Mount Halcon has eluded a lot of mountaineers ever since it was closed in 2006. Still many wanted to climb it so they made their way up the summit without securing proper permits. Oftentimes these kind of climbs were a success story but there were several news that these so-called “NINJA” climbs resulted in accidents and sadly deaths.
2014 was a happy year for us who have waited to climb Mount Halcon. News that Mount Halcon was already open echoed all over the mountaineering community. Although one account gave news that the mountain was still closed, the funny thing was, the one reporting it posted photos of his climb there which happened recently. So our group got curious and we contacted the local government of Baco. Our curiosity paid-off and we were given permits to climb Mount Halcon last April 3-6, 2014.
I won’t give a blow-by-blow account on how our climb transpired. Detailed Itinerary is located here. I will just highlight some parts of our climb.
DAY 0/1
I had the pleasure of driving my vehicle from Batangas, crossing the sea via RoRo to Calapan then to Baco Oriental Mindoro. We had to visit the Municipal Hall and Police Station to personally claim the permits. The permits will then be presented to the different Sitios or Barangays that we will pass along our way to Mount Halcon Summit.
When we arrived in Barangay Mayabig Jump-off, we were greeted by our guides and porters. If you are going to ask me how much is the guide and porter fees, I could not say. It seemed that they don’t have a standard fee for everyone, so the only suggestion I can give you is to contact Baco Municipal Hall and ask them how much the fees are.
DAY 2
We had to “quicken” our pace to reach Karwayan Campsite early in the afternoon. Some of us again experienced another e-camp since it was risky to do a night trek.
DAY 3
We reached the summit awe-struck of the view!!!
At the summit I was really praising and thanking God for the opportunity. I was so happy but it was cut short when I received a call from my wife informing me that my co-pianist in our choir was killed. I could not help but cry and cry while making my way back down to Karwayan Camp Site. All I can do was pray hard and I offered the climb in his memory…………………
From Karwayan we made our way to Aplaya Campsite where we will spend the night.
DAY 4
On our way back to our Jump-off in Barangay Mayabig, we experienced a bit of rain and lots and lots and lots of Limatiks. For Days 1 to 3, I was never bitten once despite many clung to my clothes, pack and face!!! For Day 4, the limatiks were so so so so so many that few of them were successful in biting me.
Around 2 PM we were back in Barangay Mayabig. We enjoyed swimming in the cool river as much as we enjoyed the food 🙂
I would like to give my warmest thanks to Mam Odhie who helped in organizing this climb, securing our guide and permits. My deepest thanks to the whole team, Sir Leo, Mike, Aries, Jann, Mark, Rhian, Ronrei, Mam Dorothy and Odhie. You guys ROCK!!!
To God our King Who Is Most Powerful and Whose Love never fails, THANK YOU for giving us the opportunity to do this climb, for giving us the strength and patience, and for keeping us safe. All Power and Glory is YOURS now and forever!!!
For more photos of our climb click HERE
