Mt Palong (Full Exploration)

 Our first time to climb this mountain ranges was just an out of nowhere curiosity. But we saw a higher point, from the highest peak we where able to reach then. I made a promise that we will comeback to fully explore this mountain ranges. This was last 2008, so after five years we came back fully prepared gear and physical wise.

The mountain range can be found in Brgy. Calacapan, Initao, Misamis Oriental.    The jumpoff can be reached by a habal-habal (public motorcycle) ride from Initao town proper - a town one hour away from Cagayan de Oro (capital of Misamis Oriental). The jumpoff starts in Paña Family Camp, an exclusive family resort with pools and cottages in the middle of their farm. Actually they own part of the mountain ranges that is on the side of Calacapan.

Mt. Palong as seen from Pana Family camp

Pana Family Camp as seen in one of Mt. Palongs Peak

The mountain ranges is very similar to Mt. Batulao and the Subic Zambales mountains. Open trail with chunks of rocks and grass on the trail. The jumpoff height is 165 masl, the start of the hike starts on a farm and immediately becomes an assault. Continuous rolling climb until you reach the second highest peak, Lilangs Peak which we named on our first exploration. I remember there was a big tree on this peak but now its gone with only a big trunk left standing. From this height the trail becomes a rolling ridge that can also be use as a campsite. After around an hour from Lilangs peak, the summit can be reached,  the height of 480 masl.

Early morning view from one of the peak.

This is how the trail looks like

One of the rare pine tree

On the way to Lilang's peak

Lilangs Peak, you can see Initao town and its coast line - and so 
is the adjacent towns.

Summit view from Lilangs peak (the one with the electric towers)

The ridge that can also be use as a campsite

We saw some landslide

Onward to the summit!

Summit shot

We also saw a mining site in one of the mountains, but it seems to be non operational. Our guess is that this was stopped after typhoon Sendong hit Misamis Oriental.

former mining site

We had talk to Paña family and climb this destination can be coordinated with them, entry is from their farm. 

They agreed on the following rates:

• Registration - 20 per climber

• Guide Fee - 300 per 7 climbers/day. The guides will be source from their family since they are the one who knows the area. But later on will be the people in their Baranggay

Since this is new to the Paña family, if your interested in climbing this area please drop a comment to this blog with your email and I will course your interest through them. Later on  I will post their contact number.

Suggested Itinerary

06:00 AM ETD Cagayan de Oro via bus (Rural Transit)
07:00 AM ETA Initao town Proper, Take Habal-habal to Sitio Bansilang, Brgy. Calacapan
07:30 AM ETA Sitio Bansilang, Trek to Pana Family Camp Jumpoff (165 masl)
08:00 AM ETA Pana Family Camp Jumpoff
08:30 AM Start Trek
09:00 AM Pines Peak (peak1) 
09:15 AM Peak 2, ~375 masl
09:30 AM Peak 3, ~430 masl
10:00 AM Lilangs Peak, ~460 masl - Forward to rolling ridge.
10:50 AM Peak 4, ~460 masl
11:00 AM Summit - ~480 masl

Special Notes:

• Trail is open, wear proper sun protection.

• No water source along the trail.

• Minimal cellphone signal along the Baranggays of Initao, since it surrounded by mountains. But is strong on the mountain ranges

• Rocky trail, wear close shoes.

• We saw some local climbers from another point of entry since its a holyweek. Meaning this mountain might have been climb by the locals.

In the Know:

• Palong is a cebuano term for far away and quiet (lone).

Mt. Palong (Exploration)

I went to Initao, Misamis Oriental (capital of misamis is Cagayan de Oro, btw) last weekend to attend a wake. After the interment we still have 2 days left before heading back to manila. After checking our schedule, we noticed that the afternoon of Saturday was free. We decided to go to the farm and do a little bit of hiking. A series of mountain ranges (not so high) can be seen when you reached the farm. According to our companions this mountain can be climb and had been climbed by the locals. Although no offical exploration has been done and no name was given. Since we still have a few hours left before it gets dark, we decided to climb it.
This mountain is similar to Mt. Batulao, less to no trees can be seen. Its a good thing we climbed late in the afternoon plus there is lots of cloud or else its really gonna be like Mt. Batulao which is very very hot during the day. Considering its rarely been climbed, there is no established trail. You have to pass through knee to waist deep cogon grass along the way. The ground is composed of loose soil and small rocks, this made the trek a bit difficult.
My watch registered 450 masl upon reaching the summit. We name the summit Lilang's peak ( the name of the deceased). And the mountain ranges Mt. Palong which is the name of the farm. Since the trek up is very steep, going down, our guide brought us to a different trail. Its a bit of a rolling trail but of course is much longer than the way up. It would be much harder to go down the same way we went up, it will really hurt our knees.
We reached back at the jump off after more than 2 hours of trekking. Its a bit fast because we are carrying less to almost no load.
If Im just living near this place, maybe I could established this mountain as a hiking destination. More like of Mt. Daguldol setup. Guides are mandatory so that the locals will earn a living and since they earn they will protect the mountain. More like a symbiosis between man and nature. There is less impact on the environment and everyone is happy.




The ever popular mountain jumpshot.