Mount Apo

Mount Apo is a volcano. Sulfur gas comes out of holes near the top.

Lakes sit on its high slopes and near its summit.

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity describes Mount Apo as a volcano with hundreds of sulfur vents on its upper slopes. These vents let out volcanic gas.

The mountain also has lakes high up. Climbers camp at Lake Agco and Lake Venado on the way to the top, and Lakes Maag and Jordan lie at the summit.

The ACB describes Mount Apo as a volcano with hundreds of sulfur vents on its upper slopes, and calls the park an important watershed.

Mountain lakes are among the park's habitat types: Lake Agco and Lake Venado are the best-known campsites on the climb, and Lakes Maag and Jordan lie at the summit (ACB).

Forests cover the lower slopes. Orchids and pitcher plants grow there.

The Philippine eagle, a huge and very rare bird, lives in these forests.

The park's forests change with height, from lowland forest to mountain forest and scrubby summit forest. Plants include dipterocarp trees, orchids such as the waling-waling, rhododendrons and pitcher plants.

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity calls Mount Apo the last stronghold of the Philippine eagle. The Philippine Eagle Foundation says it is the country's national bird, critically endangered, with an estimated 400 pairs left in the wild.

Habitats run from lowland and low montane forest to high montane and summit or scrub forest, with waterfalls, rivers and mountain lakes. Flora include dipterocarps (lauan, apitong, guijo), Syzygium, epiphytic orchids such as the waling-waling, Ericaceae and Rhododendron, almaciga and Nepenthes (ACB).

The ACB calls the park the last stronghold of the Philippine eagle, alongside the writhed hornbill, the Mindanao lorikeet and the Philippine brown deer. The Philippine Eagle Foundation: the national bird, found only on Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao, listed Critically Endangered by the IUCN with an estimated 400 pairs in the wild.

Seven Indigenous groups of people live on the lower slopes of Mount Apo.

The mountain's forests also give water to the land below.

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity says seven Indigenous groups live on the lower slopes of the mountain.

The park is also an important watershed, an area whose rivers and streams collect rain and carry water to the land below. It has waterfalls such as Tudaya, Mabbu and Tagibaka.

Mount Apo Natural Park is home to seven Indigenous groups living on the lower slopes (ACB).

The park is an important watershed and one of the Philippines' Key Biodiversity Areas; its attractions include the Tudaya, Mabbu and Tagibaka waterfalls, hiking trails and orchid farms and gardens (ACB).

The top of Mount Apo is high, and the air is thin.

Climbers go slowly and rest so their bodies can get used to it.

Mount Apo's summit is high enough for altitude sickness. The CDC says any traveler going to sleep at 2,450 meters or higher without getting used to it first is at risk, and children are as likely to be affected as adults.

The CDC advises going up slowly and doing only gentle exercise for the first two days at high altitude.

CDC Yellow Book: any unacclimatized traveler going to a sleeping altitude of 2,450 m (8,000 ft), and sometimes lower, is at risk of altitude illness; children are as susceptible as adults. Recommended: avoid ascending to a sleeping altitude of 2,750 m in a single day and take only mild exercise for the first 48 hours.

PlayOwl's advice: climb with experienced guides, carry warm clothes and rain gear, and stay on the marked trails.