Cavite | Overnight Camping at Pico de Loro

Mt. Pico de Loro - the summit

Except when I joined vibouac during my high school days, I never again experienced camping out.  It’s not because I am picky though. Camping out usually entails outdoor adventures which I am not that fond of. I am not an adventurous type of person. As I wrote in my Manalmon post, I'm more of a couch potato, hehe. But of course, I do get out of my comfort zone from time to time. :D

Just like a few weeks ago, I joined with some friends who went for an overnight camping in Mts. Palay-Palay/Mataas na Gulod or more popularly known as Mt. Pico de Loro in Maragondon, Cavite. I joined in this adventure just for fun. Though this is my second time to join hiking adventure (my first time was in Mt. Manalmon in Bulacan), I never intend to become a serious mountaineer. I don’t have the determination and discipline that mountaineering requires. I don’t even go for a run or jogging or any physical activity which is supposed to be part of the training exercises that mountaineers undertake.

Anyway,  last April 14-15, together with some mountaineer friends, we went to Mt. Pico de Loro.  Call time was 6:00AM in McDonalds along Roxas Boulevard, near Baclaran Church.  From there, we took an air-conditioned bus going to Naic, Cavite.  It took us more than two hours to reach Naic, where we are going to take a jeepney to the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) site in Maragondon.

at the Naic terminal waiting for some more friends and the jeepney that will bring us to DENR-Maragondon

after 15 minutes of jeepney ride, we're now at the DENR site to register

At the DENR office, we registered ourselves and paid PhP20 each as a registration fee. After registration and before we started our trekking, we said a short prayer for a safe ascent to and descent from Mt. Pico de Loro. We also did  some stretching before heading to the base camp.

Starting the trek...

the trail and us, going to the base camp...

another photo of us on the trail :D

after almost an hour, at last we reached the base camp...

we had our lunch here, stayed for an hour or so, and then started again the trek to the camp site...

The trail to the camp site is a bit easy at the start, most are downhill trek, some are just plain fields.  And the trail is mostly covered with trees, we spend more than 30 minutes of walking before we took rest again.

resting under the canopy of trees...

And then we reached this signage which marked the start of an all-uphill trek. Haist, we were all tired but we still manage to smile at the camera...hehe!

again, picture-picture... :D

After some rest and picture taking, we continue our way and head off to the camp site.  Since this is an all-uphill trek, it took us more than an hour before we reached the camp site, resting after every few minutes of trekking.

after almost three hours from the base camp, at last we reached the camp site....

Too exhausted, I wasn't able to help my partner assemble our tent, good thing she's an experienced mountaineer, thanks GB (her blogsite here).  After fixing the tent, the group who is in-charge of preparing our dinner started their task. We on the other hand, prepare ourselves for the summit assault. We're in a rush because we're all looking for a chance to take photos of the sunset.

The trail to the summit is very steep, I started getting nervous just after a few minutes of our ascent, but I still tried. My friend GB took my camera so I could have my hands free to hold onto something as a support. I made a few more steps  but I really got nervous, I can't bring myself to make another step.  Then we came across several mountaineers descending from the summit, they advised us to be very careful as the trail is very dangerous.  That's when I decided not to continue; instead I go with them back to the camp site.

It's sad that I wasn't able to reach the summit but I never regret it.  I can't bring my self to take a risk that high, to risk my life just to reach a mountain summit. I do take risks though, but not this kind of risk. ;)

Anyway, thanks to all my friends who were with me on this adventure. I may not reached the summit but getting to the camp site and being able to see the surrounding view is good enough reason for me to be happy.  At least, I got the chance to experience camping out again, to sleep on a tent, do some stargazing, feel the cold breeze, to basically get out of my comfort zone.  And with that, I'm happy and proud, still! ;)

camp/dinner/socials.

see that rock near the middle of the smaller photo? That's where we were. Since I wasn't able to reach the summit, I forced myself to get there even if my knees are shaking *scary*

group photo before the descent, PDL peak at the background

planking at the Maragondon highway, what a way to end our Pico de Loro adventure!! of course, I'm not with them :D

~oo00oo~

Thank you my friends Say, Mobius and Ed for some of the photos used here.

~oo00oo~

Date of Visit: April 14-15, 2012
Expenses: DENR registration - PhP20; base camp registration - PhP20;
Fare: bus (2-way) - PhP140; jeepney (2-way) - PhP145
Specs: 664 MASL; minor climb; difficulty 3/9; trail class 1-3 (source: PinoyMountaineer)

Note: Bring lots (and I mean lots) of water, nearest water source is at the base camp which more or less is 3 hours from the camp site.