February of 2022, I suddenly felt to urge to break my daily routine so I looked for a day hike event I can join to unwind. Fortunately, I found one organized by a tour organizer from Cavite. The hike will be in 2 days’ time and there was only one slot left so I immediately paid the event fee inclusive of transportation, registration fee, local guide fee, and coordinator’s fee.
We hiked Mt. Sawi in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija which stands at 594 MASL and difficulty level of 3/9. Mt. Sawi is not where they shot the famous Filipino movie Camp Sawi. The mountain’s original name is Mt. Sawing Balete because of the alleged suicide committed by a brokenhearted woman in a balete tree found near the summit. Despite the tragic event, the mountain still offers a scenic view of Nueva Ecija.
Our tour organizer instructed his Cavite joiners to be at the designated pick up location at the prescribed time. At 10:30 pm, the night before the event, I was already at McDonald\’s Pala-Pala where I bought my packed lunch just in time before the van’s arrival. Five minutes later, we left Cavite to pick up other joiners in Manila. By 1:00 am, we were bound to Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija. At 5:00 am, exactly four hours later, we arrived at Brgy. Malinao, Gabaldon, the jump off point of Mt. Sawi. Our tour guide immediately registered our names at the tourism office, paid the registration fees, and hired two local tour guides for our group with 10 joiners and 2 organizers, 12 pax in total. At 5:15 am, the local tour guide gave us a short briefing and after we prayed, we started the trek despite the pitch black darkness.
The trail to the summit is a combination of various terrain. Some parts are open, some parts are shaded, some are bushy, and there are flat and steep parts as well. Our group was incredibly fast. After two hours of hiking, we already reached the summit, however, we were not the first to arrive.
From the summit, you can see the 180 degree scenic view of Nueva Ecija.
We were taking photos of the view from the summit when it suddenly rained. We took shade in a nearby hut where other climbers also were. The rain lasted for almost an hour. When the rain stopped, we grabbed the opportunity to snap a group photo in the controversial dead balete tree and we started our descent afterwards.
The rain made the trail muddy and slippery, making the descent more difficult than the usual. We reached the jump-off at 10:30 am, 1.5 hours later. We cleaned up and had our lunch – steamy pork sinigang which we ordered from a nearby eatery just before we started our climb.
We were supposed to go to a falls for our side trip but we cancelled it just to be on the safe side. The heavy rain for sure made the trail to the falls wet and slippery and there could be a possible flash flood. Instead, we dipped in a nearby pool and spent the rest of our remaining time there before heading back home. Tired and exhausted, we slept on our way back home. We reached Cavite at 9:00 PM. Another successful day hike all through God’s protection.
Our Itinerary
10:00 PM – Assembly and pick-up at Tagaytay
10:30 PM – Pick-up at McDonald’s Pala-Pala
11:30 PM – Pickup at Jollibee Junction Alabang
12:00 MN – Pickup at Greenfield Shaw
04:30 AM – ETA at Brgy. Malinao, Gabaldon
– Registration and briefing
04:40 AM – Start of trek
07:00 AM – ETA at Mt. Sawi Summit
08:00 AM – Start of Descent
09:00 AM – ETA Jumpoff
10:00 AM – ETA Falls
12:30 PM – Wash Time
01:00 PM – ETD Nueva Ecija
09:00 PM – ETA Cavite
Expenses:
I paid Php 1,600.00 for this event inclusive of transportation, registration fee, local guide fee, and coordinator’s fee. Pool entrance and lunch not included which cost me additional Php 200.00.
I put together a video compilation of this day hike trip. Watch the video here:
