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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Gecarl and Emman @ the jump-off |
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| At the grassland |
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| 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 2nd
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.
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| Mt Sumagaya as viewed from the view deck near camp paso |
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| Waterless river to Camp Pag-ibig |
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| Meynard & Allan at the mossy forest to Camp Pag-ibig |
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| 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.
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| Campsite tarp-less group pic |
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| The alluring Silahis Trail |
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| Assault to Rosas Pandan Peak |
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| 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.
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| At the Junction |
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| Balancing act to camp enteng |
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| 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!
