Mt. Makiling
Major Jump-off: Station 1, UP College of Forestry
LLA: 14.13°N 121.20°E, 1090 MASL (Peak 2)

Mt. Makiling is mainly protected by the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Because of the location, just 1.5 hours away from Manila, the capital of the Philippines, Makiling has been one of the mainstay destinations of local mountaineers, as well as scientists and tourists. The trails are well preserved making the hike easier even without a guide. While on your way to the peak, one can take some turns going to Flat Rocks, a river with huge stabs of rocks and Mudsprings, the so-called crater of Makiling where one can see boiling mud.

There is another trail, a more challenging one for advanced hikers. It is the the Sto. Tomas trail or the so called Makiling Traverse.  This will be tackled on the coming days.

Coming from Manila (from LRT Buendia or Cubao) one can ride a bus going to Sta. Cruz, then upon arriving at Los Baños crossing walk to Robinson’s Place and take a jeepney to College of Forestry and register there. It is also important to give your contact number to anyone at the Ranger Station.

From pinoymountaineer.com

Climbing notes. During the rainy season, Mt. Makiling is infested with limatik, especially between 600-1000 MASL. See the Limatik article for details. Be careful also with the plants and trees, some of them, such as the poison ivy varieties, have pruritic (itch-causing) substances, or thorns. There are reported sightings of snakes but these have become rare nowadays. There are no water sources beyond the Nursery, it is advisable to bring at 2 liters up. Trails can get very slippery on the final 200 meters. But there are station signs from 1-30 (yellow metal cards) — if you do not see one for 30 minutes, review your tracks. Cellphone signal, for its part, is ample in the mountain. Sun cover is so complete there’s no need to wear sunblock. Rain protection is more important, since sudden showers are common in Mt. Makiling.

See map trail provided by Pinoymountaineer.com
Map courtesy of the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems.

If you are looking for the ultimate outdoor experience in Cordillera, then nothing will compare to Sagada. It offers a lot of experience for tourists such as caves, underground rivers, waterfalls, rice terraces and also the mountains in this place. Here, you will see a lot of tourists because of the place’s natural beauty. The first thing that you have to visit in Sagada is view of the hanging coffins. This is their culture of laying their dead to rest instead of burying them deep in the ground. Here you will see coffins that are centuries old.

Your next destination should be Sumaguing cave which is the main attraction of Sagada, there are a lot of caves in Sagada and you should experience spelunking in this huge cave. You will see a lot of beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. Going down this cave is tough but you should see how tougher it is to go back up. It will be quite an adventure and you will notice that some of the formations in this cave will resemble bears, elephants, pregnant woman, turtle head, pig pens and many others. You also see how strong the guides are. There is a part where you have to step on your guide’s legs just to go down, imagine if you are 10 in your group. The adventure will take about 3-4 hours and you will be scared when you see the mouth of the cave but you should not worry.

The last destination is Marlboro Country where you can see wild horses running around on the summit of Lamagan. Going up to the summit is just a short climb and you will see grass where you can sit and watch the wild horses. Sagada has so many tourist attractions besides the one that I mentioned. They also say that Sagada has more to offer than what the public sees. There are things that are being kept secret and only a few have seen it because they want to keep it as they are.

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park or Puerto Princesa Underground River is located about 50 kilometers north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. Topography varies from flat terrain to rolling hinterlands, from hills to mountain peaks. The ridges and mountain tops are equally pronounced and the slopes are precipitous making it difficult and dangerous to conquer its apex. The Park has a range of forest formations representing eight of the thirteen forest types found in tropical Asia, namely forest over ultramafic soils, forest over limestone soils, montane forest, freshwater swamp forest, lowland evergreen tropical rainforest, riverine forest, beach forest, and mangrove forest. Researchers have identified more than 800 plant species from 300 genera and 100 families. These include at least 295 trees dominated by the dipterocarp type of species.

Can’t get enough of it? Visit these links:

• http://www.puerto-undergroundriver.com/
• http://www.new7wonders.com/community/en/new7wonders/new7wonders_of_nature/puerto_princesa_underground_river
• http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/puertoprincesa.html
• http://visitpuertoprincesa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=73&Itemid=160
• http://undergroundriver.net/

Pico De Loro
LLA: 14° 12.855 N; 120° 38.785 E; 664 MASL

Pico de Loro or Parrot’s Beak is one of the most accessible getaway from Manila. It is a recommended day trip with 4-5 hours trail to the peak from jump-off. Best hike is when it is raining..  Also there are two falls along the trail. There is an optional way down to the beaches of Nasugbu, with the like of Puerto Azul.

Check this out for itineraries.

Pinoymountaineer:

ENVIRONMENTAL ALERT
Pico de Loro is tagged as one of the mountains of environmental concern in PinoyMountaineer, for garbage mismanagement and undisciplined climbing. Hikers are encouraged to police the mountain by reprimanding/reporting littering and dirty campsites; cleaning up the trails; and educating the locals about the importance of the mountain’s cleanliness. Moreover, dayhikes are encouraged over overnight trips to minimize impact on the mountain.

