Category: Luzon
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Talamitam’s animal farm
Talamitam has a cuteness level of 5 with all the pairs of neighing horses, curious cows, photogenic carabaos and charming baby goats. Oh wait, this isn’t a farm. Mt. Talamitam is an easy dayhike like her sister Mt. Batulao. Legend has it that a giant once lorded the plains. He had one foot in Batulao,…
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Traversing 21 mountains
I now understand why some mountaineers keep coming back. As with most Benguet mountains, the scenery going to and from Ugo is picturesque. Rolling pine tree-covered ridges, chilly temperatures, long yet slightly ascending and descending paths complete the breathtaking landscape. The tiring traverse is capped by a crossing of the 90.7-metre hanging bridge of Sitio…
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Damas traverse
I will give it to you straight. Steep. Yes she had fabulous views at the peak, refreshing river crossings and the thundering drop of Ubod Falls, but, what stuck to me about Damas is her killer ascents and knee-busting descents. The guides may insist the slopes are gradual, but they are not. With the jumpoff…
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Tarak and its windy ridge
My first climb for the year took me to one of Bataan’s highest points. Tarak left me with two things. First, like a wordplay, I now understand how it got its name. The initial portion of the climb involves the usual wide trails through grasslands and flatlands. Three hours into this type of trek, you…
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Arayat: the case of the missing trail
And I thought guides are supposed to know and lead the way. Up until this climb. An ambitious dayhike traverse from the Magalang to Arayat trails ended on a rather mischievous note as we learned from the lead pack that our juvenile brothers from Brgy. Ayala on the Magalang side seemed to have lost the…
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Maculot for the holidays
In celebration of the holidays, we had a Christmas party and year-end dayhike at Mt. Maculot in Cuenca, Batangas. Albeit rainy and slippery, we had fun eating cake at the Grotto and blowing candles at the Rockies. After the quick Maculot traverse, the group gathered at the mountaineers’ store for a simple potluck meal and…
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Kalisungan is not a walk in the park
Expecting a quick dayhike ala the likes of Daguldol and (as I was told) Gulugod-Baboy, imagine my surprise as I squished and squashed my way through sloping trails of mud and horse dung. Fruit flies hovered over dead banana trunks and coconut husks scattered along the way. Mosquitoes were abuzz at 3/4 of the trail.…
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Madlum weekend break
Barangay Madlum of San Miguel in Bulacan is the home of Mt. Manalmon, the Madlum River, and numerous caves. It offers a variety of activities to excite the adventure-seeker in you. At 196+ MASL, Mt. Manalmon may go unnoticed; unremarkable for some, even. To up the ante, we did a night trek of its 2-kilometer…
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Scaling the parrot’s beak
Pico de Loro Towering over seas of greens and blues, scaling Pico de Loro is the highlight of a climb to Mt. Palay Palay. The monolith stands imposing and dramatic amidst the plains of Cavite and the waters of South China Sea. They say conquering the parrot’s beak takes skill and experience. It may not…
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Natib’s insurgent leeches
View from Mt. Natib Yes. Leeches. Limatiks. They have declared war on us. As if I have not had my fill and fair share of the infamous mountain bloodsuckers of Makiling, I found myself saying yes to another climb involving such a major-major concern. This climb is popular not only for its leeches,…
Always Wandering 