Remembering Lanawan Ridge

Lanawan Ridge is part of Mt Puro which is under the Upper Marikina Protected Area. It was named after the Lanawan River that meanders through it's base. 

Lanawan Ridge

We hiked Lanawan ridge three years ago, and it was eventually closed by PENRO Rizal in 2019 to hiking and mountaineering activities for some reason. Just recently, I saw online posts that a road is being built along Lanawan ridge which is quite sad for outdoor enthusiasts, not sure if they have appropriate Environmental Compliance Certificate and approval to do so.

Looking back, I just want to share the magnificent splendor of Lanawan ridge. The jump-off and registration is the same with Montalban trilogy which also passes Wawa dam. The first part of the trail is river trekking along Wawa river until reaching the base of Elmer's peak. The trail leading to Elmer's peak is from mild to moderate ascent with a total elevation gain of 700ft. The summit provides a commanding view of the Montalban Trilogy mountain and the nearby river. 

Elmer's Peak

The blogger with CV Mountaineers

From Elmer's peak, one has to descend the equivalent elevation of 700ft towards Lanawan river. One has to continue river trekking along the bank which also includes rock bouldering until reaching the trail that leads to Mt Puro where Lanawan ridge is part of. The trail is composed of bamboos until reaching an open grassland for a total of 600ft ascent until reaching the ridge. From that point, there is another 300ft ascent to reach the viewing deck of Mt Puro.

The viewing deck of Mt Poro

Lanawan River

I truly enjoyed our hike since it offers the best of both world where one can hike with picturesque viwq and swim in the clear and cold Lanawan River afterwards. With it's close proximity to Metro Manila it was one of the ideal hikes to unwind and commune with nature.

The trail is backtrail with a total distance of 12.6km for a total elevation gain of 3200ft.

***Special Thanks to CV Mountaineers for inviting me in their group hike. Shout out to Kuya Christian Vergara, Kap Ronald Dumapias and Jimmy dela Torre.

Pantingan Peak (Mt Mariveles)

Exactly three years ago with same weather condition when we tried to do a PanTarak hike. "PanTarak" is located in Mariveles, Bataan which means traversing the prominent peaks of Mt Mariveles that includes the highest peak which is Pantingan that stands at 4300ft. The trail would also traverse other prominent peaks around Mt Mariveles caldera that includes: Garruchas, Vintana, El Saco and then Tarak ridge.

Torrential rains and typhoon has greeted us before and during the hike. We asked the organizer if we will proceed with the hike (It's not in my vocabulary to back out on any event unless the group cancel it). We proceeded with the hike and we were advised by the guides that doing a PanTarak is not possible during that time due to some landslide that occured between the Pantingan and Garruchas peak. So after some considerations like typhoon and landslide, we all agreed for a Pantingan Peak backtrail.

The start of the trail passes through a forest which then leads to a grassy slope that is sometimes refer to as Marlboro land. The grassy slope then leads to the base of Pantingan. The trail leading to Pantingan's peak is somehow comparable to the trail of Pat-Yay to Amuyao's summit which is composed of mossy forest and very steep assault.

The trail is muddy with loose soil caused by the non-stop rain brought about by Typhoon Maria, not to mention it is also steep and based from my Casio Altimeter there is a total of 4200ft elevation gain from the jump off to Pantingan Peak with a total of 23km (backtrail). It is also one of the most infested with Limatiks which are more aggressive compared to the Limatiks found in Napulauan and Kalawitan.

Overall the hike is still great, eventhough it was raining with some gush of wind and torrential trails we still enjoyed the hike and still thankful that each one of us were safe to descend back to the jump off with some souvenirs from Limatik bites.

The Grassland

Very creepy dyan s Forest

Mossy Forest

Groupie at Pantingan's Peak

With the Die Hikers Unlimited

Pantingan River

Mt Daraitan Traverse to Tinipak River

Mt Daraitan is situated between the borders of Tanay, Rizal and General Nakar, Quezon which stands at 2300ft above sea level. This mountain offers several ecotourism and outdoor attractions such as mountains, caves, springs and limestone formations making it a gem at the heart of Sierra Madre. Mt Daraitan is also surrounded by Tinipak River which is one of the country’s cleanest, free-flowing rivers, which are then surrounded by large marble rocks that are great for bouldering.

Mt Daraitan is great place to hike most especially to those who are introduced to hiking. The trail is steep but very established with a total of 1620ft altitude gain equivalent to 1.49km distance from jump off to summit, and I was able to reach the summit in 1h5m. Those who will reach the summit will be rewarded with a magnificent view of the Sierra Madre mountain range and the province of Rizal. It is also a vantage point for witnessing the sea of clouds but unfortunately we did not have the chance to witness it, yet still thankful that we had a nice clearing. The trek is usually a traverse to the "Heart Peak" which then descends to "Tinipak River" for an elevation loss of 1730ft and a total of 5.5km passing through limestones and karst formations which may become slippery during rainy season.

As viewed from the Heart Peak

The limestone formation at the summit

The blogger at the summit

Heart Peak

Sierra Madre Mountain Range

Tinipak River offers a dramatic marble rock formations, which makes this gem a perfect getaway for the weekend. It is located in between boundaries of Barangay Daraitan in Rizal and General Nakar in Quezon Province and is considered the cleanest inland body of water in Region IV.

One of the iconic Marble/Rock formation

Ice cold water of Tinipak River

Tinipak River

Rock Formations

Marble and limestones

How to Get There:

1.) Ride a jeepney from EDSA-Shaw to Tanay, Rizal

2.) Take jeep to Sampaloc

3.) From Sampaloc, Tanay. Take tricycle to Brgy. Daraitan

San Jose Circuit (RevTrav)

Situated in San Jose, Tarlac thus the name "San Jose Circuit" refers to the three patches of mountains namely: Mt Kawayan, Bungkol Baka, and Mt Tangisan which surrounds the San Pedro Dam also known as Pangasaan Lake.

Pangasaan Lake as seen from Mt Tangisan's summit

The circuit trail has a total distance of 22.3km  and a combined elevation gain of 3300ft under the scorching heat of the Sun. Unlike Cawag, which still has the soothing breeze from the sea, San Jose Circuit can be compared to fellow Tarlac mountain - Mt Damas because the air is dry and relatively no breeze or any gush of wind of all sort.

I joined the event organized by Jaime Dequinon, it was almost canceled because of several scammer-joiners, good thing it still pushed through even though there are only 7 joiners left. A big shout out to Jaime and to the Akyat Mountaineer for continuing the hike and shouldering most of the expenses (we all agree to add some additional event fee to cover for the expenses). We arrived in the jump-off area at around 6am, our guides told us it was rather late if we would do a circuit traverse. They suggested the reverse-traverse trail which would start from the farthest mountain and eventually ends with the nearest mountain.

The start of the trail passes by the man-made Pangasaan Lake (San Pedro Dam), the trail then enters a forested area composts of bamboos where its name originated known as Mt Kawayan. It is composed of a gradual to moderate assault similar to that of Mt Batolusong for a total of 1600ft elevation gain for a total of 7km to reach the summit. The summit is vastly surrounded by trees and bamboos with some portion that offers as a viewing deck.

Pangasaan Lake which is the start of the trail

The start of Mt Kawayan's trail

One of the viewing deck in Mt Kawayan

The traverse to Bungkol Baka is characterized by a moderate to a steep descent with some portion comprise of loose soil for a total of 600ft until reaching an open grassland used for grazing cows. Hikers will need to navigate through overgrown "talahibs" until reaching the base of Bungkol Baka which means "Cow's hump" (guides told us it was named as such because it resembles the hump). There is a total of 700ft ascent to reach the summit of Bungkol Baka characterized by a 360-degree unobstructed view. Shout out to Sir Christian Vergara and Carmz Tan, because they have been my constant hiking buddy in the lead group during the hike and also to Reinier Alfante - photographer ko s Bungkol Baka).

The open grassland

"Bungkol Baka" as seen before the summit ascent

Team SJC: Roger, Reiner, Carmz, Jaime and Christian at the summit

Bungkol Baka's summit groupie take 2

The traverse from Bungkol Baka to Mt Tangisan is the longest part of the trail, the two summits are almost 9 km apart which includes a total descent of 1500ft. Halfway of the trail, we passed by a spring where we refilled our water containers and took our late lunch. 

Fast forward, Sir Christian, Carmz, and I throttled towards the summit of Tangisan. It was characterized by a very steep ascent overlooking the picturesque view of Pangasaan Lake for a total of 1050ft elevation gain. Flowering plants and Ornamental trees are present along the trail and I can't recall if there are pine trees (2 years ago and I have a serious issue of memory gap). 

We reached the summit surrounded by huge rocks and it is characterized by an unobstructed view of the surrounding landscape that includes the three mountains from SJC, a river, Pangasaan Lake, and Mt Damas from afar. We waited for our teammates to arrive, but after almost an hour, we have decided to descend and head back to the registration. Fortunately, we met our teammates on their ascent on the way to the summit. We took another group photos and proceeded with the descend so we can clean ourselves and take a good rest and the three of us were able to finish the circuit trail in almost 9 hours.

As viewed from the summit

The author with Kuya Christian Vergara and Carmz Tan

Take 5 muna

We met the sweep group during our descend from the summit