Mt. Pico de Loro - I survived :)

There was an invite from our mountaineering group to Mt. Pico De Loro and I was on the GO right away. I've seen the event on Facebook, but days before the actual hike became a tough decision because it was a raining the whole week. I was about to back out because I don't wanna risk myself hiking this mountain with a really bad weather (typhoon months, so safety first yea?) and then came Friday before that weekend climb - the weather became a lil' bit calm, so I decided to finallyyyy GO! yay :)

Meet-up at Waltermart Munoz was at 2:30am, and because I got really excited, I alarmed my phone after I got home and packed my things, it was I think 12 midnight when I hit the bed to have a nap an hour or two. My boyfriend woke me up in the middle of my sleep, and asks "why you didn't go with the hike?" I answered "Im coming with them! It was so early to go now.." and after looking at my phone's time IT WAS 2:30AM!!!!!!! I was in a hurry and goodthing I have took a bath before hitting the bed so I prepare everything to bring and went to Waltermart already. Then we went to KFC Baclaran to wait for the others..

We contracted a jeep to ride from Baclaran and directly drop to the jump-off point, luckily got a deal, 1 way for 150, so 300 for back and forth from Baclaran to Magnetic Hill, Ternate Cavite. We depart from Baclaran at past 4am and arrived at the jump-off at quarter to 6am. Upon arriving we registered at DENR and paid 25 pesos (It was supposedly 20 pesos but due to them want an assurance to pay for those who will take shower after the hike will have to pay additional 5 pesos). Hike started at 6 - 6:05am..

The trail started easy from the highway with some steep descent and ascent from time to time but overall, the journey to the Campsite 1 was fairly easy.

Arrived at the "2nd registration" which is also the 1st campsite at around 06:20am  and we paid 20 pesos per head. Ate Manang wearing yellow shirt told us that it was a "FFRIVATE FFROPERTY" (ahuh.. another registration ee? lol she means private property ahaha) so we have to pay 20 pesos.

Pooorrr me! I am their photographerrrr >.<

Expressive eyes cutie dog!

Founders of our EMP mountaineering group -- JR Flores (on my right) and Glenn Edward (on my left).

There are signages to "Pico de Loro" you will see along the trail..

The trail then transformed from a relaxed ascent to a very steep ascent after a few minutes from the fork that separates the trail to the falls and to the summit. Good thing the weather was kind to us, as it is cloudy but not the type that brings rain.

After the long way up, finally we arrived at the campsite. I have now a clear view of the summit :) It was tiring andddddd I know I can push myself moreee cause hey I'm almost near THE SUMMIT!!!!!!

The summit and the monolith on the side.

The trail all the way to the campsite is muddy during this rainy season. Also, expect some waterbeds along the way, trail going up is very rocky and as hard as it gets (well, that's for me. I do have asthma so every 5 minutes of ascent, I'm running out of breath so I would need to take a rest frequently and wait for my heartbeat to atleast calm down before continuing it up).

Before assaulting the summit, we took our brunch at the campsite. it was almost  9am when we arrived there. A few members assaulted the summit right after they reached the campsite and so we waited for them to descend to the campsite first before we took off for the summit.

After 10-20 minutes of assault going to the summit from campsite, HELLO PARROT'S BEAK!!!! :)

Amazing view from the summit.

When we arrived at the summit, there was a group event happening where they set up a zipline from the summit to the monolith and a rappel line from the monolith's summit going down. Thanks to them, the view of the summit and the monolith is ZzzZZzzzz >.< And the worst part of it is only their members are allowed to take part in their event!

All my tiredness paid off after reaching the top and soaking in the breathtaking view.

Me and the rest of our EMP Mountaineering Group. I dont really know the names of some members, it was my first time to meet most of them. They are part of the Batch 2 of our group, as I belong quite of the later part of the Batch 1. Im glad to meet them and hike this mountain with those jolly members. I enjoyed the rest of my time with you guys :)

After some picture taking, the members of the group who wanted to climb the monolith started their descent on the other side of the summit going to monolith. I don't have enough courage to try climbing the monolith yet, and I guess you can also add stamina to the list. :p

So together with the other members who decided to stay at the summit, we waited for the group who ventured to the monolith to reach the top and be their photographer. :)

Anyways, after the group had reached the summit of the monolith, I couldn't bear the heat of the sun anymore so I decided to descend first to take a break at the campsite and wait for everyone to return there.

Going down to campsite, me and kwinnie had some photo ops with this mini summit with mama mary. :)

After everyone has returned and rested , we are now ready for our descent at around 12:30 pm. Thanks to Pico de Loro's luscious forest trail, the descent isn't as hard as I thought it would because we are shielded from the heat of the sun. The descent was fairly easy all throughout but I would ought to warn you from the fork in the trail after passing by the 1st campsite. It's the part where you have to turn left instead of going straight into the trail. There is a signboard in that area but it's pretty easy to miss if you are occupied with something else just like a part of our group which ventured into that wrong path only to find themselves into a trail that heads into nothing.

When we were almost at the highway going back to the jumpoff around 3:30 pm, the weather started to turn bad with the sound thunder roaring into the distance. Rain suddenly started to pour but good thing we were just a few minutes away from the DENR outpost. We took a rest in the outpost while waiting our turns to take a bath and wash ourselves. By around 4 pm, the other members of our group who ventured into the wrong trail after the 1st campsite has finally returned and all of us are complete again after the descent back from the summit. Everyone finished a bath by around 5pm and we found ourselves again back to our rented jeepney on the way back to Baclaran.