A GLIMPSE OF SIERRA MADRE | Mt. Pinagbanderahan (366+)

I made it a point that I get to go outdoors at least once a month. This time, I booked with TRAILADVENTOURS. You can check out their website and see their schedule of hikes. In all fairness, they are very organized and their guides are very friendly.

For this climb, we were with trail guides Joel and Aubrey. This is quite a late post as I have been too lazy to write things down. The climb was last July 25 but I'm hoping I still remember the details correctly.

The group left from El Pueblo Ortigas at around 2:30 AM. Two vans were on convoy to the jumpoff. Our van was not too crowded, so we had enough rest before doing the hike. The other van was occupied by the MERRELL group and other friends from Philippine Daily Inquirer, Men's Health, FHM and Explore Philippines. Little did we know, the trek was also a part of Merrell's activity to promote their new line--CAPRA. I didn't feel out of a place since I also bought my pair of Merrell a day before. It seemed as if I was one of them.

We arrived in Atimonan, Quezon at around 6:30 AM. Our guides did an orientation and some stretching. We started hiking at 7:00 AM.

It pretty much reminded me of Pico de Loro's rainforest. However, the trail had a concrete pavement which made it easier for us to know where to go. 

We reached the summit at 8:45 AM. You'll know when you're almost there when you reach the concrete spiral staircase. A flag is hoisted at the summit as it is one of the historical places during the World War II. Pinagbanderahan literally means "where the flag was hoisted". 

The summit boasts of a wonderful panoramic view of the Sierra Madre mountain range and portions of Quezon, Marinduque and Mindoro.   

We started our descent at around 10:30 AM. Our next stop was the Pinagbanderahan Cave. Since we had two local guides with us at that time, we were divided into two groups. The group were I belonged took only an hour to successfully get out of the other side of the cave. The other group with the Merrell guys took almost two hours. They got lost somewhere inside the cave even with a local guide!

After which, we made our way back to the jumpoff to take our lunch. We had our late lunch around 2:00 PM and took an hour to rest. We were told that Bantakay Falls did not have that much water flowing through it, so we were given an option to visit Magsaysay Falls instead. We all agreed since it will take only a few minutes to trek and we were trying to travel back to Manila before sunset.

This was the first time I went on a climb by myself, without any of my friends. The good thing is, I met new friends on this group and we shared the same great moments on this climb.

Another mountain conquered, and looking forward for more!

Visit the Pinoy Mountaineer website for more details about Mt. Pinagbanderahan: PINOYMOUNTAINEER.COM - Mt. Pinagbanderahan