Conquering Mountains: Mt. Lanaya

I was about to join a day hike to Mt. Manghilao in Danao organized by Ms. Rachelle when Kim invited me to join a 2 day hike to Mt. Lanaya organized by her friend (Marife). Since I wanted to go out for the weekend to refresh from the week-long grind and sleep out of my bed, I accepted Kim’s invitation. Sorry Ms. Rachelle. #paasaHere 😀

I heard of Mt. Lanaya through Ms. Rachelle’s post on Facebook but other than that, I have no idea what to expect. Through research, we were advised to bring enough water since there is no water source nearby. However, it seems like the blog was outdated because a family who lived just a few meters from the first campsite sells water for P20.00 per gallon. And it turns out that they were relatives of Sir Noel, our guide.

We arrived at Brgy. Legaspi, Alegria at 1:00 PM and started our ascent right after the registration. By the way, everybody is encouraged – no it’s a must, to register before you climb. There was a recent case where the climbers didn’t pass through the registration and ended up being rescued at 2:00AM the next day because they were lost. When you register, you will be provided with a trained and experienced guide. It’s better safe than sorry guys.

We started our ascent at almost 2:00PM but we had to detour to Sir Noel’s house for him to change his clothes. Out of generosity, he offered us fresh buko and tuba, coconut wine, – a refresher for a 30 minute trek. 😀 Then, we resumed.

If only I brought my camera, I could have vlogged our conversation with Sir Noel. He is very talkative – in a good way, that I learned where Mt. Lanaya got its name. Well if you care, he said, there was once a tree at the top of the mountain which was withered (Nalaya in Cebuano) but it came back to life again, hence Lanaya. :3 He always reminded us and to all other climbers to go through their tourism office and be registered before climbing the mountain to avoid what had happened to the previous group.

We arrived at the campsite at 4:00PM, first of the 3 campsites before the summit. We settled down and pitched our tents, picture-taking, time-lapse, cooked and had our dinner, social – getting to know each other, and then sleep. I haven’t slept the whole night because the soil is uneven. Yes, I didn’t check it before pitching the tent. *insert f*@$ me right meme* 😛

Everybody’s awake and pumped up (a bit exaggerated but kind of) early in the morning for the final ascent except me. o.O But as they say, all you need is coffee and a beautiful view. Okay, I just made it up, nobody really said it. 😛

At 8:00 AM, we started our final ascent – a 4 hour trek. The trail is quite difficult that it was not advised to climb when raining. Good thing the sun was out during our trek. One thing I noticed on Sir Noel was that, it seems like he was in a hurry. I think he wanted to end the trek early because he was sleepy. He just slept for 2 hours the night before because he went fishing at dawn. #paraSaEkonomiya

We reached the summit at noon. Deep breath. Such fresh air. Much scenic view. Very wow. After few selfies – Pak! Pak! Ganern!, we headed our way down to Brgy. Lumpan, our exit point. We had our lunch under a mango tree with cows around – and their poops, because… nature. 😀

We arrived at our entry point, Brgy. Legaspi at 1:00 PM and went straight to the beach before preparing to head back home. 🙂

That trek was indeed fun and is looking forward for more exciting climbs. Shout out to the experienced mountaineers, Marife, Jerson, Jonathan and Kim for inviting me to come with them. *winks*

If you’re planning to trek Mt. Lanaya, you can contact Sir Noel through his number: 0935 549 5639