Mt. Lubog
Rodriguez, Rizal
Climb Date: August 29, 2015
Trailhead: Sitio Lubog, Brgy. Puray, Rodriguez
LLA: 14°50′10.4′′ N, 121°14′12.9′′, 955 MASL (+337)
Specs: Minor, Difficulty 4/9, Trail class 1-4 with rock scrambling
Features: Limestone formations, scenic views of the Sierra Madre
Source: pinoymountaineer.com
Budget Breakdown
Sample Itinerary
How did we got here
We rode fx bound to Montalban, Rizal in front of the Mcdo Farmers Cubao. We told the driver to drop us off the Total Gas Station in Brgy. San Rafael. After almost hour and a half, we arrived at the gas station and just waited for our habal habal service. You need to properly coordinate with Kagawad Peter before your scheduled trip so that he can make arrangements for transportation and guides. Please try to contact him using this number 0928-464-7447. The habal habal ride usually takes 3-4 hours and can extend even more if it rains because of the rough terrain.
Climb Experience
4 brave souls accompanied me in this awesome adventure including one beginner which was Vhic. It is really nice to introduce this kind of activity to new persons. Fortunately, this kind of activity really suits Vhic's taste and up until today, he is still continuing to scale tougher and higher mountains.
It rained several days before this scheduled climb so my expectation was that it would be somehow wet and muddy. The reality exceeded my expectations very much haha. I believe everyone who has been into this place will tell you that the habal habal ride is one of the thrills of this climb. In our case, I think it took us almost three and a half hours to complete this exhilarating and roller coaster ride.
 |
| We are now getting ready to depart. |
 |
| First stop over near the army detachment |
Our habal habal ride started from the the total gas station, to Brgy. San Rafael, crossed the marikina river, then passed by some subdivisions, and continued the ride via the Mascap-Puray road. If you had been into Mt. Sipit Ulang,which is also under the jurisdiction of Mascap, you will easily recognize this road portion. We stop a bit at the army detachment there and continued our ride. The initial phase of the ride was on a cemented road but it would transition into a dirt road later on.
 |
| The dirt road which is still almost flat and manageable |
 |
| Posing at the boundary landmark |
We took another short break at the boundary landmark and took some photos where we saw the Rizal villages from a distance under a brief sea of clouds, the Rizal mountain range on the left side and a full majestic view of Mt. Balagbag on the right portion.
 |
| We are having a picture taking while the drivers are checking the condition of their motors |
 |
| Towering Mt. Balagabag as seen from the boundary landmark |
The real thrill started after the boundary landmark because the dirt road would turn into a massive muddy road with varying steepness haha. There were several instances when we have to disembark and push the habal habal haha. The mud was so thick that the tires almost gave up due to the difficulty of the terrain but luckily it did not turned us down haha. I really enjoyed the ride specially when the driver would speed up in order to tackle the steep portion or when he would carefully balance the habal habal when the terrain was uneven.
 |
| The gruesome uphill battle. Push pa more! |
And just when I thought that the muddy trail was already in its muddiest form, oh it still went a lot, even a lot muddier as in the muddiest I have ever seen in my entire climbing career lol. The trail went even hell muddier as we approached the registration area. The habal habal can no longer accommodate us so we just walked until we got into the registration area.
 |
| Hello to the muddy trail Jahmie :) |
And at last we finally arrived at the residence of Kagawad Peter and he welcomed us with a warm smile and offered us some snacks. There are some sari sari stores at the registration and you can also clean or take a bath at Kagawad Peter's residence. We encountered some infantries from the army who were patrolling that time. They told us that we could arrive at the summit for about 3 hours but I did not believe them haha. Based on my experience, locals would normally underestimate the time needed to go up and down the mountain. We arranged our things, have our group picture and started our hike to the foot of the mountain. Our guide told us that in the past, the habal habal would normally travel beyond the registration area but since the terrain was so bad at that time, it couldn't continue further.
The hike from the registration area was a short uphill climb. It was not steep and just enough to warm up you legs and sweat a bit. Afterwards, we were just walking on flat terrain at a relaxed pace. The hike to the foot of Mt. Lubog is an open and exposed field so this will be quite tiring when you'll visit this place during summer season. There were some light rains and abundant cloud cover during our visit so it was not that hot and the gentle wind caressed our body. The view was great since you can gaze upon the Sierra Madre mountain ranges on the left side.
 |
| At a relaxed pace, I enjoyed the long beautiful trail to the foot of Mt. Lubog |
 |
| Water source. The water is so cold and refreshing |
 |
| There are some mini waterfalls along the way |
There is only one water source here which can be found almost at the halfway mark going to the foot of Mt. Lubog. There were also some mini waterfalls that formed due to the consecutive rains during the past days. We arrived at the foot of Mt. Lubog after 2 hours and rested a bit. There is one mini sari sari store here that sell basic snacks and drinks. After a short period of rest, we now started the real climb.
 |
| At last, our target mountain is now at sight :) |
 |
| The limestone summit of Mt. Lubog |
The climb proper was not that hard. There were some short steep sections but there were lots of tree trunks that you can hold on to. However, there were some slips along the way because it was slippery and some trees and rocks were covered with moss. The entire forest was thick and mostly mossy. There were also some sections where we did some acrobatic stuffs because we had to duck or carefully maneuvered ourselves. There are 2 resting areas where you can comfortably sit because of some wooden benches and eat your trail foods or maybe have some lunch.
We arrived at the summit after almost three hours. We were amazed at the limestone formation and quickly hopped from one rock to another just to have a spot where we could take our pictures. Just be careful though as the rocks are slippery and will cause serious injuries if you fall. What I personally liked about this place was that there was no vandalism on the rocks itself. I do hope that it stays this way to preserve its beauty. The grand view of the Sierra Madre mountain range can also be seen on the summit. On a clear skies, I think one can see Mt. Irid, the highest mountain in Rizal here. We took our time here to gather as much photo as we could in every rock formation and it was enjoyable.
 |
| The gang at the limestone summit! |
 |
| Just chilling and enjoying the view |
 |
| Carefully maneuvering the limestone formation |
 |
| The world tree at the summit |
Afterwards, we started our descent and took a quick detour to Lubog Cave which can easily be found along the trail near the first resting area. We explored it a bit and took some photos and continued our descent. I think we arrived back at the foot of the mountain after one and a half hour.
 |
| Lubog Cave |
We also had another sidetrip which was the Panintingan Falls located at about 20-30 mins from the foot of Mt. Lubog. The rocks were very slippery so I just decided to walk barefoot. We just followed the river until we arrived at the falls. The water was cold and refreshing but we did not enjoyed it that much since most of us do not know how to swim haha. We just stayed on the upper portion of the falls and dip ourselves on the water haha. The middle of the lagoon was deep as told by our guide.
Panintingan Falls
After a quick dip, we started our journey back to the registration area and rode the habal habal again. It was already late afternoon when we left the registration area and the rain started to pour heavily on our way back. The excitement that I felt during our habal habal ride in the morning turned into fear in the afternoon because it was already getting dark and it was raining heavily. It was a very intense 2-3 hours ride back to the the civilization.
