A journey to Mt. Pico De Loro

Mr. Google and other blogs told me that Mt. Pico De Loro is 664 MASL. They said it was an easy climb. (3/9). But please be reminded that the assault to the summit is a serious matter. Rocks are slippery (make sure you wear something appropriate. I was amazed by this girl who wore flip flops and a denim short shorts. I was like, Seriously???)

March 29,2013. We planned to climb Mt. Pico De Loro on a Maundy Thursday, but I was working ‘til late Wednesday night, so I asked my friends if we could move it to next day, Good Friday instead. Luckily, they agreed. I invited my 2 college friends, Lala and Vibeli (My first time to see Vibel again after graduation, almost 4yrs after), Lala’s “friend” MJ and my high school friend Julio (my first time to meet again after 10 long years).

With Julio aka "Angel"

5am Friday, Vibel, Julio and myself waited for Lala and her friend(?) along EDSA Baclaran as we agreed to be there by 5am to catch with other hikers since its our first time to climb that mountain and we don’t have a real mountaineer in our group. But then, she’s late. She’s late.. Super late. HAHA

We took the bus going to Naic Cavite. And we hired 2 tricycles (Php300 per trike) going to Pico De Loro DENR outpost. At the DENR outpost, we paid 20pesos as registration fee. And we started our long journey.

I was that prepared for this hike because I exercise everyday. That thought made me feel worried about my other friends. Lala need to go the office the next day. But since our motto is “pag ginusto mo, panindigan mo”, I just ignored it. (Now, i feel like i was a victim of hazing hehe)

Thank God, Julio went with us, he was full of energy the whole day.  He always joke around. (The reason why I love gays! They are happy to be with!)

We started the trek at around 9:05am. I read some blog about hiking Mt. Pico De Loro and they said that it was an easy climb. Yes it is, FOR THE FIRST 1.5 HOURS! The next 1.5 hours was really challenging! There are rocks (dry but slippery) that we need to climb. Big rocks! It took us almost 3 hours to reach the campsite (including taking photos during our rest time hehe). Whenever someone is passing us by, they always say “30 minutes na lang Ma’am/Sir”.  And it feels like they don’t want us to give up. (We will never give up anyway).  The trees, cold wind, and the breathtaking scene along the road made us forget that we are tired.

We reached the first base camp and again we registered and paid Php20.00. There were other hikers there. I bought a white shirt as a souvenir worth Php260.00. After 20 minutes we continued walking to the summit. It was hot but the wind was cold. We took some stop-over and after almost 2 hours of walking from the base camp, we reach the camp site (Second base camp).

View from the Campsite

At the campsite we can already see the summit. We can see other hikers going up and down slowly. So I thought it maybe hard to reach it. But hey, what’s the sense of climbing a mountain if not to reach the summit? After we took pictures Lala and MJ called us for lunch.

This was the funny thing. I brought chocolates, some chips, 2 bottles of sports drink and 2 liters of water. But I forgot to buy us lunch! Good thing was Lala brought rice. And MJ had 1 fried tilapia, rice and 5 boiled eggs. We shared with their food. If not with their “baon” I may not be able to climb the summit. A miracle indeed!

We rested for an hour then we started conquering the summit. Trail to the summit was steep and rocky. It was a serious climb. Lala kept on asking if can we really make it to the top, what if we’ll just stop there, etc. I doubted myself too, if I can make it. The wind was kinda hard. The trail was dusty, dry but slippery, rocky and steep at the same time.

The Summit from the Camp Site

There were few cogon grass and bamboos to hold on to. I was afraid, my legs were shaking and I was praying the whole time. Julio and MJ reached the summit easily, and so with Lala. I and Vibel was still trying and pushing ourselves up. But I was stuck. I stepped the wrong rock, I was hanging to this little grass and I just can’t give a push anymore. I thought I was going to die. I called Julio so he can help me get up and he was coaching me the whole time but hey I was really afraid. I was literally shouting my prayers. Haha. I literally crawled my way up there. I can’t count how many times I shouted “GOD HAVE MERCY!!”

At the Summit of Peak 1!

It was scary and funny at the same time. I even shouted I LEARNED FROM DICK GORDON! I SHOULD LEARN THE HARD WAY! HOW CAN I GET TO MT. APO IF I CAN’T MAKE IT UP HERE! Haha.

Luckily we have Julio. He’s girly and yet he had the strength of a real man. He literally dragged me up, I pushed myself up as hard as I can and there I was 10 meters away from the summit. My legs were shaking so bad that I needed to sit. I reached the summit teary-eyed, I asked my friends if I am really alive or I was just dreaming. But the view took my fears away and I forgot everything. The 360 view from the summit was really amazing. We can see the summit of the rocky Parrot’s Beak (2^nd Peak) but that would be my next mission, not that today. It was hot at the summit. Vibel reached the summit few minutes after I did. So we took pictures. There were 3 other hikers there so we took the chance to have a group picture.

After few minutes we went down. Going down was a little easy as I changed my trail. I chose the left side where there are grasses to hold on to. (Going up, I chose the right side of the trail, no grasses, just rocks, so there, I was stuck!). Julio and MJ went down first so they could coach us where to step. And we were back to campsite. God is really good. We are all safe.

At the Summit! The view took my fears away!

At the Campsite

We went down at around 3:00pm after taking our rest and talked about what happened up there. Going down was really easy and fast.

We spent 2hours, an hour faster than going up. While going down, a snake passed by Julios’s feet. Julio was behind me, I didn’t saw it, but Lala, MJ and Vibel did. They talked about it like there’s no tomorrow. Haha. I just kept quiet because all I was thinking was to reach the DENR outpost, change my dirty clothes, eat and go home. My dust allergy attacked me; red marks are all over my 2 arms. I was sneezing from time to time. Plus it’s getting dark. It was only 4 in the afternoon but it was dark inside the forest and no one bought a flashlight/headlight.

At the base camp, we bought drinks and ate some energy booster and we continued walking. We reached the DENR post at around 5:00pm. I immediately changed my clothes and washed up. We rested for a while and we headed back home.  It was a nice climb. The scene was really spectacular! All worth the body pain i feel right now. I will surely go back there and climb the Peak 2 Summit!

How to get there: Take a bus from EDSA-BACLARAN going to Naic/Ternate Cavite. Saulog or the green mini bus. From Naic, take a tricycle going to DENR outpost (jump off point).

How much I spent:

Bus EDSA-Baclaran to Naic – Php66.00

Trike going to DENR outpost – Php100.00/head (minimum of 3)

DENR outpost Registration Fee – Php20.00

Base Camp registration fee – Php20.00

Pico De Loro Shirt - Php260.00

Trike from DENR to bus terminal – Php100.00

Bus going back to EDSA-Baclaran – Php66.00

Total: Php632.00 (I did not include drinks that we bought. Canned soda worth Php40.00)

What to bring:

At least 2 liters of water

Energy drink (Sports drink like Gatorade)

Chocolates (it will help you give extra energy during walks)

Food (they only sell biscuits and cup noodles at the base camp and the camp site)

Flashlight/Headlight (If you’re on a day hike, start going down before 4pm, forest will get dark at around 5pm)

Basic first aid kit such as Alcohol and bandage.

Extra Clothes

Please click this ALBUM for the complete set of Mt. Pico De Loro adventure photos.