Laguna Penta

"Laguna Penta" refers to the five mountains scattered between the neighboring towns of Calauan, Nagcarlan and San Pablo namely: Prinza, Kalisungan, Atimla, Mabilog and Obabis which offers great hiking destination in Laguna aside from Mt. Makiling and Romelo. Based from my data, it has a combined elevation gain of 5800ft and an elevation loss of 5400ft for a total of 26.5km (Mt Prinza traverse to Kalisungan which includes river crossing). Otherwise, it is only 21km if you ride a van towards Kalisungan mountain base and can be finished between 12 to 16hours (the muddy trail is the key factor). 

The hike usually commences with Mt Prinza that passes a cemented road which then leads to a forested trail. Like all "Laguna Penta" mountains, the common characteristic is the muddy and slippery trail. It is short but comprised of cardiac ascent characterized by a steep trail with overgrown grass and muddy trail until reaching the viewing deck. It offers a commanding view of Mohicap Lake and Palakpakin Lake, then another fifteen minutes of the trek leads to the actual summit which is comprised of an abandoned antenna/tower for a total of 1400ft elevation gain. Traditional Laguna Penta usually does a river crossing towards the base of Kalisungan (second mountain), but most organized hikes nowadays would usually ride back to their rented vehicle towards Kalisungan which could save them at least 2 hours of hiking time.

After the river crossing, we took our breakfast before we started the ascent to Mt Kalisungan characterized by an almost perfectly-shaped conical terrain that has an elevation of  2493ft above sea level. It is composed of two parts and has a total of 2000ft elevation gain. The first part of the trail is mostly forested with slopes averaging 45 to 50 degrees. Then after more than an hour of trekking, we reached the second part of the trail which is even steeper, composed of open grassland (predominantly cogon) and loose soil with slopes until reaching Mt Kalisungan's summit characterized by a municipal border marker (San Pablo, Calauan and Nagcarlan).

The summit offers a 360 degrees unobstructed view that includes: Mt Makiling, Laguna Lake, Talim Island (Mt Tagapo), Mt Banahaw, Mt Cristobal, and even Metro Manila can be seen from afar.

After taking some pictures, we already felt the scorching heat of the Sun at 9am so we started to descend the traverse to Atimla. The trail as I would like to describe is insanely steep, very steep. It features going down through the eastern portion of Kalisungan comprising of almost 70-80 degrees inclination for about 500 ft., it is best if one would sit during the descend to maintain your center of gravity, otherwise, you would plummet down the trail. It has a total of 1020 ft total descent to reach a valley that commences the assault to Atimla. It was so steep that it was actually my first time to sit and slide down during descent with nothing else to cling on except the razor-sharp samurai grass.

Upon entering the trails of Atimla, one will be surprised that it is totally a forested woodland that is teeming with red ants, mosquitoes and a wide array of insects (It is recommended to wear long sleeves). From the valley, one has to ascend another 700ft to reach the summit which is like a jungle as seen from the Jurrasic era untouched and unexplored. It is steep with no rocks and tree branches to cling on, just pure muscle power. 

At the junction, we regrouped and had our lunch and after a while, we started the traverse towards Mt Mabilog. The trail is muddy which is sometimes knee-deep and slippery that passes through a densely forested pathway where some Horse's poop was a common sight along the trail. It has an approximate distance of about 6.2km until reaching a village where we bought some soft drinks and refilled our water. 

We then resumed our hike towards Mt Mabilog which passes through a series of coconut trees, banana fields, and fruit trees. The trail has a total distance of 3 km. with a gradual ascent and only becomes steep in the last 700 meters. It has a total elevation gain of almost 900 ft. from the jump-off point and stands at 1447 ft. above sea level. After taking pictures we have decided to descend towards Lake Pandin, it also passes Lake Yambo and we headed towards our rented vehicle in the parking lot to resume to the hike to the last part which is Mt. Obabis.

Mt Obabis has a predominantly densely forested trail, it may be short but it is a solid assault of 680ft elevation gain. It has several forks that are quite misleading or we were misled unconsciously. I thought we were following someone in the front, then we go in circles for a while, good thing that we heard barking dogs which led us to the Telecom tower at the summit and also found the rest of the team to regroup. Mt Obabis' The jump-off is also known as the "Ube Halaya" capital of Laguna and Region 4.