Check this out for images.

Philippines is a tropical archipelago composed of mountainous islands covered in tropical rainforests. It is ranked as having the 5th longest coastline, next to Canada, Indonesia, Greenland and Russia respectively.

The archipelago is around 800 km from the Asian mainland and is located between Taiwan and Borneo, west of the Pacific Ocean.

The country has a tropical climate, divided mostly in three seasons: dry season from March to May, wet season from June to November and cold season for the rest of the year from December to February the following year, but because of the fast pace of global warming, it is mostly hot or humid even on wet season.

Sitting on the Pacific Belt of Fire, almost all major islands of the Philippines comprised of hills, mountains and volcanoes. There are 70 known hills, mountains and volcanoes, including Mt. Apo in Davao del Sur, being the highest peak 9692 ft ASL; Taal Volcano in Batangas, the smallest volcano in the world, Mayon Volcano in Albay and Chocolate Hills in Bohol.

The local people called as Pilipino or shortly Pinoy are hospitable and friendly. They will try to help you out even not asking them. They will provide you all the necessary things you need for a hike, even guide you along the trails. Also, local mountaineers and different mountaineering clubs hold open climbs for those who are interested about the mountains, and clean up drive to preserve and clean the past trails for the benefit of the next hikers.

Philippine delicacy has never been a question around the world. Popular chefs around the world never failed to present how tasteful and delicious the local food served here are; from full course meals, sea foods, desserts and fruits.

There are so many popular mountains in the Philippines that it is so hard to know which is the most visited among them. I compiled a list of sites you can look into, and see for yourself the beauty of the Philippine mountains.

• Think Philippines
• Etravel Pilipinas
• Pinoy Mountaineer
  • This is a large community on the web which is the most used guide by local mountaineers. It list mountains by region, has itinerary and recommended ideas.
• Peaklist
• Oocities
• Camper’s Point

Good hiking and be safe!

Of all the trails going to the summit of Mt.Pulag, Ambangeg trail is the easiest. This is the reason why it is also called the executive’s trail. You can modify it to Akiki-Ambangeg Traverse for it to be challenging, but if you are a climbing novice and you just want to see the famous sunrise of Mt.Pulag, then this should be the trail that you follow. You can accomplish this trail in less than a day, but I suggest that you make it a 2 day climb to enjoy the view of sunrise in Mt.Pulag. The trek to the saddle, where most mountaineers camp because it is near the summit, is just about 4 hours.

The trail is just like a short version of the Akiki trail. Here, you will also pass through a mossy forest where you can see several kinds of lichens. After you reach camp 1, everything that you will see is grass. Your eyes will literally feast with grass because it’s all that you will see from there. Once you are in the saddle, you should set up your tents immediately and go inside because it is really cold in this area. So you should make sure that you bring jackets and other apparels to help you warm up. The campsite can accommodate a lot of groups and there is also a latrine, the only campsite here in the Philippines where I saw a latrine.

In the morning, waking up early is necessary if you want to see one of the best things that you will see in your entire life. The view at the summit of Mt.Pulag is legendary and your jaws will surely drop because of its grandeur. You are now at the top of Luzon and you will have a view of a sea of clouds. You can also have a view of the different Cordilleran Mountains at the summit. Some of them are Mt.Amuyao, Mt.Napuluan and Kapiligan, Mt.Tabayoc and Mt.Ugu. There are no right words to describe the beauty of Mt.Pulag, you just have to see it for yourself.a

Mt.Kabuyao, always mistaken as Cabuyao, is probably the most camped mountain in Baguio City. Access to its camping grounds is very easy and even hikers with little or no experience can trek there without breaking a sweat. It is very easy to locate this mountain because of the two disc shaped radio transmitters or more known as “ra-dar” by the local people. After seeing this landmark, you only have to hike down for 30mins or so and you will reach the camping site in the area. This is also the most abused campsite in Baguio because a lot of tourists don’t pick their trashes and so the campsite is slowly deteriorating.

This is a very interesting campsite because of the cave that you will see there. It is just a small cave where you can enter and leave quickly if you want to. This cave serves as a burial ground of the Igorot ancestors. This is why you will see bones inside the cave although most of them are now lost because of, again, the visitors of the mountain. The campsite if very convenient and spacious, it can accommodate up to 20 people.

The campsite offers a scenic view of the city of Baguio and Mt.Sto Tomas. You should watch out for the lights of Baguio, the city will look like a giant Christmas light. You should also be able to view the summit of Mt.Pulag from this mountain. Also, the sunrise is majestic in this place. While the cool air breeze is in your face, you can’t help but smile at the beauty of the sunrise. Kabuyao can also be your route to Mt.Sto Tomas; it will just be a 2 kilometer trek.