Mt. Binacayan
Major jump-off: Brgy. Wawa, Rodriguez, Rizal
LLA: 14°43′30.5′′N 121°11′26.1′′ E 424 MASL
Days required / Hours to summit: 1 day / 2-3 Hours
Specs: Minor Climb, Difficulty: 5/9 Trail Class 1-4
Features: Limestone Formations, scenic views of Sierra Madre and Rizal Province
Source: pinoymountaineer.com
Our hike was supposed to be on March 21 but due to the tedious tax season, I decided to move it to March 22. I really thought that I'll be doing a solo climb since most of my invites backed out because it is a Sunday. I'm grateful that my batch mate in college, Wilhelm accompanied me on this trip. It was such a relief that I'm not alone since later on the climb, I found myself grasping for air for the most difficult minor climb i had experienced as of date.
To start the story, I woke up at 3 am with lots of excitement in my mind. I took a taxi bound to Mcdo, Gateway Cubao. Our meeting time was 4 am. Unfortunately, the taxi I rode blew one of its tire. Thus, I arrived late at around 4:20 am. You can easily find a long line of FX bound to Rodriguez/Montalban, Rizal beside Mcdo. The trip took us almost 1 hour to arrive at Eastwood, Montalban, Rizal. From this point onward, you have two options on how to go to Brgy Wawa. Either ride a tricycle which should only costs 10 pesos or take a jeepney costing 8 pesos. As a tip, don't entertain tricycle drivers who will charged you for more than 10 pesos.
After 10-15 minutes, we arrived at the DENR outpost via tricycle. Initially, I thought that there will be less hikers during this day (family day). But that was only a thought, for I found myself in the middle of flock of hikers waiting for their assigned guides. Most of them will do a twin dayhike but in our case, our only goal for that day was to conquer the summit of Mt. Binacayan. We approached the officer of the day, and they told us that there will be a two pesos individual fee . They let us sign a waiver, log in a big notebook, and let us wait for our moment to come.
While waiting, I manage to wander my eyes through the place in which I notice a few things. First thing was the systematic process of registration. In addition, there was a good outpost with plenty of water and clean bathroom for all of us to use. Lastly, and the most important for me is that they have skilled and capable guides with no fixed fee.
After I told the officer in charge that our only destination is Mt. Binacayan, they told me to wait for a little bit since the guides are quite scarce for most of them are bound to Pamitinan. Luckily, a pair of individual arrives. They will be doing a twin day hike but since there are only two of them, the officer in charge decided to pair us with them. The two individuals agreed to hike first Binacayan so that we can tag along with them.
The officer in charge presented us our guide by the name of Sir Gerry. He is a DENR guide and has been guiding mountaineers for quite some time now. I can easily tell that he is a good guide based on his clothing and physique.
On the other hand, I started to observe the two individuals who will be going up with us. Based on their physique and the "Mt.Cinco Picos" print out on the shirt of the girl, I can easily tell that they have been climbing for an ample time. I started to doubt myself if I can really keep up with them haha.
Minutes after, we reached out our hand to them.
They are ate Jahmie and kuya Jomar. At an instant, we were able to know that ate Jahmie was a nurse and kuya Jomar was an employee of Pag-Ibig fund. They are both physically fit. Well, that is to expect with the two of them being runners.
We started the climb at around 6:30 am. We experienced first a long warm up on a concrete road. Then after 15 minutes, the real trail commenced. The trail was not hard yet since it was just straight and easy ascent but due to lack of exercise, I had to catch my breath. I looked back at ate Jahmie and kuya Jomar and noticed that they are not yet sweating as hard as I am haha. Oh boy, I really hoped that I'll soon develop the stamina that they have.
It was around 7:15 when we arrived at a small house which serves as a rest stop for us mountaineers. What's surprising about this place was the cold drinks not being too pricey compared to the other mountains that I had been to.We rested for about 10 minutes and then pushed forward.
We saw a group of mountaineer passed our group so our guide decided to let them proceed first. This was the start of the continued ascent.
