Our Pico de Loro Hiking Experience

We are off to Pico de Loro for our first hike for the year! WOO!

A high school friend of
mine asked me if I wanted to join in her first hike. I said yes and brought my cousins along.

Coincidentally, my high school friend’s best friend, is my best friend’s brother! Confusing? Well, bottom line, my best friend also hiked with us along with my high school friend’s other friends.

January 16, 2015

We left Antipolo around 3:30 am via private van. Since I was not able to sleep at all, I slept in the van – and was surprised that we reached the jump off point at around 5:30 am. There are stores around the area so we decided to grab a bit of breakfast. After eating, we registered, payed the DENR Fee (Php 30) and started hiking at around 6:20 am.

I met this cute and friendly dog before hiking! ❤

We didn’t get a guide since the trail was quite manageable and we had someone who had hiked the trail before.

We stopped from time to time to catch our breaths and if there are logs for us to sit on. With rests and a lot of photo ops, we arrived at the peak at around 9:30 am.

We were able to witness how cool and foggy it was – to the point that sometimes, you cannot see the monolith already! It was really awesome!

LOOK AT THE FOG! ❤

One of my cousins decided to not go to the monolith, which we understood – although the fact that she reached the peak is an achievement already given that she is slightly afraid of heights. She ended up guarding our bags at the peak. (Thanks Ate Nikka!)

My other cousin and I went to the monolith – but because of the queuing which took a long time, we missed the fogged and got baked under the heat of the sun.  But that did not stop us to pose and take our pictures!

A funny story that happened on top was that, while we were waiting for our turn to go down, I accidentally sat on my cousin’s hand – which was totally unintentional and I didn’t even notice it. After chatting for a bit, it was only then my cousin said: ‘Uh, you might want to stop sitting on my hand?’ (Baka naman gusto mong wag upuan yung kamay ko?) After hearing that, I cracked up cause 1) I didn’t even notice it and 2) she could have said so earlier! HAHAHAHA.

Here’s what I think: Personally, the view in the monolith wasn’t exactly the best,  in a sense that we enjoyed the pit stops and photo ops we made on the way to the peak more than the monolith itself. For me, going there is more about feeling the sense of accomplishment, like saying, ‘Wow, I managed to get here!’.

I also said this to my cousin who preferred not to go there anymore – I told her that she didn’t missed much on the view (except the sea).

Anyway, we made our way down, met up with Ate Nikka and went back to the trail we used (going up). After eating our lunch, we (my cousins, my best friend and my best friend’s friend and I) wondered where the rest of our group was. Turns out, they used another trail going down – so we were separated from the others. In the end, it was kind of a blessing since the driver of our van didn’t receive the group’s text (since there’s no reception in the camp).

Even if we were separated from the rest of the group, we had fun going down – but it was evident that we were already tired. HAHAHA. Sad thing though, I twisted my ankle going down so I was quiet on the way down cause I was worried about it. In the end, I managed to make, so yayyyy!!!

Always wondering where to wander next,
Raya

Disclaimer: Photos were taken by my cousin (c) Veronica and my best friend (c) Jala and her friend (c) Dave. Video was made by my cousin (c) Vida. ❤