Trekking Mt. Mayon (via New Trail)

Province of Albay
30 November 2012

Revisiting places after you've seen the results from your first attempt, is one of the best ways to improve your photographs. - Richard I'anson, Professional Travel Photographer.

Aside from photograph, I was so eager and been dreaming to see Mayon's crater so for the second time, I climbed the majestic volcano via the new trail.

Day 0: 30 November 2012

Travel to Albay

On the 30th of November 2012, I took a late afternoon flight to Legazpi. I landed at Legazpi Airport in Albay past 5PM and then checked in at Magayon Hotel located at the center of the City of Legazpi. After checking in, I went around for some last minute shopping of supplies that I will be needing at the climb the following day. I had a nice dinner at the Embarcadero de Legazpi. Bani, our trek team leader and few other mountaineers were on their way to Legazpi from Manila on board a bus bound for Legazpi City.

Day 1: 01 December 2012

Trek to Camp Site

I woke up early on the 1st day of December 2012, repacked my things, took a light breakfast and then proceeded to our meeting place at Tabaco City. I arrived at Tabaco and stayed inside Jollibee store while waiting for Bani and the team. Tabaco church is just nearby the food store so I had a chance to visit it. 

Jump-Off Point

We left Tabaco at 10AM and proceeded to Bani's place (his grand parents' place) near Tabaco to leave our things that we will not be needing for the climb. We reached Bani's place at 11AM. We met his father who works for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources at Albay and he gave us few advice about Mt. Mayon.

From Bani's place, we took a heavy duty jeep going to the Jump-off point. It was a 45 minute jeepney drive. There were 10 of us. We started the trek 20 minutes before 1PM. From the jump-off point, we passed through an open field and then a forest. The trail was clean and well maintained. 

Camp Site

We were so lucky about the weather. The sky was clear and no sign of rain. Mayon's slope was very visible. The trek going to Camp Site is generally an easy climb.

Mt. Mayon at Sunset

At 5PM, we reached the Camp site. It's a flat clean and open field and perfect for camping. The left side of the camp site faces the sea while the opposite side faces the volcano. We had a very nice view of Mayon as the sun sets. At night, the sky was filled with stars and the moon was bright. We had our dinner at 7PM. Lights out at 9PM.

Day 02: 02 December 2012

Crater Assault

We started our crater assault the following day at 7AM. We passed through a short covered trail and then the rest is an open trail with constant inclination. The sky was blue and the weather was hot and humid. Two of us lead the climb. Our cut-off time for descent was 12Noon. Wherever we are on the trail, we had to descend at 12Noon.

New Trail

I was so determined to climb up to crater. This was the most challenging part of the climb. As we ascended, the trail gets steeper. Some parts of the trail was slippery. I had to crawl barefooted going up the trail as I started to loose the grip of my trekking shoes.

The view of the landscape below was awesome from the top. The trail was quite risky as there are loose volcanic rocks. 15 minutes before our cut-off time, we reached the crater rim and behind it is the crater of Mt. Mayon.

Landscape View along the Trail

We decided not to get inside the crater anymore because of the risk considering that we didn't have a professional guide with us at that time. We stayed at the crater rim instead, enjoyed the view below and took some photos.

Steep Trail

At 12Noon, two of us started our descent. We met the rest of the team 300 meters below the crater rim and then we all descended to our Camp site. We reached the camp site 3PM, packed our things and then descended to the Jump-off point.

Mt. Mayon Crater Rim

At 6PM, we were all the the jump-off point safely where our vehicle was waiting for us. We left the jump-off point past 7PM. We had a dinner at Tabaco City and then traveled to Bani's place. It was 9PM when we reached Bani's grand parents house.

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Day 03: 03 December 2012

Day Tour

The following day was a free day. We had a nice tour at nearby tourist places in Albay. On board a van, we visited the famous Cagsawa Church ruins. We had nice photo sessions at the site and bought few souvenir items.

