The main trail is to-day passable for a horseman from the coast terminus to Tinglayan, three days beyond Bontoc pueblo.  Practically all other trails in the area are simply wild footpaths of the Igorot.  Candon, the coast terminus of the main trail, lies in the coastal plain area about 4 1/4 miles from the sea.  From the coast to the small pueblo of Concepcion at the western base of the Cordillera Central is a half-day’s journey.  The first half of the trail passes over flat land, with here and there small pueblos surrounded by rice sementeras.  There are almost no forests.  The latter half is through the coastal hill area, and the trail frequently passes through small forests; it crosses several rivers, dangerous to ford in the rainy season, and winds in and out among attractive hills bearing clumps of graceful, plume-like bamboo.

From Concepcion the trail leads up the mountain to Tilud Pass, historic since the insurrection because of the brave stand made there by the young, ill-fated General del Pilar.  The climb to Tilud Pass, from either side of the mountain, is one of the longest and most tedious in northern Luzon.  The trail frequently turns short on itself, so that the front and rear parts of a pack train are traveling face to face, and one end is not more than eight or ten rods above the other on the side of the mountain.  The last view of the sea from the Candon-Bontoc trail is obtained at Tilud Pass.  From Concepcion to Angaki, at the base of the mountain on the eastern side of the pass, the trail is about half a day long.  From the pass it is a ceaseless drop down the steep mountain, but affords the most charming views of mountain scenery in northern Luzon.  The shifting direction of the turning trail and the various altitudes of the traveler present constantly changing scenes —­ mountains and mountains ramble on before one.  From Angaki to Cervantes the trail passes over deforested rolling mountain land, with safe drinking water in only one small spring.  Many travelers who pass that part of the journey in the middle of the day complain loudly of the heat and thirst experienced there.

Cervantes, said to be 70 miles from Candon, is the capital of the dual Province of Lepanto-Bontoc.  Bontoc pueblo lies inland only about 35 miles farther, but the greater part of two days is usually required to reach it.  Twenty minutes will carry a horseman down the bluff from Cervantes, across the swift Abra —­ if the stream is fordable —­ and start him on the eastward mountain climb.

The first pueblo beyond Cervantes is Cayan, the old Spanish capital of the district.  About twenty-five years ago the site was changed from Cayan to Cervantes because there was not sufficient suitable land at Cayan.  Cayan is about four hours from Cervantes, and every foot of the trail is up the mountain.  A short distance beyond Cayan the trail divides to rejoin only at the outskirts of Bontoc pueblo; but the right-hand or “lower” trail is not