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

Mt Sicapoo via Rosary Trail (Close)

Seasoned mountaineers would all agree that Mt Sicapoo is considered as one of the toughest climbs in Luzon alongside Mt Halcon which are both rated 9/9 on a scale of difficulty. Situtated in Solsona, Ilocos Norte, Mt Sicapoo is known as the rooftop of Ilocos which stands at 7746ft above sea level and this has always been among my dream climbs. Too bad that I had to back out from this DIY event because my dad was at the ICU at that time and eventually led to his demise. I wrote this blog based on Memz Moradillo's account who was the Team Lead of this climb and a good friend.

Though I am unsure of Mt Sicapoo's name origin, friends told me that it originated from the word "Suko Na Po" because of its difficulty. Through an exploration climb, it was first summited in 2009 by One Degree Mountainers together with Pinoy Mountaineer. Back in the days, hikers can choose to do a day hike, 2d1n and 3d2n which were a common practice but due to numerous incidents the local government has decided to make it a 4d3n itinerary to make it manageable for common hikers since this is considered as one of the toughest climbs in the Philippines. The trek would require to ascend, descend and pass nine separate mountains namely: Mt. Balbalitok, Sauklay, Bubuos, Balbalite, Papako, Matalidong, Sicapoo, Timarid Summit, Simagaysay for a total of 39km and more or less a combined of 8000ft elevation gain.

The start of the trek commences with river trekking along the treacherous Gasgas River which has 20 separate river crossings. Gasgas River is characterized by rock and karst formations along its riverbanks. It is best to finish the river crossing before midday when the rain has not set in to avoid flash floods which sometimes go as high as chest-deep that is quite perilous.  After Gasgas River, it commences the steep ascent towards Saulay campsite that passes a thin ridgeline of Balibatok which connects Saulay for a total of 2800ft elevation gain. Hikers would usually spend their first night here.

The next day would be the trek towards Pakpako campsite which would pass Balbalite and Bubuos that somehow resembles a portion of Cordillera's Mt Ugo consisting of pine forest and cool breeze. The third day would be the trek to Mt Sicapoo passing Mt Matalidong which enters a mossy forest with some limatiks and from there on another hour of the trek for a final 600ft ascent to reach Mt Sicapoo. From Pakpako campsite to Mt Sicapoo it usually takes 4 hours of trekking for a total of 2100ft ascent. Upon reaching the summit, one will be greeted with a huge rock formation that resembles a "Penguin", thus it was always referred to as "The Penguin of the North" that stands tall at 60ft. From the summit, one would usually witness the vast sea of clouds, but on a clear day, mountains from the neighboring province of Apayao can be seen. Since this is a backtrail, the rest of the team headed back to Pakpako campsite to spend the rest of the night with socials and star gazing.

The last and final day would be characterized by a steep descend to Timarid and it's neighboring mountain Mt Simagaysay. Mt Timarid's name originated from Ilocano word which means "sharp", true enough, the trail of this mountain is composed of steep ascend and descends with sharp thin ridges consists of beautiful fine forests. On the other hand, Mt Simagaysay means "comb" in the local language composed of rolling terrains and the last part is composed open terrain that somehow resembles Balingkilat and the last portion is a vast grassland known as "One Degree Plateau", characterized by pastureland at about 900ft above sea level. From there on the trail becomes very manageable until you reach the Solsona Dam which signifies that you have successfully completed the Rosary trail.

The iconic "Penguin" rock of Mt Sicapoo

Memz Moradillo the Team Leader of the hike

With some rock scrambling along Gasgas River

Balbalitok Ridge  to Saulay Camp

Saulay Campsite (Memz with Mojo , Manuel and friends)

The Team Leader & DIY Organizer Memz Moradillo

The descend to Timarid

Rosary trail map

How to Get There:

1. From Manila ride a bus bound to Laoag

2. From Laoag ride a jeep bound to Solsona

2. From Solsona Public Market hire a trike to Poltice Station (registration/jop)

***Special thanks to Memz Moradillo for sharing his pictures and it was based on his personal account that this blog was written.

Mt Pulog

Today I am going to feature the adventures of fellow solo hiker and traveler Reiner Alfante, thus it was based on his pictures and personal testimony that this write-up was made.

Situated in Sorsogon, Mt. Pulog is a peak that is part of Bicol’s Pocdol volcanic mountain range which stands at of 3379 ft above sea level and with a 2300ft elevation gain from Sta. Cruz Brgy hall all the way to the summit. It should not be mistaken with Pulag as some have already do when I asked in Climber, many would annoyingly refer to Pulag. Mt Pulog should not be confused, it is unique in its own way with its crater lake (Lake Danum) and picturesque view of the Pacific Ocean.

The start of the trail passes through forested woodlands composed mostly of Pili, Abaca, Coconut and local "Haggis" trees - somewhat similar to a berry. After 4 km of trekking, one will reach the campsite characterized by open grassland and offers a commanding view of Bacon and the Pacific Ocean that also marks the halfway of the trail.

From there on, one would enter a steep forested trail which is reminiscent of Mt. Cristobal characterized by mossy forest and at some point, there are also friendly limatiks along the way. After 1.5 hours of trekking through the dense jungle, one would reach the cogon trail which signifies the summit or the caldera of Mt. Pulog. On a normal pace, the summit can be reached in 3hours for a total of 7.3km

The main highlight of the summit is the picturesque view of Lake Danum (also called Lake Pulog). Most of the time the crater lake is dried and it only gets filled with water during rainy days. Local legend has circulated among the townsfolk that once the crater overflows, all of Bacon will be razed. The summit also offers a grand view of nearby Rapu Rapu, Paguriran and on a good weather Mt. Bulusan.

Lake Danum (crater lake)

Reiner Alfante on his solo hike

Mossy Forest

Pacific Ocean as seen from the campsite

The initial part of the trail

How to Get There:

1. From Cubao, you can ride a bus going to Sorsogon (Amihan, DLTB Philtranco and ALPS).

2. Once in Sorsogon, you need to ride jeep bound for Bacon (take the one that goes to San Juan) and tell the driver to drop you off in Brgy. Sta Cruz.

3. You can walk or ride a trike towards the Brgy Hall.

Darwin Boten 09197757979 (local guide)