After a while, we arrived at the so called "boulder trail" because of the large, and pointed rocks as you can see on the picture below. This area depicts that we have made it halfway to the summit. This was the starting point on which gloves would be usable.
This was a good area to take some photos with the boulders as your background so we spent a few time here. Then, we continued our ascent in a slow manner to avoid tripping into these huge rocks.
The trail was quite narrow and since there were many climbers, we have to fall in line as seen on the picture below.
The trail was a non stop rock scrambling and you'll have to use all your hidden strength since this was a physically demanding activity especially for me. Please be informed that this was my first time to do some rock scrambling. I do not know if I'm on the correct position, if the rocks I'm stepping to is stable or not or if I'm gripping the correct rock. I am not physically fit so I was really struggling to get myself up on these rocks. Kuya Gerry noticed that I'm slowing down so he presented to carry my backpack all the way up. After he took away my heavy rucksack, my pace went back to normal. I really admired ate Jahmie and kuya Jomar since it was like nothing for them haha.
We reached the first viewpoint after a while. I was amazed by the beauty of the place. There were many climbers ahead taking their time to grab some pictures so we also took lengthy time on this area. At first, I'm hesitant to do some risky posing but when I saw what kuya Jomar did , my doubts turned into courage.
Caution must be exercised at all times even when posing or taking photos since all the rocks are sharp. Every part of this area were good for photo ops. I'm quite glad that there were many climbers ahead so we had a great time in this area.
The only thing that I don't like about this mountain was the fact that there were only few shady areas to protect you from the sunlight specially during summer season. This was the primary reason why my energy went down drastically until the end of the hike. The only reason I managed to push through was because of this scenic views.
The picture depicted above is my most favorite picture of all time. The feeling of just sitting there watching the clouds move freely while feeling the cold air is just superb.
Ate Jahmie doing the sweet girl pose. Peace ate :D I admire and respect all the lady mountaineers out there for being courageous to embark on these journeys. Kudos to all of you out there :) Stay safe on the trails!
After scaling the large rock as seen from above, we decided to push through to the summit. On our way to the summit, there was a portion of the trail that is so narrow and you literally have to "kiss the wall" or "hug the wall" whatever you have to call it haha because there is a deep cliff at your back when you reach this area. I think this is the most dangerous portion of the trail. I got quite nervous but I eventually pass through. Wilhelm on the other hand has been stuck for quite some time because he is concerned with the weight of his backpack that might lead to him to stumble backwards. I got his backpack and we were able to get passed this area. We took a very deep breath and move forward.
The summit was just a few meters away but due to the intense heat and aching legs, I was the last in line to reach the summit. I decided to just sit down and regain my strength while the three of them took turns to have a good picture. Cheers to all of us!
I gathered all my strength to have one last shot before I leave the summit.
My favorite motto in mountaineering is "Going up is optional, Going down is MANDATORY". The long and gruesome way down was about to start. I personally dislike going down because based on statistics, lots of accidents happen when going down. We are blessed that we did not encounter such event, though my legs gave up on me haha. I was so fucking tired (sorry for my words), this is just a small mountain but it depleted all my energy. Honestly, I felt kinda lame because I was the weakest on this climb. We had a lot of stop over because of me and negativity started to find its way in my mind. I'm really glad that they extended their patience and understanding for me. My only motivation back then was the cold and juicy buko juice that is waiting for me. Thankfully, I managed to get down this hellish mountain haha with the help of my comrades. Overall, I do not recommend this mountain for beginners haha.
Looking forward to see you on the trails again ate Jahmie and kuya Jomar! I do hope that I'll be a lot stronger by then :) Stay safe always and thank you for letting us tag along :D
I also do thank Wilhelm for accompanying me to this trip and to kua Gerry for being a great, patient guide and for carrying my backpack all the way down.
Actual Expenses:
FX to Eastwood, Rodriguez, Rizal and back - 100 (50 pesos per trip)
Tricycle to Brgy Wawa - 35 (70 pesos for 2 persons)
Guide Fee - 300 (discretionary payment)
Jeep back to Eastwood, Rizal - 8
Total expenses excluding food - 443 pesos
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