📌 Pinoy Mountaineer (@gideonlasco): “Mountain News: the DENR-PAMB has announced that Pico de Loro will be closed to hiking activities starting October 1, 2016 for planning and rehabilitation. The closure is indefinite and applies to all trails.”
If a first-timer wants to test whether he will like mountaineering as a hobby, Mt. Palay-Palay or more popularly known as Pico de Loro is a beginner-friendly hike near the metro one might wanna consider.As of today, all its trails have been closed to the public indefinitely for rehabilitation. It has become one of the most mainstream mountains to visit near Metro Manila frequented by loads of hikers every single day. After all, Pico de Loro needs the rest it deserves.Just like Mt. Marami, Mt. Palay-Palay is another hiking destination for newbie and seasoned hikers among the list of mountains in Cavite and other provinces in Southern Luzon. Together with Mts. Batulao and Talamitam, Pico de Loro has also been part of Nasugbu Trilogy when it was still open. My first hike in Mt. Palay-Palay transpired in 2013 when I joined a hiking event organized by Extreme Outdoor Club. I invited my high school friend to come with me. Since Pico de Loro is so famous among hiking enthusiasts, I was very excited that I would finally be able to hike it because I had been postponing my plans of seeing it for so many times. We left Manila at dawn and arrived at the jump-off before sunrise.Upon reaching the campsite, we took some photos and ate our brunch. The crowd that Saturday was everywhere. I was already expecting that many tourists because it was a weekend. Our organizer called out to us to go with the rest of the group to the summit and monolith but I was not in the mood due to my grueling headache that morning. It’s maybe because I was not able to get a decent sleep the night before. My friend and I asked permission from our organizer if we could go ahead even without a guide. We stopped by the waterfall first to take a breather before continuing our descent. On our way to the jump-off amidst the sweat and exhausting hike back, I realized that Pico de Loro’s trail would actually be challenging for a first-timer because of the long trek. It may not be technical but the trail distance from the jump-off to the summit would really test a newbie’s patience and endurance.In 2015, my workmate and I decided to pay Mt. Palay-Palay a visit. They have opened up a new trail which according to recent blogs is way much shorter than the old trail. A guide is not required so we just opted to go on our own. However, the new trail will no longer pass by the path leading to the waterfall. Another difference one will notice right away is the steep assault going to the campsite compared to the gradual ascent of the old trail.My friend and I were able to conquer the summit and monolith during our hike. Boy was I so ecstatic for finally being able to scale it that day. Even if there were loads of visitors that weekend, it’s as though we were blessed because we got the summit and monolith to ourselves.This photo was taken during my first hike here. Mt. Palay-Palay is the name of the mountain. The shape of its summit and the monolith forms the Parrot’s Beak, thus Pico de Loro.
***For more photos of Pico de Loro/Mt. Palay-Palay, please click this link. For other destinations in Cavite and CALABARZON, you may visit this link.