Cagsawa Ruins

From Cagsawa, we traveled to Lignon Hill and had a nice view of the volcano with the green rice fields below. 

Mayon View from Lignon Hill

From the Lignon hill, we traveled for an hour to the "Hoyop-Hoyopan" cave. It's a well known tourist destination in Albay. We wandered inside the cave and something that caught my attention was the round platform inside. Our guide said that the platform was intended for parties inside the cave.

Hoyop-Hoyopan Cave

From Hoyop-Hoyopan, we went back to Legazpi City to taste Bicol delicacies. We visited the "Colonial Ice Cream" store. This was where I first tasted a "Sili" flavored ice cream.

From the city, we went back to Bani's place to pick-up our things and then went straight to the bus terminal. We left Albay on board a bus bound to Manila from Ligao at 6PM.

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Trekking Mt. Mayon (via Old Lava Trail)

Province of Albay

Day 01: 27 August 2011

Trekking - rain or shine!!

Jump-off point at Sto. Domingo

While most people were enjoying the safety of their home with family and loved ones and some were bracing for a category 5 typhoon Mina while it traverses from Bicol region up north to the Cagayan Valley, I was at the wilderness climbing the majestic perfect cone under unpredictable weather with four other adventurous friends at Albay.

Trail leading to Camp 1

It was a "dream-come-true" after all. It was because of my love of photography and Mt. Mayon that brought me up the mountains, meeting new friends, enjoying nature and having fun.

Volcanic Rocks and Covered Trail

Early on August 27, 2011, five climbers met at a usual meeting place in Albay - the Legazpi bus terminal. After completing the head count, we head on to the jump-off point at Sto. Domingo.

Camp 1

The jump-off point is actually a golf-course so it was nice. The first part of the climb going to camp 1, which took us about three hours, was an easy climb.

Preparing for Dinner

We passed through nice landscapes of lava trail most of which were covered with "cogon" grass already. Then we reached a forest area and then finally, camp 1.

Water Source

Super typhoon Mina was brewed somewhere near Albay so for few weeks, it was raining hard in that place. During our climb, the weather was totally cloudy and windy and drizzling. Advantage of this weather condition was that it provided a cool temperature that prevented us from getting dehydrated fast while trekking.

City of Legazpi at Night view from Camp 1

On a normal pace, we reached camp 1 just in time for lunch. There were two climbers who went ahead of us and met them at camp 1. Just after lunch, it was sleeping time. Didn't have the change to take a lot of photos because it was too foggy. There was a short clearing at night so we had a change to see Legazpi city lights from above.

Day 02: 28 August 2011

The following day, we woke up early, took some photos of sunrise, had breakfast and started the assault to the knife edge.

Early Morning Sky at Camp 1

Unlike the trail at Mt. Malinao, the trail at Mt. Mayon going up was completely different. It was made of solidified lava, large rocks and cliffs.

Trail leading to Knife-edge

Climbing this kind of wet trail was indeed very challenging. It was steep, very slippery and a little scary knowing that behind us was a cliff and at the bottom were large volcanic rocks.

Old Lava Trail Wet and Slippery

Adding up to the challenge was the fog that we had to stop for a while without moving when it turned zero visibility and we don't know whether our next step was a rock or a cliff. The cold wind travelling at about 40kph was continuously pounding us from different directions carrying rain water.

Sitting near Knife-edge

But these conditions going up the knife edge had never dampens the spirits of adventurers like us. We pushed even higher and this time, we had to remove our shoes and crawled up bare footed on the trail just to have a better grip.

View of the City of Legazpi along the old Lava Trail

After more than three hours of crawling bare footed on the slippery wet rocky trail with strong cold winds moving from different directions, we finally reached the point where we all wanted to be. At last!!

Going down the Trail barefooted

While going up was already very challenging, going down was even more challenging and took us a little longer before getting back to camp 1.

