Mt. Balagbag Dayhike with Lingkod

Mt. Balagbag
Location: Sitio Balagbag, Rodriguez, Rizal
Difficulty: 3/9
777 MASL

It was another fruitful, fun filled and full of bonding hiking event for some of Lingkod brothers and sisters from Lingkod – Makati and Lingkod- Alabang (with some guests), organized with the help and support of  buddy Dennis Hisanan. I was also grateful that I was also able to invite two of my special friends, Monique Cerillo and Len Faldas. Monique was a pen friend of mine back in high school (during those times that snail mails were in and e-mails/SMS were rarely used, hehe). Len is a close friend and former dorm mate and whom I also called “kapatid”. This mountain was their first summit and I was happy to see that they were able to make it to the top.

 

We were so thankful for granting us a fine weather; really, we are blessed—not too sunny, although raining a bit from time to time and yet not a rainy/wet trek. Mt. Balagbag was an open mountain and we’re so grateful that we didn’t experience an extreme heat of the sun.  Following the itinerary, we started the trek very early in the morning at around 7am. The jump off-point is kinda far from the city and thankful that we hired a jeep (Kuya Rey’s jeep as usual) and so, we didn’t have any problem or inconvenience in terms of transportation.

We met Jefferson Aligato just a few minutes after the start of the trek, he was one of our companions in our Mt. Pulag Ambaguio-Akiki climb back in August 2011. Small world!! He said he was heading solo to Oriod( if i'm not mistaken).

 

Talking about the trail, we went through a wide trail all the way to summit, although it’s a continuous assault. Even at the start of the trek , we can already see beautiful views. Mt. Balagbag as far as I know is part of the Sierra Madre ranges.  I was so amused looking from afar at the silhouette of Mt. Arayat. I told myself,  “Wow I was there July last year. Great to see it from here.”  Our ascent was totally chillax. (no pressure, more rest and really relaxing). We just made ourselves feel the cool breeze, so refreshing! Finally, we reached the summit. It was a wide one signifying that it’s also the camp site. We spent more time taking pictures at the summit--Jump shots, multiple “kulitan shots, etc.

After that short trek, we went down and stayed in one of the beautiful falls there, prepared and ate our lunch. We were very careful in going to that falls as we descended through a steep and slippery trail. Some of us enjoyed swimming (swimming?? Hehe) in its cold water, others just made use of the ample time resting beside the falls.

We went home with smiles and enjoyed the Cornetto-filled road trip. (reminiscing  the “Ehe” “Dome” and  “This way to the Fulls” signboards we encountered in the climb.. hehe)

Thank you Lord for this safe dayhike and for the great fellowship we had!