Montalban Trilogy V2

Montalban, napaka-ilap ng mga bundok mo sa amin, bakit ka ganyan? Haha. This event was supposed to be two weeks after the Montalban Version 1 event of us, but ECQ, MECQ, and such happened that's why it was cancelled for how many times. 

Pwede namang day hike lang yung event, pero mas pinili namin na mag overnight para may camping at socials before the climb proper, although magkakakilala naman na lahat kami dun sa event since halos kami kami din yung magkakasama na umakyat dun sa version 1 several months ago. 

Nag camp kami sa ES Campsite, malawak yung campsite more than twenty siguro yung kakasya na tent since sa area pa lang namin halos ten tents na yung naka set-up. Basta sobrang malawak yung campsite and may mga kubo na pwedeng tulugan kung hindi naman gagamit ng tent. 

Supposedly mag na-night trek sana kami papuntang Mt. Parawagan to view the city lights but the time doesn't permit since medyo late na kami nakaakyat sa campsite. So ipinagpabukas na lang namin. We were supposed to start our trek at around 4:30 am, pero na-late pa din kami ng alis, we left the campsite around 5:00 am, madilim pa. Pero it took as about an hour to reach the summit, nakikipaghabulan na kami sa liwanag pero we failed to catch the city lights dahil pumutok na yung liwanag. 

Parawagan's ES Campsite

Wala ng sunrise, wala pang city lights. Okay lang din dahil may sea of clouds naman, pampalubag loob. Haha. The thing about Mt. Parawagan summit is 360 yung view, sa east side puro bundok ng Sierra Madre yung makikita, while on the west side was the skyscraper from Metro Manila. Mariveles Mountain as well as the lone mountain, Mt. Arayat can be also seen from the summit of Mt. Parawagan.

View from the summit

Mt. Parawagan Summit marker

Before we started to descent, syempre hindi pwedeng makalimutan ang mandatory group picture with the summit marker. 10/10 kumpleto pa kami dito. 

Group picture with the marker

Bago pa kami tuluyang bumalik sa campsite to have our lunch, dumaan muna kami sa Jet's Viewdeck. Sobrang ganda ng view dito. Kitang-kita yung version 1 mountains, yung sea of clouds sa likod at iba pang Sierra Madre Mountains. 

From left to right: Hapunang Banoi, Mt. Pamitinan, Mt. Binicayan

After namin makabalik ng campsite to have our breakfast we took a quick rest then diretso na papuntang Mt. Lagyo. One of the things I hate the most sa tuwing namumundok ako is yung lakaran, ironic since hiking yung pinnunta ko pero ayaw ko ng lakaran. Ayaw ko nung lakad sa patag at malupa, if I were to choose, mas gugustuhin ko pang gumapang sa mga bato kaysa lumakad ng lumakad. Almost half of its trail from the junction of Parawagan and Lagyo was lupa. Maputik na lupa dahil nadadaanan yung trail ng mga heavy equipment para sa gagawing kalsada to make way para sa gagawing Dam in the near future, 5-10 years from now. 

Dun sa trail na yun ako naubusan ng pasensya dahil sobrang makapit yung putik sa sapatos. Medyo nahimasmasan lang ako nung huminto kami just before we start our ascent papunta mismo sa Lagyo. 

Yung trail naman dun was consist mostly ng rockies na. Kailangan na ng 4x4 (hands and feet) para mag move. May mga gumagalaw na bato kaya kailangan ng doble ingat. Pero mas prefer ko talaga yung ganung klase ng trail. 

Half way papuntang summit when we took a rest. So again, with the mandatory group picture. 

9/10.
Nabawasan na kami dahil sa Parawagan pa lang, na-injured na yung isang joiner.

After the quick rest, we resume our gapang session papuntang summit. I still remember my reaction when I saw the summit, halos hindi ako makapaniwala na yun na yung summit kasi walang mapwestuhan dahil puro bato talaga tapos wala akong makitang view. It was because nasa likod pala ako nung mga bato, nasa harap pa pala yung photo ops area, which nung una ayaw ko sanang pumunta pa dahil pagod na ako sa kakagapang. But since nandun naman na, so gora na. Gapang ulit papuntang photo ops area. At first ayaw ko pang tumungtong sa bato na yan kasi natatakot ako, pero ginawa ko pa din. Minsan kailangan mo lang talagang magtiwala sa sarili mo na kaya mo para magawa mo yung bagay na akala mo imposible. 

Mt. Lagyo summit