It has been incredibly hot nowadays, but it certainly won't dampen my spirits from going on a hike!!
My boyfriend and I hiked up to the summit of Mt. Pico de Loro (also known as Mt. Palay Palay) last weekend. It was around a month ago after my Mt. Balagbag hike when I was looking at my list of mountains to hike next... specifically one that had a forest trail. I wanted to make sure my next hike would be under a dense forest considering the summer heat has been blazing. After careful consideration and many hours of vlogs watched, I then knew that the next one would be Mt. Pico de Loro.
Apart from knowing that this mountain had a forest trail, what piqued my interest would be the fact that there are man-made stairs right before the summit. Initially, I thought.. is this cheating?? Haha, but turns out it really is more of preserving the summit by avoiding soil erosion which can happen when there's a lot of foot traffic. Mt. Pico de Loro is a famous mountain in the South after all, as it's considered as the highest peak in Cavite. The trail was closed for over 6 years to give time for the mountain to heal and for the organization to construct the stairs.
There's also the Pico de Loro monolith which stands beside the summit. It can no longer be climbed though and has been closed off to hikers in order to preserve it. This monolith together with the summit forms the beak of a bird which is why it was given the name "Mt. Pico de Loro".
Considering all these factors, I then asked my boyfriend if he wanted to do this hike with me. I had a sense that it was beginner-friendly and there's a high chance we won't be scorched by the sun which is a plus. As I mentioned in my previous hiking diaries, I really would much prefer sunny days over rainy ones especially when it comes to hiking.. although not too sunny maybe? After sharing about this mountain, my boyf agreed to come with. It would be his first hike as he's never hiked before, and we considered this as his birthday hike since his birthday was happening a few days after.
The first thing I had to do would be to book a schedule in the MPPMNGPL (Mt. Palay-Palay / Mataas Na Gulugod Landscape) website. This mountain cannot be hiked without prior registration. They allow a total of 90 hikers only from Friday-Saturday in the week. There's also a timeslot that needs to be selected and the given dates span from only up to a month. During this time, the only schedule left was for 10:00AM-4:35PM. Hiking at 10:00AM?? That's going to be super hot... but I selected it anyways and hoped for the best.
It was a DIY adventure for us; we didn't join any travel group for this one. We went to the base camp through the guidance of Waze. We initially thought it was located in Batangas and we were set on using the SLEX however Waze kept telling us to go through CALAX / Daang Hari road. We were confused at first, but later on it became clear to us that this mountain is located nearer to Cavite than to Batangas. It's just that whenever anyone says "Pico de Loro" the first thing that comes to mind would be the beach which is located in Nasugbu Batangas. It was a new learning for us!
After 2 hours of following Waze, we finally arrived at the base camp which was by the side of the road. It was honestly easy to miss (we had to make a U-turn :") ) but because of the vlogs I watched, I couldn't doubt for a second that it was the one. We arrived before 10:00AM, registered, and were led to the room wherein we watched a video which explained to us more about the mountain and do's and don'ts. I really appreciated how thorough they were and how they emphasized on Leaving No Trace (LNT).
After the video ended, the officer asked us if we really wanted the 10:00AM schedule. I shared that I was hoping to go on the hike earlier, but it was the only schedule left for the date we wanted. The officer then shared with me that we didn't necessarily have to follow the time. If we were to arrive at 6:00AM, then they would've been ready to accommodate us. Another new learning!
We officially started the hike at 10:30AM. There were 2 couples at this time (us included) but we let them go ahead with their guide because I wanted to go slowly. I was also mindful of my boyfriend since it was his first time. I wanted to admire and soak myself in nature; I was in no hurry to get to the top.
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| Supposedly a flowing river of sorts, although since it's the middle of summer time, it's not flowing as much |
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| Moss! |
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| You are inside a protected area |
There were 10 stations in total. The trail was a mix of going up and down instead of a straight-forward ascent. We definitely took breaks as much as we could and in those moments we would chat with our guide, drink our water, nibble on some snacks, notice the growing moss on rocks, and listen to the birds chirping from high up the trees. It drizzled at some point and it honestly got me worried, but our guide told us not to worry because it was probably some cloud that was just passing by. True enough it didn't last long and we didn't get so wet at all.
We reached the view deck which was somewhere in between station 6 and 7. This was where we got to see the summit from afar.
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| If you flip this photo, you'll see it's like a beak of a bird! |
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| Place where hikers can take a break |
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| This was the view from the seat! |
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| This is what happens to the rock when the moss sheds off |
Afterwards we continued on our trail. After a few more up and downs on the trail, we finally reached a bamboo forest. After the bamboo forest, we got to see a clearing! We were definitely near the summit.
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| I actually hit my head at some point against one of these haha :") |
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| We're near!! |
It was around 12:00NN already so we wanted to stop and eat lunch. We sat by a rock and ate our lunch while trying to see how much water we had left.. not much!! We knew we had to limit our water intake as much as we can so we'll be able to last. We reapplied our sunblock and I put on my arm covers. Most of the hikers we passed by told us how they weren't able to stay up in the summit for a long time because of the scorching heat. I was totally bracing myself for it, and I knew this was the consequence of signing us up for a 10:00AM hike... but I am embracing it and I was ready!
Before reaching the stairs though, we had to go through a steep ascent first through a bamboo covered path.
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| We made it!!! <3333 |
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| Bataan and Corregidor islands as seen from afar |
After a while, another group came and it was their turn to enjoy the summit. We then began our descent. Descending is hard for me; I find it way harder than the ascent. I always worry I might slip because the dried leaves are so slippery and treacherous! But no worries, we were able to descend successfully from the mountain, albeit tired and managing every last drop of water from our bottle. It was like being in the desert and having to conserve water. It definitely slowed us down.. but I still wouldn't have had it any other way because I do love hiking slowly. So slow, that we reached base camp by 5:00PM. Haha!
Learnings from this hike
♡Always bring 2L of water even if you know the trail will be mostly covered by the forest
♡ Mt. Pico de Loro base camp is located in Ternate Cavite and it is not near the Pico de Loro beach club in Batangas
♡ You can come in earlier than the schedule you signed up for
♡ The terrains are always different for each mountain which makes it a lot more memorable
♡ Registration fee from website: 200 pesos, Guide fee: 500 pesos
Hope you've been well, dear reader. I realize this is the 4th mountain I've summitted, but more than anything, I'm just happy to be on the trail.
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