Mt. Balagbag
First jumpoff: Sitio Karahume, Brgy. Macabud, Rodriguez
Second jumpoff: Sitio Balagbag, Brgy. San Isidro, Rodriguez
LLA: 777 MASL (unverified)
Days required / Hours to summit: 1 day / 1-2 hours
Specs: Minor climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail class 1-2
BACKGROUND:
A hiking destination favored for its proximity to Metro Manila is Mt. Balagbag, located in Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal. This mountain is part of the Sierra Madre range as it transitions into the plains of Central and Southern Luzon. At over 700 MASL, it is of sufficient elevation to offer views of Ortigas and some parts of Metro Manila, as well as the Ipo Watershed.
The trail is very easy and wide, and Mt. Balagbag is also a favorite of mountain bikers. Although locals recall a past when the mountain was covered with trees, it is now barren, and hikers who will trek it summer will find sun exposure as the only difficulty in this trek. Hence, dimtrekking (hiking very early in the morning or late afternoon) is recommended.
As we arrived at Sitio Balagbag, we were advise to have 2 tour guides for our trek (18 hikers) the sad part is that, the summit was closed at this time because there's a shooting for "Gregorio Del Pilar". So we will take different route, we will proceed to Mt. balagbag (almost there at the summit) and go down heading to Maranat Falls.
It was an open area to hike, but we recommend you to wear long sleeves or jackets to protect your arms from "Talahib" and direct heat fromthe sun.
Since we can't proceed to the summit we only take pictures on some part of Mt. Balagbag.
As we are approaching the summit, we were told that we can hike the summit but then, we have to surrender our cellphones and cameras to our tour guides to avoid taking pictures of the summit.
We then leave and reached the summit at 8:30 am, and took the Maranat way down from Mt. Balagbag Summit. It was really a long walk. So at 11:00 noon we decided to stop by in a "kubo" and took our lunch.
At 12:00 noon we keep our way to Maranat falls and arrived there at 1:00pm. On our dismay, a DENR Volunteer orient us that we are not supposed to be there because the falls was being preserved for Manila Water supply. He asked us to list our names on his log book and with our statement. Also we clear it to him that we don't have an idea that it was prohibited to go there, in the first place we're just following our tour guide. But then, he still allow us to swim so that our effort will not be wasted. Take note, shampoo, soap and other chemical products are not allowed to use on the falls.
We leave the Maranat falls at around 3:00 pm and reach the Barangay at 6:30pm.
It was really quiet an adventure, for our newbies hope this wasn't your last hike. See you again to our next hike!!!
ITINERARY
Note: The itinerary described below is open-ended, as there are various possibilities in doing the Mt. Balagbag climb.
Dayhike
0330 Meet up at Wendy's Greenfield
0400 From Crossing, take Bus to Jolibee Tungko
0600 From Jolibee Tungko, take jeep to Karahume or Licao-Licao*
0700 Jump start
0830 Head off to the summit
0900 Arrival at summit
1030 Lunch
1100 Head down to Maranat Falls
1400 Arrived at Maranat Falls
1500 Leaving Maranat Falls
1430 Back at jumpoff; take jeepney to Tungko
1800 Back in Crossing
Summary of Expenses:
Bus (Crossing to Tungko) - P 63.00 x 2= P126.00
Jeepney (Tungko to Licao Licao) P27.00 x 2 = P54.00
Registration Brgy. Licao Licao P10.00
Registration Brgy. Balagbag P20.00
Tour Guide P500.00
Tricycle (Balagbag to Licao licao ) P30.00 each (We only take tricycle on our way home 'coz we're already tired but if you can take to walk till Brgy. Balagbag much better).
More WERPA Lodis!!!!!
Thank you!!!!!!