Rocky Trail

We finally left camp 1, thankful that it didn't rain while assaulting the knife edge and no accidents happened.

Sto. Domingo Golf Course Jump-off Point

An awesome, very challenging yet very nice climb at Mt. Mayon. See more photos.

Daragang Magayon!!

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Trekking Mt. Malinao

Province of Albay

21, 22 May 2011

We are set to climb Mt. Mayon on May 21 to 22 and this is going to be a major climb. A week ahead, I have packed my bag, attended the pre-climb meeting and almost ready to go. I was really very excited and a bit nervous thinking that I may not be able to climb up to the summit.

Jump-Off Point

My excitement ended up with a mild disappointment when I received a text message from our team leader Guido saying that due to the resent activities of Mt. Mayon, the local government had issued a 6-kilometer permanent danger zone prohibiting any activity within the said zone.

He suggested that we climb one of the other three peaks in Albay instead and here comes Mt. Malinao. From a large group, we were down to five (5). We were then called "TIGAS 5" by our team leader.

On a nice calm morning of May 21st, Walter and myself proceeded to the Legaspi bus station where we waited for three more hikers including our Mt. Malinao team leader Darren who travelled all the way from Manila. We then took a 45-minute ride on a van from Legaspi to Tabaco. From there, we took another ride on a jeepney going to the jump-off point at Brgy. Malolos.

Water Source

We started trekking the mountain at about 9AM. The first part of the climb going to the camp site was a bit tiring having to carry atleast 15kg of backpack. We had refreshing coconut juice "buko" along the way to camp site. The trail was nice and weather was good.

We reached the camp site at about 1PM. The view from this point was magnificent overlooking the beach and the city of Legaspi. The view of Mt. Mayon was even more magnificent than viewing it from the ground. I had a feeling of nostalgia looking at the sun setting. At night the sky was filled with stars and the moon was very bright. I was actually singing "O Naraniag a Bulan", O Radiant Moon, one of my favorite Ilocano folk songs.

Camp Site

The following day, we woke up at about 4AM, took our delicious "mongo sprout" breakfast and prepared to climb up to the peak.

Trail Leading to Mt. Malinao Summit

This second part of the climb is our "moment of truth". We could not almost see the trail and if it was ever visible, it's too narrow, just like a knife edge, and slippery. Most of the time, our trail guide Biboy had to clear the trail with a "bolo" - big knife, before we can proceed. Very challenging climb indeed. The trail is constantly steep. Adding up to the excitement, poison ivy and "limatik" or bloodsucking leech is almost everywhere. I got bitten and only noticed it when I saw my left foot bleeding without a stop but it was never painful.

I remembered "Ka Roger" who would jokingly shout "Hindi ito Malinao!! Malabo ito" he is technically saying, it's a hard climb. Darren would also ask us "Have you ever thought why are we here? hahaha.."

We reached the summit at about 10:15AM after almost 5 hours of difficult climb.

The peak is thickly forested with century old tropical hardwoods, we have not seen the volcano's crater because of thick fog. The view is limited to only one side because of the dense vegetation. The peak is covered with thick fog and visibility is not so good. We were all very proud being able to sit down at the summit and had some few photos. We started our descent at about 10:30AM. Something unexpected happened along the way when our trail guide Biboy reacted as if he was panicking. My companion Walter and myself leading the trail were a bit shocked too and we ran back up the trail thinking that the "nice" people could be there. To our surprise later, Biboy just told us he saw a "Baboy ramo" - a wild pig.

We were back at the camp site at about 3PM, broke camp and continued our descent to the jump-off point. We were all glad to be back at the jump-off point by 6PM.

This climb was the most challenging climb I've ever had so far. Ka Roger would always call it "nightmare climb". Thanks to Darren, Biboy and the rest of the Trail Adventours team in Albay for all the guidance.

I enjoyed it. See more photos.

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