Conquered: Mt. Palay Palay/ Pico de Loro

Mt. Palay-palay, commonly known as Pico de Loro is situated in the boundary of Cavite and Batangas. Half of the mountain summit is Batangas' territory and the other is Cavite's. Though the famous rock monolith is already in Batangas. Being on the summit is literally being in two place at one time. The mountain is at 648 MASL while the rock monolith is at 664 MASL. It is 3/9 difficulty and is suitable for beginners, they say. 

On the summit of Mt. Pico de Loro over looking the famous monolith

The jump off is at Maragondon, Cavite which is 1.5-2 hours away from Manila. You need to board a bus at Coastal Mall Bus Terminal going to Maragondon. Proceed to Bay 14 in the terminal and ask to drop you off in Maragondon. It is their last stop, so getting lost wouldn't be an issue. Once you got off from the bus, there are tricycles that awaits you. Ask the driver to drop you off to DENR for a Pico De Loro Climb. They know what to do.  Once you have reached the drop off, you should register and off to your trek. It is going to be 2-3 hours trek to the summit on an average pace. 

a stream along the way

The trail is very visible and easy to see. All throughout the trail are trees that gives you shade and the cool temperature. There will be few assaults along the way. Due to the thickness of the forest, the trail is somewhat moist.

Mossy trail

At times, you see diversity of fauna present. There are butterflies, mosquitoes, snails, centipedes and ants. You can also hear the loud cricketing crickets on some parts of the trail especially if you start early.

Big Black Ant known as "Hamtik" in my language

The Summit at a distance

After 1.5 hours of walking, you will reach a resting place for the hikers. From here, it is just 30 more minutes to go to reach the campsite. You are able to see the summit from here.

At the campsite overlooking the vast land of Batangas

You will eventually reach the campsite which is a 15-minute trek to the summit. You can pitch a tent for an overnight or spend your lunch time. These area already offers picturesque view of Batangas and nearby provinces.

Mt. Pico de Loro's Summit

Not so far away is Bataan

Ascending to the summit was a challenge since the soil are very loose. The vendor i was talking to earlier said that it is because a lot of hikers visited the place the other day which made it loosen up. You don't get to grab on something sturdy. There are random of wild grasses but there are not reliable to hold on to.

The Monolith known as The Parrot's Beak

It was just a short lived happiness when we reached the summit since I am already well aware of the impending challenge going on top of the monolith. It is not complete if you don't conquer the height of the monolith as well which is a little bit higher than the summit .

Steep way to the Monolith

I was all giddy up and excited that i didn't process well how dangerous it was to the monolith until I was half way up. But with the help of "Kuya" who i haven't got the time to ask his name , I was able to reach the top. Later to find out he was a president of a mountaineering group.

Fashionably standing at the edge; background is the summit

I couldn't be more thankful to these guys

Looking at these wonders kept my thought wander from a time, magnificent.

As the way to the Summit was so steep, I was decided to do the Nasugbu traverse. It is 2 hours trek to the main road. The first part of the trail is more of rock climb. This is something I would prefer over loose soil. I find it easier than the other trail. You'll pass by dried river, a few houses and lots of bocaue (the thin bamboo like grass). When we reached the end of the trail, we signed out for registration and rode tricycle to Nasugbu town proper. From town proper, we had lunch and rode Pasay bound bus. It took us 4 hours to reach Taft, Pasay. It was sunday afternoon and we were  caught in the sunday afternoon rush hour. 

Suggested Itinerary (traverse)

04:00  ETD from Coastal Mall Terminal, Ternate Bound bus
05:30  ETA Maragondon, Cavite, transfer to a tricycle
06:00  Jump off at DENR
08:30 Campsite
09:00 Summit, photo ops
10:00 Start Descend, traverse
12:00 Sign out, Tidy up, ride tricycle to Nasugbu
13:00 town proper of Nasugbu, Lunch
14:00 ETD of Pasay Bound bus
18:00 Pasay

Suggested Itinerary (back trail)

04:00  ETD from Coastal Mall Terminal, Ternate Bound bus
05:30  ETA Maragondon, Cavite, transfer to a tricycle
06:00  Jump off at DENR
08:30 Campsite
09:00 Summit, photo ops
10:00 Start Descend, traverse
13:00 Sign out, lunch and tidy up at DENR
14:00 ETD of Pasay Bound bus
17:00 Pasay

Expenses

P 85  x 2 Coastal Mall to Maragondon (vice versa if completed a back trail)

P250       Tricycle good for 4 pax (sometimes they charge  P300, haggle)

P 20        DENR fee

P500      Guide for the traverse (since we are not familiar with the way, trail is visible                    though)

P500      Tricycle to Nasugbu town proper

*** i forgot how much the bus costs from Nasugbu to Pasay

P.S. All photos used were owned by the blogger unless stated otherwise. Photos are taken with Nikon D5100.

"Keep Climbin' and Enjoy Philippines"