I would personally rate it as 7/9 difficulty hike with only one water source.

The traverse descent to Atimla

Kuya Bino with Kalisungan at the background

Banahaw and Cristobal as viewed from Kalisungan's summit

Chris, Jordan, Amor, Kulas, Michael and Kuya Bino

Mt Imok and Prinza

Lake Mohicap and Palakpakin

Obligatory photo-op at Mt Prinza's viewing deck

Kalisungan as seen from Mabilog's traverse trail

How on Earth did it get here?

The dense trail of Atimla

To Atimla's summit

Lake Yambo

The trail leading to Mabilog's summit

Banahaw, Cristobal and Lake Pandin as seen from Mabilog's summit

Summit pose at Mt Mabilog

Lake Pandin

Malarayat range as seen from Obabis' trail

Telco's tower at Mt Obabis' summit

***Based on my two Laguna Penta hikes, there are difficulties with regards to shower and bathe area since Obabis is the last stop. If you have a rented van I would suggest to make Prinza the last stop since there is a private pool near its jump-off.

Only Kuya Bino is the trusted guide for Laguna Penta, Brgy Lamot of Calauan only allows Mt Kalisungan hike so its best to coordinate with Kuya Bino before doing so.

Mt. Namandiraan Traverse

Located in Ilocos Sur which is situated beside Bessang Pass in Cervantes, Mt. Namandiraan is the highest peak in the province of Ilocos Sur which stands at 7648ft above sea level. It is also the highest point where one can set a camp in the whole Ilocos Region. I asked the local tour guides regarding how this mountain got its name. According to them, Namandiraan's name may have originated from the word Bandila (flag) when the Commonwealth flag was raised in this mountain during the 1930s. This mountain also witnessed the "Battle of Bessang Pass" which is considered as one of the greatest battles won by Filipinos. 

This is one of my dream climbs because of its historical significance and of course its sheer beauty. But my first two Namadiraan climbs were canceled due to lack of joiners (most people would not join an event unless they have heard about it, otherwise it is not appealing to them). Due to diligence and persistent searching for Namandiraan's event I was able to join an outreach hike by DHAMO for "Baby Blue", and I was so thankful that it was a hike for a cause, not to mention with much affordable event fee.

Cervantes is considered as the Summer Capital of Ilocos Sur, so it's no wonder that we are already around 4980ft elevation above sea level. We arrived in Bessang Pass at around 10am, then we started our hike at 10:30am. The start of the trail is composed of a cemented pathway with a surprising 1100ft altitude gain for almost 3.5km of trek until reaching a village where we took our lunch. After we had our break, we then descended a very steep river valley for about 1200 ft. which somehow resembles Akiki trail's steepness through a myriad of Pine trees. We then reach Ballay river characterized by strong flow of water making it almost impossible to river cross and the only option was to cross through a makeshift bridge made from a fallen Pinetree which is less than a foot in diameter. Honestly, it offers no room for mistakes, otherwise, you'll end up on a stretcher.  After we have regrouped at the lead team, we started to enter and ascend a mossy forest for 2900ft elevation gain that resembles the trail that of Kalawitan and also consists of limatiks but not as aggressive compared from other mountains or so I thought it was. Together with the lead group, I was the third to arrive at 4:30pm after 6hours of trekking for a distance of 10km and a total combined elevation gain 4000ft to reach the summit. Being the first to arrive gives you the luxury to choose the best spot, so I did set my tent at my preferred spot. The summit was filled with Limatiks and unknowingly many have crept unnoticed in my bag and inside my tent. While I was asleep these little bloodsuckers had a feast, I had several bites in my face, hands, and feet I would only realized when I woke up. It rained so bad that night, we were worried that some of our groupmates were caught in the heavy downpour, it made the trail slippery and infested with Limatiks which extended their hike to 11hours, some arrived at 10pm and they later realized that they are dealing with an 8/9 difficulty, but in my opinion, Namandiraan is between 6-7/9 level of difficulty made worse by the rain.

The next morning, I was so excited to check the summit and it's surrounding view. I was honestly expecting a sea of clouds and I was dismayed at first but then I was still thankful for the clearing and the good weather that day for a chilling hike. We then started to descend, and I've decided to join the sweep since I want to know other hikers and their stories. But as the trek goes on, I was slipping past each hiker then I would later find myself with the lead group again.

