My birthday was approaching and I wanted to celebrate it differently so I looked for a hiking event I can join. Good enough, there were plenty available because of the upcoming Independence Day so I chose a mountain I haven’t hiked before. Sir Darwin from Cavite Mountaineer Team set Mt. Manalmon and Mt. Gola Twin Hike in San Miguel, Bulacan on June 12, 2021. Mt. Manalmon (160 MASL) and Mt. Gola (160 MASL) are minor climbs with a difficulty level of 2/9 and can be done within a day. Unfortunately, Sir Darwin needed to move the event to a later date because of the bad weather.
On June 25, 2021, the event joiners met up at McDonald’s Pala-Pala at 9pm. We bought our packed lunch while waiting for the group to be completed. At 9:30 pm, we left Dasma bound for Sitio Madlum in San Miguel, Bulacan, the major jump-off to Mt. Manalmon. Travel was smooth and we reached Sitio Madlum earlier than the schedule, around 3 am. We were the second van to arrive in the jump-off. However, registration won’t be open until 4 am so we sat in a nearby nipa hut chit-chatting. When the registration opened, our event organizer immediately registered us, paid the necessary fees, and hired two local guides.
After a short briefing, prayer, and a warm up, we started our trek armed with our headlamps and flashlights amidst the pitch black darkness, at exactly 4:45 am. The trail was steep, slippery, and there were multiple river crossings with strong current due to rainfall the previous days. After less than an hour of trekking, we reached the summit of Mt. Manalmon at 5:30 am, and the wonderful sunrise and sea of clouds greeted us. We stayed for a few minutes enjoying the view and taking pictures before we started our descent so the next waiting group can have their turn.
The trail to Mt. Gola is harder than that of Mt. Manalmon, it was rocky and steep and there were portions were we needed to use rope to climb. We reached the summit of Mt. Gola at 9 am, after roughly about 2 hours of trekking. We stayed there for a bit, had snack and recouped energy. When the sun was too hot to bear, we started our descent at 9:30 am.
We reached the jump off at 11:00 am. Instead of simply crossing the old wooden bridge to get to our van, we opted to cross through the Monkey Bridge. They provide harness with no extra charge. Originally, we will be swimming in Madlum river after hiking but we did not push through swimming in the river because the water was not clear. The locals said it rained days prior, making the water cloudy and brown. We washed up in the bathrooms for rent nearby instead. Paying minimal fee is a big help to the locals plus the fact you get freshen up and can sleep soundly on the way back home. At 3:00 pm, were all set to travel back to Cavite. We reached Dasmarinas at 9:00 pm.
Our Itinerary
Friday
9:00 PM – Assembly at McDonald\’s Pala-Pala
9:30 PM – ETD to Sitio Madlum
Saturday
4:00 AM – ETA at Madlum
4:30 AM – Registration
5:00 AM – Warm up/Briefing
5:30 AM – Start trek to Mt. Manalmon
7:00 AM – ETA at Summit
8:00 AM – Start trek to Mt. Gola
9:00 AM – ETA at Mt. Gola
9:30 AM – Start of descent
11:00 AM – ETA at jump off/Lunch
12:00 NN – Caving (optional)
1:30 PM – Monkey Bridge Crossing/Swimming
2:30 PM – Wash up/Pack up
5:00 PM – ETD at McDonald\’s Pala-Pala
9:00 PM – ETA at McDonald\’s Pala-Pala
Things to Bring
2 liters of drinking water
Packed lunch/Trail food
Headlamp/Flashlight
Sandals for trekking
Folding umbrella/Rain coat
Waterproof cellphone case
Extra clothes
Toiletries
Sunblock
Extra plastic (for wet clothes)
Extra cash
Power bank
Garbage bag
Expenses
For this oranized event, I paid Php 1,350.00 inclusive of roundtrip transportation, registration fee, and guide fee. This trip was limited to 8 pax only.
Here’s a video compilation of our entire twin dayhike trip. Thank you Lord for Your strength and protection.
