I, Mark "Maj": Kaangrian Waterfalls and Kapurpurawan Rock Formation April 2012

Kaangrian Waterfalls and Kapurpurawan Rock Formation

By Maj Villacorta

Since we have arrived 2days before the scheduled One Degree Mountaineering Group (ODMG) 1^st Mt. Sicapoo Invitational Climb, we have decided to do a side trip first! Jin, Khaye and I planned a Saturday trip to Burgos but since it was already getting late in the afternoon and we don’t know the travel time between Kaangrian and Kapurpurawan and the possibility of not catching the last trip from Pagudpud or Cagayan of buses bound for Laoag City, we delayed it for Sunday and instead ate at the famous local Empanada spot (another blog will be written about this for it deserves its own spot to fame).

Come Sunday, after we ate breakfast we then proceeded to buy Yum Burgers at Jollibee Bacarra Branch (the Official Packed Lunch of all Sicapooers) and then walked to the mini bus terminal bound for Pagudpud. We have only seen pictures and seen a segment in PopTalk about Kaangrian so its pretty much a 1^st time to all even to me.

After passing by Pasuquin we have come across the signage and signaled the conductor that we will alight.

We waited for a trike to come by and take us to Kaangrian, after some haggling of the price and that manong driver will also serve as our guide we then proceed to the rough road leading to the jump-off point, cars will have a problem going in so leave it to the most practical and easiest way to travel in these hidden wonder, the Tricycle or commonly know as the “trike”.

Also include in your travel packs lotsa water for the weather during summer months in the ilocos region can go as high as 34deg in the sun but cooler under the shades.

The trek to the waterfalls is quite a challenge to 1^st timers compared to Kabigan Waterfalls and I would advise footwear that is more sturdier and or for the off-road kind not to mention if you would include kids to this place be sure that they are properly supervised and slips and minor falls may occur.

The trail is established with plenty of branched of trees to hold on. We didn’t take a dip into the clear blue-green waters of the falls and just contented ourselves looking at this majestic natural wonder.

The only downside is that since it’s the summer season, the water flow is quite in moderation but there are still pools in the area that you can swim in, we estimated that some of the pools are more than 5feet in depth, so caution should be applied. There is also a part of the falls that has no water running on it, manong driver said that a big crack on top was the main culprit thus the water instead of cascading down seeps to the big crack but overall its still a good place to have a swim and a picnic.

Kapurpurawan Rock Formation

I noticed that the road leading to the tourist area or JOP have been paved clean, widened and was also surprised to see a tourist bus at the JOP, last December a regular sized car would have a difficult time not to mention to fit it going to the tourist area.

A Tourist Center tent is also present at the hi-way manned also by Barangay at Police Officers to give assistance to visitors. The Tourist area is equipped with comfort rooms and 2-3 stores are present that are selling refreshments and some fruits, it can easily accommodate a large bus (as seen by the author) and any types of vehicles.

A barangay official will let you sign a logbook but no fees are (as of now) being collected.

The “Original” rock formation is closed to the public and can only be viewed from a distance, it is because to preserve its natural “white” powdery color, since numerous tourists flock the formation the white color tended to fade due to wear and tear so the local government unit decided to close it so that it can return to its natural state but a “sister” formation can be accessed at the other side of the original one and is almost quite the same. Another barangay official is at guard since one can go to the edge and may fall at the sharp rocks below pummeled by the raging waves than can reach more than 10feet high.

There are many people that time, tourist coming back and forth, even locals can be seen enjoying the view and the “gale” force like winds (bearable that even small kids walk casually along the dried up coral trails).