The descend portion of the trail is actually more picturesque as compared to that of the ascend (regular traverse). From the summit towards Sitio Namita there is a total of 5800ft elevation loss passing through rolling terrains for peak 4 to 7 and passing a myriad of Pine forest that is composed of the final 2000ft descend for a total of 14km. The trail is simply mesmerizing, it also passes thin ridges, knee busting steep descend, rice terraces, river crossing, pine forest that are covered with moss, and of course the remarkable Kay-Ang Rock (a noticeable landmark which also serves as photo ops spot). We have also scaled a very thin knife-edge ridge composed of slippery rocks which are about a foot in diameter with vertical drops at both side.

Special mention to Chino Moreno who eventually became my hiking buddy during that time. We were able to finish the descend in less than 6hours (5h30m with multiple regroups included) towards Sitio Namita. We then hire a trike (a total of 18km) to bring us back to Bessang Pass and arrived at around 4pm. We were lucky to witness the sunset/sea of clouds unfold around Besang Pass. We at the lead group were to able hang out and do some socials at Bessang Pass. We waited for quite a while but due to injuries most of our teammates arrived at around 11:30pm. I was not able to go to work the next day because we arrived in Cubao at around 10am but it's all worth it.

Mt Namandiraan's summit

Kay-Ang Rock

Team DHAMO's climb for a cause

A splurge of Rainbow (Photo credits to Chino S. Moreno)

The initial part of the trail

The lead group during the ascent (James, Mike, Tin & Emer)

Ballay River

The log which serves as a bridge, one wrong move and you're gone.

The Akiki-like descend towards Ballay River

Mossy Pine Trees

With Ernest, Mike and Chino

Rice Terraces

Pine Forest during the descend

Ascend towards one of Namandiraan's peak (photo credit Tinay)

Mt Namandiraan as seen from Bessang Pass

***Special Thanks to Daang Hari Mountaineers (Kagawad Macoy Tayoni, Cris Escoto, Erik Aquino, Jon Ong and Demet Antonio for this Hike for a Cause event.

Salamat din sa mga hiking buddy ko: Chino Moreno, James Agud, Tin Calixtro and Mike Bonita na mga nkasabay ko sa trail.

Cawag Hexa

With all honesty, Cawag Hexa is one of my favorite day hikes because of its picturesque view under hellish conditions. I can describe it as both physically and mentally challenging most especially when done during the scorching heat. I was able to do a Cawag Hexa day hikes both during summertime (April and May respectively) with only 2 weeks interval. It is composed of 6 mountains located in the Zambales mountain ranges, namely: Balingkilat, BiraBira, Naulaw, Dayungan, Cinco Picos and Redondo for a total of 33.7km with a combined elevation gain of 5800ft for all the hexa mountains and an elevation loss of 6100ft. I have consistently finished both Cawag Hexa 16hours as part of the lead group.

The first part of the hike passes Mt Balingkilat which requires technical climbing skills through rock walls and boulders with almost 90 degrees vertical climb for a total distance of 7.4km. from the jump-off point to the summit and a total altitude gain of 3100ft. It is best to reach Balingkilat before sunrise when the sun is still not scorching hot. Since we started late in our hike at 4:30am, we arrived at around 7:30am when the Sun was starting to show it's toasting prowess. We just took some pictures and refilled from the water source then proceeded with the descent to BiraBira also known as Mt Nagsasa.

From Balingkilat to BiraBira one must descend a total of 1950ft that passes steep ridges and rocky knife-edge trails that somehow resembles a mini G2. It then becomes a rolling terrain until reaching the final 300ft ascend to reach the summit composed mainly of open grassland. In fact, from Balingkilat's summit to BiraBira it took us 2 hours to see the only tree in the midst of nowhere, and we took some time to rest and regroup. And it came to pass that 5 of our teammates opted to back out from the hike, and I do admire their gestures knowing that continuing the hike without preparation could hamper the whole team.

We proceeded with the trek, passing endless grassland with no trees in sight, taking a rest will only exhaust you, so the best way is to keep moving until we reached Naulaw where we saw a giant antenna/tower. We kept moving until we reached Mt Dayungan's base that also serves as a rest area where we had our lunch and power nap.

