Mt. Palay-Palay or also known as Mt. Pico de Loro stands at 664 MASL, considered as a minor climb and as the highest peak in Cavite with a trail class of 4/9. This mountain is very popular for seasoned mountaineers and new hikers. This mountain offers a very scenic 360 degrees view of Cavite City.
There are two thrilling experience this mountain can offer – By reaching the summit and the monolith or known as parrot’s peak which across the summit.
How to get there:
There are two ways to reach this mountain:
- Get a bus bound to Ternate and alight at the terminal. Get a tricycle and ask to drop you at the jump off of Pico.
- Get a bus bound to Naic and alight at the gas station. Then hire a tricycle and ask to drop you at the jump off of Pico.
As they say, if you want your plan to happen, do not plan it because the unplanned ones usually happen ironically.
This saying has been true to me over the past few months.
I was planning on how I will be able to use the long holiday this month. So aside from the Water Rafting (Check this link for the story: https://joeyinwanderland.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/magdalenawaterrafting/ ), I also wanted to take this time to be in a mountain.
A friend of mine, Lanz have joined me in this unplanned trip. We met at 4am at Coastal Mall and rode a bus bound to Naic since there is no available bus bound to Ternate.
From Naic, you can rent a tricycle that costs P300. We just asked the driver to drop us first to the nearest market to secure our food and take our breakfast.
Once you arrive at the jump-off, you need to register and pay P25.00 (as of August 2014).
We started to trek at 8 in the morning and reached the campsite at around 11 in the morning. The trail is non-technical and very easy. This may encourage the new hikers to trek other mountains once they have experienced Pico de Loro.
From the campsite alone, the view is already satisfying. You would feel a lot more relaxed to the sight of the landscape this mountain offers.
We took a quick lunch at the campsite and head to the summit right away. It will only take 15 minutes (average) to 30 minutes to reach the summit of Mt. Pico de Loro.
View at the summit of Mt. Palay Palay
The highest peak of Cavite!
Yours truly and Lanz
Lanz and I left our things at the summit and proceeded to the monolith.
The trail going to the monolith is very different with the trail you had before the summit. It is composed of white rocks and can be very slippery when wet season.
The monolith can only accommodate a few people. So when there are still people at the top, you have to wait for them to go down before you advance.
Lanz at the top of the Monolith
After 3 hours at the summit and the monolith, we head back to the campsite and take a quick break.
We head back to the jump-off on time.
The two summits in this mountain is gaining a lot of attention even to non-hikers. Aside from it, the view is too awesome to ignore.
Itinerary:
4am Meet up at Coastal Mall
4:30am Board bus bound to Ternate
7:00am ETA Ternate Terminal/Get a tricycle
7:30am ETA Jump off/Preparations
8:00am Start Trek
11:00am Campsite
11:30am Summit, Parrot’s Beak (Photo Ops)
12:00pm Take the Monolith Challenge
2:00pm Head back to the campsite for late lunch
2:30pm Start Descent
5:30pm Jump off/Wash up
6:00pm Terminal
9:00pm ETA Manila (Coastal Mall)
Expenses:
Bus bound to Naic – P76.00
Tricycle going to the jump off – P300/2 pax
Registration 1 – P25.00
DENR Registration 2 – P25.00
Tricycle going back to the Terminal – P100/head
Terminal to Manila – P76.00
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Joey in Wanderland 