Climb #13: Mt. Arayat (Magalang Trail)

Part of our preparation for the ultimate climb of the year, the L.O.B.O. Mountaineers planned for TC2 to climb Mt. Arayat.

Originally, the plan is to do a traverse. Following the popular IT Magalang-Arayat trail, the group also equipped themselves with research and interviews from other fellow mountaineers who’ve been first humbled by this mountain.

Going there

The group met at Victory Pasay from 5am-7am. Taking the Olongapo bound bus, the group of 16 climbers arrived at around 9am at SM Pampanga. Arranging a jeepney ride from SM to Brgy Ayala, it took us more than an hour to get to the jump off. Turns out, the driver we contracted was not familiar with the said barangay and had to ask around and take a few wrong turns before we reached our destination.

Welcome to Barangay Ayala, Jump Off to Summit

We finally arrived to our first destination. The first thing we did is to register at the PNP outpost. The posted police officers here are very helpful. They tried to provide us as much needed information they can give. Since there are no organized group of guides in the town of Magalang, usually, climbers will have to find locals or police officers who’ll agree to guide them towards the summit. The trail though is pretty established thus there is little need for guides.

The trail

Our marked jump off is the store/house on the corner of the road heading towards the military outpost. From there, you’ll have to walk about 10-15min of cemented road heading towards a cross road. Continue walking straight until you pass by a tree house. Another 10min walk and you’ll reach the old DENR. As we were informed that is not the DENR office anymore.

From the old DENR, follow the gradually ascending grassy trail, which after a few minutes becomes a bit rocky and a lot muddier especially since it was drizzling that day. Majority of the trail is covered with trees which makes the climb less exhausting. 2 hours after, we reached what I call the first pit stop. A camp ground with a huge boulder in the middle and a green “street sign” that tells us to go left (if you are facing the boulder).

Last Rope Segment to campsite

From that point, the trail becomes rocky and mossy. Be sure to have your gloves ready as you had towards the next pit stop, the diversion road going to camp and white rocks. We continued heading left and after more than 5hours of trekking, we reached the North Peak Tower.

The Dog

When I got to the tower, I found that our group’s unable to proceed as there was a golden dog on the loose guarding the entrance of the fenced tower. We were also unsure if the spot where we are standing is the actual camp site. A few minutes later, the dog went in the fenced gate. We took that opportunity to walk near the fence and shouted “Tao po..”. The door opened and a man pointed us the way to the camp site, the trail on the left of the tower. A few of us were able to pass the trail safely, but those on the rear side was seen by the dog, who barked and ran towards them, prompting some to scream and run to safety. Good thing, the dog doesn’t or didn’t bite anyone.

Camp Site

The camp site can only accommodate a few tents, in our case, round 8 tents 4 of which (I think) are dome types. It was a good thing that there were a few hikers who decided to camp that day.

View of Pampanga River from camp site

After settling down, we enjoyed the last show of the Arayat view for that day as the sun slowly began to set, and the fog crawled to cover to view like a movie credits rolling. While the rest continued to enjoy the night, I quietly snuck in my tent to rest.

Good Morning Sunshine!

By 5:30, Nica was already up. The girl who seems to be allergic to sleep began her day by calling me out of my tent. I guess we were the first ones to gaze upon the misty morning on top of Peak 1. It was so nice, everything seems blue, chilly and calm. After stretching, we began to cook our breakfast as the rest began to slowly crawl out of their tents. A few minutes later, a clear view of Pampanga river and the ridge like terrain heading towards Peak 2 were already visible. At 8am, we began breaking our tents, waited for the supply we requested from a local (6litters of water and 2 1.5 softdrinks) and decided that it will be best if we head back down to Magalang trail based on our group movements yesterday.

IT Revised

So we decided to do just that but we are now faced with a new challenged. First, we need to find a wash up area and second, will the contracted jeep agree to fetch us in Brgy. Ayala since we earlier instructed our driver to meet us in Brgy Bano.

We were indeed blessed that both problems has been addressed before we began to descend. First, we were informed that there’s a resort where we can go wash up, next we were able to communicate with the driver and he agreed to fetch us in Bry Ayala. Thank God!

Wash up Area

After dealing with the same slippery and muddy trail, we finally got back to the store on the corner of main road and path leading to the PNP station. From there we rode a tricycle going to a public resort named Villa Santiago. Entrance is 70 per head, then we rented stone tables for 150.00. The resort operates until 5pm, giving us plenty of time for us to rest.

From Brgy Ayala, we paid 600 pesos for the jeepney ride back to SM Pampanga. From there we parted ways riding bus heading to Pasay, Cubao and Caloocan.