Mt. Halcon Mt. Halcon or Sialdang to some, is an infamous mountain located in Baco, Mindoro with a height of 2, 586 MASL. It's viewed as one of the most challenging and interesting hiking destinations in the northern part of the Philippines. Its popularity heightened after the death of Prana Escalante of the UST Mountaineers in 2004 and Neptali Lazaro of San Beda University in 1994. This mountain belonged to the Philippines' 'Knife Edge' mountains alongside Mt. Matalingahan in Palawan, Mt. Guiting-Guiting in Romblon, Mt. Mayon in Albay, Bicol Region.
The Preparation
In this modern time it's pretty easy to gather information about the mountain you plan to scale - everything you need is just one click away. We started by searching for the Baco tourism office contact information online, talked to the right people and reserved a slot. If you're not aware Mt. Halcon isn't open for hikers and campers alike all year round, also a reservation is required.
Not underestimating a mountain is a principle my buddy and I live by. Though we have hiked mountains with the same level of difficulty we still tried our best to prepare mentally and physically. We had several training climbs, also we ran regularly for body conditioning. Lastly we read articles from different sources to know what we should expect and to be able to surmount the challenges waiting for us.
The Actual Hike
In May 2015, my (former) hiking buddy and I finally got the chance, time and resources to test our limits in Mt. Halcon. The plan is to climb and finish it as fast as we can so that we can have extra time for a side trip at a beach. We loved maximizing our time every time we travel to another city or province.
Day 1
From Batangas port we took a ferry bound for Calapan Mindoro. We went straight to the market for a quick meal and to buy additional supplies. Then we took a jeepney that would take us to Baco city hall where we submitted our 'fit to climb' medical certificates and other requirements. An hour or two passed we finally secured our permit and clearance.
It was high noon when we arrived at Lantuyan (trail) jump off. We registered again and was briefed about rules and guidelines we must follow during the hike. At first they seemed skeptic of us, especially of me. The locals and guides asked us 3 or 4 times if we're really planning on hiking the mountain with a 3-day (maximum) itinerary. One of them even looked at me from head to toe and said I wouldn't be able to complete it. My guess for their skepticism are: First there were only the two us. Second, we were small people with average body build. We had to negotiate with them and we tried our best to be persuasive so that they'll permit us to climb the mountain. Lantuyan, by the way, has its own guideship and guidelines thus the said discussion.
Finally, after having a deliberation amongst themselves they gave us the go signal and a guide. We paid 'some fees' then started trekking. It was still summer and the heat at noon was punishing so made sure to hydrate my body accordingly. The first part of the trail is an open plantation and boy, was it steep right away? It was what you'll call a cardiac trail. Since it usually takes about an hour or more before my body warms up and adjust to my surrounding and pace, I was short of breath in an instant. I had to make short pauses on an uneven ground to catch my breath, adjust the heavy load on my back, and sip water. I remember vividly how I struggled in the first hour and I thought to myself 'If this is how it's going to be like for the rest of day, I have to conserve my energy'. With this in mind, I let my buddy to go on ahead and keep his pace while I keep mine. On the bright side, there were plenty of water sources scattered along the trail. I stopped checking the time as we continue our ascent.
What seems like a never ending ascent, ended. We then found ourselves with a rolling trail that started to get narrower, this time there were more trees on each side so the trek became more bearable for us. I was breathing better with a faster pace as well. Did I mention I stopped checking the time? I didn't concern myself with the time because I put my focus on a controlling my pace and giving myself more comfort and refreshment. Luckily, we continued with a rolling trail until we reached a small river crossing. Just across is an e-camp, that's when our guide started talking to us. Also started he started to clear the space. He then suggested us to camp there for the night. That's when I brought out my phone to check the time and it was only half past four in the afternoon. My head is screaming, 'it's too early for a camp!'. He told us that it's still a long way to go, though we thought we can still push till the next campsite. However we heed his advice since he's the most experienced in that particular mountain. Before we set camp, he told us the story of Prana Escalante. It was indeed a sad and unfortunate incident.
Day 2
We had a good night's rest so we rose early, cooked breakfast, ate, and went on our way at sunrise. Our guide wasn't wrong, from rolling, the trail started to become steeper again. However, as we thought the previous day, we were close to Unang Durungawan. Here we were blessed with a majestic view of the mountain, what an early treat! We took quick snaps but took our time in admiring the view before us for quite a while, we then resumed trekking. Our next stop is the Aplaya campsite, it was and still is wide. To MY estimation (again, it's my own estimation) more than 20 tents can fit in the area. There we paused again and took the opportunity to put down our backpacks and take a rest for probably not longer than 5 minutes. There was one more descent and ascent before we arrived at the refreshing Dulangan river. We resisted the temptation to take a dip because our goal for the day is to reach the summit and set up camp there before it gets dark. We circled the river to find a more shallow part where we can cross safely.
