Mt. Halcon is another giant of
MIMAROPA Region. This is one of the most difficult mountains to climb in the
Philippines, garnered 9/9 rating in terms of its difficulty, but that rating is
not enough to rate the lessons we learned during this climb. I can say: “this mountain has a brain and
intelligence as it transformed all of us into a different individual,” after
the climb.
Mt. Halcon hiking guide and itinerary;
The Trails of Mt. Halcon
We chose Mayabig Trail for our ascent. Mayabig is a long trail covered with banana, coconuts, vegetables, and other plants cultivated by the residents (mostly the mangyans). During our climb, the weather wasn’t fine because it was July which is a rainy season.
Iglesiang
Ebanghelika ng Aruta at
the mangyan village
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| Limatik |
For our first day, Ayambukog Camp
was our resting place. Ayambukog is an open area, 4-5 hours from the village.
This area serves as the green pastures for the cattle, horses, carabaos and
goats. Few minutes from this camp, a clean river can be found.
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| the Virgin Rainforest |
Photo above was taken at the Camp
1. This area is a wide and open space that can handle several tents or groups. This spot has
an amazing view of Mt. Halcon. Halcon's range keeps on hiding in a thick layer
of white clouds. The trail from Camp 1 to Dulangan River, was very
steep. Our hands and feet depended on the roots passing the 90 degrees
assault. Trail marks are available and being focused on the trail is very essential.
From afar, I easily noticed the
relaxing sound from a splashing water. At first, I did not know where that
sound originates, I thought from waterfalls, but I was wrong – it was Dulangan
River. Also, I heard the sopranos from birds and insects.
Dulangan river is amazing; the waters are crystal clear, cool and really clean.
From Dulangan River, the trail is
ascending and with assault. Bodies of water spread in most of the areas, so
expect for hopping on and off the boulders, crossing the river and waterfalls.
Halcon still has an amazing rainforest; so majority of the trails were wet,
slippery and accident prone. But, I can’t deny that the ambiance, while on the
trail, was remarkable.
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| At the Karawyan area |
Photo above was taken at the Karawyan area, while everything and everywhere were wet. I wasn’t able to capture more photos because the
battery of my camera was almost in draining stage. Temperature during our hike was a
challenge, plus the fact that the wind was strong and raining hard – it was an ouch!!!
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| at the Azothea |
Photo above was taken at the Azothea, few meters to reach the knife
edge, while waiting for the weather to calm. We thought the weather will be
fine afterwards, but we were wrong, the wind became more powerful and the fog
became thicker. Our guide did not permit us to continue crossing the knife edge
and to the summit. We were almost 200 meters away to the summit, but we don’t
want to risk our security, so we took gorgeous shoots and descent. It was a
challenge hike, but I will definitely be back to Mt. Halcon. Physical
preparation is needed before the hike. Permits from the DENR and guides are
needed!
How to Get to Mt. Halcon:
At Batangas Port, we took a ride
in a RoRo to Calapan, Oriental Mindoro.