere.