Salakot Peak of Lobo Mountain Range Expedition

   During our climb of Lobo's Nagpatong and Bangkalan, we noticed an unexplored mountain close to a locals house. We told ourselves that we can go back here one of this days to fully explored the place and introduce it to the community. The name of the peak is Salakot, and one of the prominent peaks along the Lobo mountain ranges. 
    So yesterday, we came back to have the placed explored. Apparently one group went ahead of us according to the guides, but never got to fully document the peak.  After hiking for almost 3 hours, the actual trail at the base of salakot peak (or non existence of) begins in an open area full of Taro plants before the full cover of dense forest. The ground consist of twigs, loose rocks, and muddy trail. After almost an hour of hiking, the summit with 360 view of the entire area is visible. Though very small, the summit is the best in all the peaks I have reach in this area. According to my pro-trek the summit measures 630masl.

And for everyone's information, this peak is different from the Mt. Salakot being connected to the Lalayag monolith gaining popularity this days.

Another question is can this be included in the Nagpatong and Bangkalan peak hike? Yes it can be done just add around 2 hours to your budget time. Just take note that there is no campsite at the summit. 

For those who wants an IT of the climb, just send me an email located in my "about the author" entry.

River crossing at the start of the trail

Katiting falls

Salakot Peak

Twin peak of Salakot albeit a bit smaller

View from the trail

Nagpatong as seen from the trail

another view from the trail going up

Group shot at the summit

      

We luckily saw a double rainbow in the summit.
Photo Credit to Ervin Reyes

View from the summit, on a clear day the guide said Lalayag monolith can be seen at this angle

View from of Nagpatong peak from the summit

View from of Bangkalan peak from the summit

Berde passage (sorry very blurry)

Group shot after the successful ascent

View of Salakot peak from Nagpatong summit (from our first hike)

Nagpatong Peak of Lobo Mountain Range - An Untouch Beauty.

  Mt. Daguldol is one of my favorite climbs in the mountains of Batangas. Little did I know that Daguldol was just a part of a bigger beauty,  the Lobo mountain range. Among the most prominent of the these peaks is Nagpatong peak. Though its on the same range as Mt. Daguldol, Nagpatong peak is more difficult to reach via public transportation. The interval of jeepneys plying the area is not often, plus the last jeep going back to Batangas city ends at 5PM. 
  Moving to the actual climb, the jump-off starts at Barangay Nagtaruntong, Lobo, Batangas. Early on the trek you will see rice fields on the mountain side. The water supply for this rice fields are from the rivers coming down from the mountains. This is the reason several rivers needs to be crossed during the trek. The initial part of the trail is rolling on a low elevation. There are also several houses along the trail albeit situated far apart. 

Not just on the trail, but the entire city!

At the jump-off

Mountain and rice fields, what else can you ask for!

Rock/Cliff beside the trail

Pretty kids

Sleepy head

 The more steep ascent will start after around 3 hours of the hike. What I like about this mountain is the there are a lot of trees  and is very clean. I did not see any trace of logging or slash-and-burn farming. The reason behind is that the locals love the mountain. They believe the mountain will start to "crash" (land slide) if trees are cut down. Since there are a lot of trees, 80% of the hike is actually covered from the sun. I also believe that hikers rarely go here, the trail is very pristine. There are even parts of the trail that is not recognizable at all. So be sure to get a guide to avoid getting lost.

The mountain also has a big camp plus the summit has a good view of the surrounding area. From Nagpatong peak there is actually a way to traverse Bangkalan peak. We did this on our reconaissance climb ( a month before this climb). It took us around 1.5hours to traverse on a lightpack.


This mountain is very rewarding. This is now one of my favorite mountains close (sort of) to Manila. One thing worth noting also here is that the locals is very kind. We took a bath in one of the Barangay officials house, and did not want us to pay. Very much different from a commercialize mountain. Where in every move you make, there is a fee.

Domesticated yet wild (not roped horses).
There is even wild goats, and cows

Punyeta! I mean Ponsetia flowers (hihi)

♪♪ Billanggo ♪♪

Saw this going up, as if there is light coming up from the sides of the island.
The pic does not gives justice to the actual scenery

Bangkalan peak as seen from Nagpatong peak

The open area is the rice fields at the start of the trail. We actually took the river path (valley) going up,then go  around the mountain to the left. 

Sunset is always mesmerizing at the top

Campsite is very large and the grass is good for tents

Make shift kitchen

MRC Outdoor Club! 

The guide has difficulty with the camera, apologies

Lobo coastline, part of the verde island passage. Its really good to know that the planned
mining here was stopped. The ecology would really had been affected

Batch 2 Trainees. Congrats guys, you are stronger than I imagined.

After a sweaty hike, its good to have dip in the river

We saw a snake on the trail. Heads up, it was preparing to strike