I can no longer remember how I have heard of Mago and why we agreed to climb it several years back. Analyzing its cost benefit right now, it was such a loss. Imagine traveling almost three hours to Carmen proper then another hour going to the jumpoff in Barangay Santican, and then hiking for only about an hour just to see that marker before heading back home. But what’s clear to me was how crazy, happy we were back then.
Ask a number of Cebuano outdoorsmen and they’ll easily refer you to Mt. Lanaya if you want to experience a rather challenging dayhike. Towering at around 700 meters above sea level, this mountain has earned […]
Limatiks are scary. Just thinking about those creepy, blood-sucking mountain leeches already brings goosebumps into my system. Back when seasoned mountaineers share their encounters of these parasitic creatures, I would often wonder how in the world they survived such bloody attacks. So when finally I got a chance to hike mountains that are heavily infested with limatiks, I realized how traumatic the stigma we have placed upon those leeches that are just are thriving for survival.
There are about 300 volcanoes situated in the Philippines – 24 of them are active. According to PHIVOLCS (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology), there are several volcanoes in the country because it is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire wherein the boundaries of two tectonic plates are situated – the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate – which subduct or dive beneath the Philippine archipelago, along the deep trenches along its east and west seaboard.
Though seemingly terrifying like of the Battle of Thermopylae, according to some outdoor enthusiasts, Spartan Trail got nothing to do with such bloody war led by King Leonidas. Rather, it got its name from an outdoor group that bushwhacked the trail from Banawa to Pamutan in the early hiking days.
Crater lakes are bodies of water that are formed in a volcanic crater often made up of acidic content while others are of fresh water coming from precipitation, groundwater or melted ice. In no particular order, here are the most beautiful crater lakes in the Philippines.
‘Ano bang pinaglalaban mo?’ What are you fighting for? When the excitement subsides and exhaustion takes over, every hiker is doomed to face this daunting question. Why am I doing this to myself? Ako pa […]
Our hike to Lake Bensis (fondly called as Pingganon Lake) began with curiosity. What’s in there? What’s on top of that mountain? What awaits for us on the other side? Had it not been for curiosity, many discoveries and explorations wouldn’t have come to fruition. And without curious minds who ask questions and defy odds, we would have to continue believing the truths that have been long deceiving us.
The more you experience the outdoors, the more you’ll crave for more – more challenges, more adventure. As if long dayhikes are not enough, Epifanio came up with another crazy idea over the weekday: to hike at night our beloved Spartan Trail. Though I have been familiar with such trail and have experience three days of total darkness inside the country’s largest caving system, just the thought of the trail’s eeriness made me feel hesitant. Imagine, the canopied trails and river system already seemed disturbing at daytime, how much more at night? But well, wild hearts are difficult to tame.
Ah, it’s that time of the year again – time to rephrase the resolutions that failed for several years. Another attempt to make oneself better. But if we looked back on how we used to, […]
Dakilanglaagan 