Ascending Mt Dayungan during mid-day is a great ordeal, aside from the fact that it is an open grassland, it also has an assault of its own, and what made it worst is that it has a false summit. I thought we were near the summit but as it turns out the real summit of Mt Dayungan was still a haft hour ascend. When we reached the summit all we could think of is finding a tree cover or any shade would do, my umbrella was devastated at that time due to the strong gush of wind. So we proceeded with the descent towards Cinco Pinco where some portions resemble that of the descent to BiraBira except that it is shorter but way much steeper and the scorching heat of the sun gives an extra challenge. We reached a portion of Cinco Picos but we did not really explore the whole mountain because not all peaks are open, took some pictures and decided to proceed with the exit to Redondo.

As easy as may seem, Redondo's trail may be the easiest but it is the longest of them all. I was growing a little bit impatient and wanted to run the trail but we have to regroup occasionally since we only have one guide left and 2 of my teammates were badly injured. Redondo's trail can be described as "so near, yet so far" yes you can see the road and the highway but it can be deceiving, in fact the trail seems to be going nowhere through a densely overgrown grassland, it was a good thing that it was already late afternoon so we started to feel the chilling breeze of the night. We were able to finish the trail in 16hours, 15hours if we did not wait for the injured teammates.

As seen from Balingkilat

Balingkilat's ridge line

With Jaime Dequinon and Vincent Cayda

Cinco Picos as seen from Dayungan

Cinco Picos

Silanguin Cove as seen from Cinco Picos

Mt Dayungan with its false summit

Cinco Picos as seen from the traverse to Redondo

Fast approaching Mt Redondo, so near yet so far.

Nagsasa Cove

How to Get There:

1. Ride a bus bound to Iba, Zambales (Victory Liner) and tell the conductor to drop you off in PNP Station of Subic. You also need to prepare a letter of intent before you can start your hike which will be submitted to PNP Subic.

2. Then ride a tricycle going to Sitio Cawag, Mt. Nagsasa's jump-off point.

*I joined an event organized by Jaime Dequinon of Akyat Tanaw Mountaineers

**I recommend Kuya Joel Soria as a local guide for Cawag mountains (Balingkilat, Nagsasa, Cinco Picos).

Mt McDonald (McDo)

Located in Pampanga, Mt McDonald is flanked by the much known Mt Pinatubo on North-Western portion and Mt. Negron on the South. It stands at 4363ft above sea level and is actually part of the Pinatubo via Delta V trail. The name may have been given by American serviceman taken from Donald McDonald a British officer, but I still have to research that since there are no references of its origin. According to the locals, the name already existed before they were born. But one theory exists and according to some local, every time an Aeta guide reaches the mountain's helipad they were given "Mcdo meals" thus they have religiously named it as Mt Mcdo.

The summit itself is characterized by a 360 degrees unobstructed view of nearby Mt. Negron, Mt Pinatubo's summit crater, nearby hills, and unnamed peaks. Once you have reached Mt Mcdo's summit it means that you have trekked a total of 26km starting from the jump-off point that passes several river crossing in the Sapang Uwak, Apo Mallari Falls and Mt Pinatubo's crater summit. 

From Mt. Pinatubo's crater, one has to descend a 700ft valley then afterwards, one has to ascend a 900ft trail consists mainly of vertical walls and do some rock scrambling, which for me is the most challenging part most especially when rain set-in making the rock slippery. There are also several Pitcher plants that I've seen along the vertical climb which at that time was something new to me. After a while I have reached the summit which is characterized by an open grassland known as the helipad which also serves as the campsite for those who goes on an overnight hike. The whole place was covered in clouds with strong gush of winds, I could feel the chill so I rested for a while waiting for the rest of the team to regroup. It was a good thing there was a slight clearing when all my teammates arrived, I can honestly say "sulit pag hihintay sa mga ksama nmin ng 2hours", it was worth the wait to witness the surrounding landscape. We were recharged with the scenic view before  embarking on the last portion of trail, known as the zombie trail some even call it as "umay trail" composed of 18km of plain sight.

Mt Negron as seen from Mt McDo

Pitcher Plant

***Mt McDo is part of the Pinatubo Delta V trail, it is another mountain which has it's own unique beauty