Nature-ral High

Nature-ral High
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail

October 20, 2013

Return to Mt. Kalisungan

      Due to an upcoming major climb in NOvember we had been doing a series of training climbs. This is the second one and I'm not totally sure if this will be the last. The last time I was in Mt. Kalisungan was 5 years ago when we were also training for a Pulag Akiki climb. NOt much had change on the mountain, except that the jumpoff is now different. I recall before we start in Eraes farm but now it moved to Brgy. Lamot 2 barangay hall. There is no registration fee but they asked for donation (which I think is fair enough)
Some thing never change though, just like before we also got lost. But this time its mainly due to a farmer showing us a short cut, it was indeed a shorter route but you have to get off a trail to go the the main trail - which took us a while to figure out. Aside from the traffic that took a big chunk of time going to the jumpoff, this is also the reason we decided to postpone our side trip to Bunga falls which is very close to this area. It was also raining so we thought the water in the falls might rise. This also made the trail very muddy. The trail was not as bad as Mt. Batulao during the rainy season. The same hikers trail is used by farmers livestock animals making the trail very beaten. Unlike most mountains the elevation starts at zero MASL, the actual height is 660++ so its actually a big gain for a dayhike.

View from the road

View from ER farm



Organic farm where you can pick before paying.
This is also where we clean up after the hike

Kuya caretaker


Muddy Trail






       We thought we will not be able to see a good view of the summit because it had been cloudy all day. But surprisingly after having patience to wait it out, the cloud covering cleared giving us a grand view of the surroundings. The famous 7 lakes of Laguna on the south and the Laguna de bay up north. Mt. Talim is also visible in the middle of this Bay. I never thought that Rambutan tree was abundant in this mountain. Rainy season is  Rambutan season so there is lots and lots of Rambutan fruits. There was so much fruit that its just fallling of the ground. I had never seen a rambutan tree so its my first time to come close and my first time to pick the fruit up front. So tasty and fresh. I guess around this season is the right time to climb this mountain. :D


7 Lakes of Laguna from the summit

They say these two are the cleanes of the seven


Talim Island as seen from the summit


Rambutan tree

Not just rambutan but dalandan (aka sentones)


Trees affected by coco-lisap fest. So sad to see this. Our farm in Cavite is also affected.


Our recovery food.