Conquering Heights: Pico de Loro

Being a former Forestry student, hiking or trailing and the likes is not new to me. I was introduced to this wonderful way of connecting with nature back in college. Though I am not the typical outdoorsy gal back then, I guess my curiosity and inner lakwatsera made me enjoy this activity. 

After shifting to Sociology, I never again set foot on any mountain. Well, it's not that I don't want to but because majority of the projects I had requires me to be in the city. Anyway, fast forward to the present and here I am wanting to be in the arms of Mother Nature again. 

Pico de Loro or "Parrot's Peak" in English is the highest point in Cavite. Aside from the view on the summit, many mountaineers are thrilled to climb the monolith or rocky tower which overlooks South China Sea. Last March 28, 2015, some friends and I challenged ourselves and went to Pico de Loro in Ternate, Cavite.

Our meetup was at Coastal Mall Terminal in Pasay City. Call time was 4AM (but we left at 5AM hehe) and we took a bus bound for Maragondon. The fare is P91.00 and since we weren't familiar with the area, we just trusted manong kundoktor and told him we will be going to Ternate. 

What made me laugh when we reached Ternate was that almost all the passengers in the bus were heading to Pico de Loro as well. I guess I shouldn't worry about getting lost :) Anyways, from Ternate we took a tricycle going to DENR and it costs P100.00 per pax. DENR is the jump-off point and you will need to register and pay P25.00. We started the trek around 8AM. BTW, we decided not to get a guide going to campsite since we figured we will just follow the lead of others hehe.

Pogi! Fresh pa eh :)

The white one seems like a spider..I'm not sure.

Well the trail was...sort of difficult I admit...even for someone like me who already does muaythai and what-have-you. Even Risha (girl in purple and black below) who already went to Mt. Pulag was surprised with the trail. My past hiking experiences were more of gradual-ascend-but-longer-walks type of hike but this one...SPELL ASCEND! Hehe.. Sabi nga namin..."Yung totoo? Puro pataas?!" Good thing my company are the "maingay kahit pagod na" type of people, it made the hike bearable and more FUN :)

Taking pictures every break is a must! Hehe..

The Non-IMCG member of the pack: LORENZ IPSUM!

For this hike, I prepared 2L of water and 1L Gatorade. My trail food are Jelly Ace, cashew nuts and dried mangoes. Oh, and I brought a bar of Snickers (for additional energy boost). And since the climb to the summit is a good 3-4 hours, I also brought a sandwich for lunch. But for those who are not takot magutom like me, there are tindahan or stores up there and they even sell Halo-halo :)

We reached the campsite before 11AM. Exhausted? Yes indeed but once we saw the view..wow..it's all worth it! From there you can see the summit and the monolith. We rested and took pictures for a good 20-30 minutes. There were a number of tour guides at the campsite offering their services. Actually, we were hesitant at first but then we decided to get one not just for safety but as support to the community as well. 

At the campsite!

Remember I said earlier that we were hesitant to get a tour guide? Hah! Good thing that we did! Actually, I highly recommend that you get one if you're planning to climb the summit, the monolith and then traverse. We are not professional mountaineers and it was such a blessing to have someone who really knows the area, because if the trail was difficult...the climb to the summit etc. was another story. I was literally "crawling" going there! Gapang to the max talaga ang peg!

At the base of the monolith.

Actually, I was about to back out from climbing the rock. When I saw that there was no harness or whatever and nothing more but a rope, I was telling myself "Bakit ko ba 'to ginagawa?!". But then, this was one of those YOLO moments that you just face your fears, accept the challenge and viola! You made it! You lived! Congratulations!!! :)

Party at the top! We did it!

This view is indeed worth all the effort #feels

Bamboos on the trail.

The traverse was a lot "easier", maybe because I was just too tired that I can't tell if it was easy or not. Geez, my legs are killing me already this time. But who am I to complain? Kuya Joey, our tour guide, was even carrying some of our backpacks and I can't help but admire him. He was really nice and magalang, always saying "Tulungan ko na kayo diyan ma'am" "Kaya niyo po ba ma'am?". I got his number because I feel that I will definitely be going back and that I can also recommend him to those interested in climbing Pico de Loro. 

Kuya Joey and Joei..hehe

We had a few stops as we descend the mountain and before 3-4PM we are already at the foot. We took a tricycle going to Nasugbu for a little beach side trip before we head back to Manila. After this exciting and fulfilling experience, I declared that this will not be my first and last trail activity for this year. I declare that my 2015 will be a Hike-Trail Year and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that.