Mt Balatucan: The Hidden Surprises

Among the mountains in Northern Mindanao, Mt Balatucan is the center of secessionist struggles and a stronghold of the New Peoples Army for so many years and up to now. Its ridges and peaks were witness of the arm conflicts that had been ruining and destructing this paradise. The forest should have been protected but until now the whole mountain range is out of DENR’s control. This mountain is so huge that it takes all of the stake holders, like the indigenous communities which were given an ancestral domain in some parts, the local communities, the LGUs and the department of environment and natural resources to work hand in hand to preserve this precious paradise from further spoilage.

Mt Balatucan

A few years back, a traverse trail connecting to the two high points of Mt Balatucan had been explored by KAPLAG which opened a new door to mountaineer’s enthusiasts. One would actually witness the dark past of this mountain range as a series of bobby traps, already been disarmed, can all be seen along the trails. But behind all those negative reputations, a hidden surprises and an almost untouched forest awaits to one who dares the challenge of this mountain paradise.

Mt Balatucan as viewed from Gingoog City

Day 1: A Short and Heart-Pounding Ascent

We started our trek at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon with a gradual ascends on the grassland and up to the forest line. As we went deeper into the forest, the trail became steeper and the forests were getting mossier. We passed by a viewing deck but the clouds obstructed the views so we continued our climb up to Camp Paso. It was almost 6 o'clock in the evening when we arrived at the campsite and before we could even set up our tents, heavy rains poured out which caused us to rush and panic in fixing our shelter thus making it more puzzling. My tent was flooded so I have no choice but to transfer it to an elevated part which was a little further from the rest.The best part here was our dinner… it could have been Tinolang Manok but we opted for lechon manok plus chicken cubes as our Tinola soup. Well, it did not last long. It was attacked by the astute climbers and was actually emptied before we could even have our dinner. But thanks to Emmanuel Palacio's very hot Korean Noodles, it was just perfect... it kept us warm in the cold, misty and rainy environ.

Gecarl and Emman @ the jump-off

At the grassland

At the forest entrance

Day 2: A Challenging but Equally Beautiful Gingoog Summit Assault

After our heavy breakfast, we decided to go back to the viewing deck, a 15 minutes backtrack, as suggested by our Guide Congribs. I almost didn’t like the idea but surprisingly, the views were great. Not so far away is Mt Sumagaya, Mt Mangabon and on the south-west direction is the Kitanglad Mountain Range where three of the Philippine highest mountains are located. We broke camp and started our 2^nd day trek at 9 o’clock in the morning. An hour after, the trail was getting steeper, mossier and prettier. It was all assault with a lot of obstacle course but was equally very exciting. Close to 11:30 am, we arrived at Camp Pag-ibig. We set up our tent, had our lunch then prepared for our summit assault. After a brief rest, we started our climb to the very challenging and a very picturesque trail up. The forest here were covered with a very thick moss and the ascent was very very steep. Thanks to the roots, tree branches, vines, leaves, logs and etc... this made our climb quite negotiable. We set foot at the summit at around 1 pm and there were no views. But hey, we don’t want to go down without getting a glimpse at the area around and beyond the summit, so we opted to climb up to one of the trees to get a good look at the other Mt Balatucan peaks, Gingoog Bay, Mt Sumagaya and some other far mountain ranges in CARAGA region. We stayed here a little longer to get a good clearing for our photo ops. Close to 5 in the afternoon, we were back at the campsite to prepare for our dinner. Just before we had our much awaited rest, we were treated with an English story-telling of Congribs about his hiking career and a little bit of history regarding Mt Balatucan.

Mt Sumagaya as viewed from the view deck near camp paso

Waterless river to Camp Pag-ibig

Meynard & Allan at the mossy forest to Camp Pag-ibig

Summit AF session

Day 3: Awesome Traverse Trail

After a brief prayer and group pic, we started our traverse to Rosas Pandan Peak via Silahis Trail. I can’t describe perfectly this traverse trail here but it was actually one of the best trails that I hiked. It is comparable to that of White Peaks Mossy forest but with some Balatucan twist. The whole trek duration up to the Junction was actually enjoyable and exciting because the trails were full of surprises. We arrived at Rosas Pandan Peak at 10:30am. We did our group pic with the Rosas Pandan signage and at the peak’s view-deck. Clouds covered the whole area but after a few minutes, the clouds receded briefly and to our surprised, we saw the reason why we really have to be back in this beautiful mountain.

Campsite tarp-less group pic

The alluring Silahis Trail

Assault to Rosas Pandan Peak

Rosas Pandan Peak

After a short stop at Rosas Pandan, we descended into a very steep trail to Camp Enteng. Very steep means literally very steep… I had been in a lot of very steep trail as other climbers described but here is the steepest. Thanks to the roots, it made our descent a very swift one. We had our lunch at Camp Enteng then continued our way down to the Boyscout jump-off. Finally, we completed the traverse at around 2:15pm.

At the Junction

Balancing act to camp enteng

High Conquerors: Emman, Meynard, Ian, Gecarl, Ivan, Allan and Norie

Mt Balatucan deserves a second chance. I will be back! Until my next adventure… God Bless us all!