We had our packed lunch somewhere along the trail, we didn't feel hunger nor exhaustion 'cause both of us were overflowing with excitement and all positive feelings you can think of. Another memorable stop we had was at Karawyan, another campsite with a water source. It was also our last water source so we refilled our bottles with water that would suffice for the rest of the day and the following day. I had a strange feeling while we were there, I'm not sure if I was just feeling chilly as the temperature began to drop. But I was sure uncomfortable, it wasn't totally quiet but I felt like it has an eerie silence. Like the trees with moss were breathing ever so softly and silently. I urged them to continue to our hike and just have one good rest when we reach Asotea. This time, we switched from hiking to climbing, the trail required us to use both hands to pull ourselves upwards at times, well.. luckily there were lots of protruding roots and vines we can grab for support.
I was more than happy when I saw the bonsai trees, I knew we have arrived. Leaving our backpacks behind, we proceeded to the summit without our guide. He said we won't get lost for the trail is clear and he'll stay behind to look after our things. Passing through a mini mossy forest and a wood ladder, we arrived at the top in less than an hour. We got awestruck with the view of the city down below, then we took a photos at the famous 'diving board', explored and hung around the place for a good hour before heading back to our campsite.
Back at Asotea, we pitched our tent and prepared our food for the night. Our guide and the both of us had a short social before we hit the sack. That was the first time I got a closer look at what our guide was carrying, a sack and a grade school bag. There's no tent in sight. We didn't notice it the night before, for we went to sleep first. So we decided to give him our tent's vestibule. My partner was already past asleep as soon as we lay down, but I was wide awake. It was very cold that night, the cold was at par with Mt. Pulag's saddle camp. I was wearing my Stoic thermal jacket but my lower body didn't feel warm enough. I twisted and turned, closed my eyes to only open them again after several minutes. I thought the wind was blowing because tent was swaying a bit, then I thought I saw dark shadows circling our tent from the outside. I'm not a very superstitious person, so my initial guess was that our guide was checking and securing our tent from its position, so I said in a loud voice 'Kuya, hayaan mo na yan' (Just let it be) but I didn't get a response so I opened our tent and I peaked outside, then eventually got out to see the surrounding clearly. I looked to my left and there was our guide snoring in this make-shift tent. I looked around some more, we were the only group camped there that night, I knew that, so I wasn't really expecting to see anybody. I then just shrugged it off and went back inside our tent. I listened to the sound of the mountain the whole night, albeit the cold and my strange experience, I dozed off a couple of hours before dawn.
Day 3
The next morning when breakfast was done, we broke camp and started our descent. We both knew it's going to be a long day. By this time we already know the trail condition, and with our pace the previous day, we were confident that we only needed a day for the descent. We weren't talking much as expected from us. Once again we were focused on conserving energy, mind conditioning, and avoiding accidents and injuries. Concentration is a must for me because my feet aren't in the best condition. I can feel the blisters growing and popping one after the other. I started to feel fatigued as he hike along Balugbog Baboy. When we reached Dulangan river, I felt relieved. I was hungry and I badly needed a break. To my dismay my partner didn't want to make a stop at the river and wanted to push for another hour before lunch. We had a disagreement, but compromised soon enough. I didn't want to just pass by this magnificent clean river, I wanted to feel it. I felt the urge to take a dip. You may feel disappointed too, because in the end I didn't swim, I discovered that the river was too cold me. Instead, I soaked half of body to let it relax before we resume our trek.
The rest of the way back to the jump off was a blur to me, I couldn't pay attention much to my surrounding because both my feet started to hurt. My blisters became so painful because I trekked with a wet pair of socks. My fault. I know. My back and knees also started complaining. Oh, how I hate long descents! At last, just as it was getting dark, we reached the community and went straight to the resort after thanking our guide.
My Thoughts Mt. Halcon's definitely the mountain you should not underestimate. More than the unlimited assaults, crossing the rivers and streams added challenge to our feat. But what I deemed a hurdle was also our life saver, we never had any problem with water supply because there were plenty of sources, as I mentioned earlier. It's quite beneficial to us, we needn't to load water supply more than what we needed while hiking. In addition, the temperature at the top was/is really low, something I weren't prepared for. What's more, though I was expecting a warm welcome from the Limatiks, I didn't see much of them. Overall it was a great experience and I was just happy to surmount the insurmountable with almost broken limbs and dead toenails.
Day 1 12:40PM start trek 4:30 PM arrival at e-camp/set camp
Day 2 6:40 AM start trek 3:30 PM arrival at Asotea campsite (40mins. before summit)/left packs for summit assault 4:05 PM arrival at summit 5:05 PM left summit & head back to Asotea campsite 5:30 back to campsite/set camp
Day 3 6:40 AM start descent trek 10:30 AM lunch at Dulangan river 11:30 AM commence trek 6:00PM back to Lantuyan JOP
Peace!