Twin Hike: Mt. Binacayan and Mt. Pamitinan

Major jumpoff: Brgy. Wawa, Rodriguez, Rizal
LLA (Pamitinan): 14°43′51.7′′N 121°11′29.2′′ E 426 MASL
LLA (Binacayan): 14°43′30.5′′N 121°11′26.1′′ E 424 MASL
Days required / Hours to summit: 1 day / 1.5-3 hours (P); 2-3 hours (B)
Specs: Minor, Difficulty 4/9 (P); 5/9 (B) / Trail class 1-4

How to get there

If you are coming from North EDSA or South EDSA, all you need to do is ride any bus passing or going to Cubao or take an MRT ride and go down at Cubao MRT station. Look for the FX station located just infront of Jolibee in Farmers. Take the van with Cubao-Rodriguez signage (Fare is PHP 50.00 per head). It’s an hour or less ride going to Rodriguez, Rizal. Go down at Montalban Station (which is actually the end of the ride). You can ask the driver as well to drop you off at the terminal going to Wawa Dam. Ride a tricycle and tell the driver to drop you off at Wawa Village. (Fare is P15.00 per head)

Itinerary

Day 1

0500am Meet-Up Place:Cubao;Gateway

0630am ETA Cubao

0800am ETD Cubao – Eastwood (Brgy. Wawa)

0930am ETA Brgy. Wawa

1030am Start Trek Pamitinan Cave – Mt. Pamitinan

1230pm ETA Summit

0100pm Start Descend

0200pm ETA Tourism Office

0300pm ETA Campsite/ set-up camps

0530pm Prepare Dinner

0600pm Dinner

0700pm Socials

1000pm Lights Out

Day 2

0600am Wakeup Call

0700am Breakfast

0900am Head back to Tourism office / Arrange guide

1100am Early Lunch

1200nn Start Trek to Mt. Binacayan

0230pm ETA Summit

0330pm Start Descend

0500pm ETA Tourism office / wash-up

0700pm ETD Cubao

0830pm ETA Cubao / Dinner

1000pm Home sweet home

Background and Informations

Mt. Pamitinan is higher compared to Mt. Binacayan. The trail composition is grassy and rocky with the presence of boulders along the way.Thus, trail  difficulty is moderate and tolerable.The astounding beauty of the summit is often praised. There are two known summit in Mt. Pamitinan where flags raised by climbers can be found.Standing on top is risky because of the presence of cliff side by side. Attempting to stand on the summit will have your adrenaline pumped up, be vigilant, do not pursue if you’re afraid of heights.And don’t be challenged by others who can stand at that height.

A view of Mt. Pamitinan and Mt. Binacayan from afar view

On the other hand, Mt. Binacayan trail imparts some technicality because of the   trail difficulty and the ubiety of sharp and open rocks from the trail-head extending to the summit. Obviously, the trail is more difficult than the trail of Pamitinan. Most hikers tend to hike Mt. Binacayan first then followed by Mt. Pamitinan when achieving a twin hike.

Mt. Binacayan

Mt. Pamitinan

Required camping site is situated in plain areas of Sitio Wawa near Wawa Dam or the river; local officials prohibit any hikers to camp overnight in the summit of the mountain to prevent accidents and physical injuries from undesirable event.

Neighbouring mountains such as Mt. Hapunang Banoi, Mt. Lubog and Mt. Ayaas are among other favourable destinations for hikers located in Sitio Wawa. The famous Wawa Dam, Bat Cave, and Pamitinan Cave are the possible side trips.

The popular myth of Rizal is Bernardo Carpio, a legendary figure in Philippine mythology, is said to be the cause of earthquakes. There are numerous versions of this tale. Some stories say Bernardo Carpio is a giant, as supported by the enormous footsteps he has reputedly left behind in the boondocks of Montalban (now Rodriguez), Rizal. Some say Bernardo was the size of an ordinary man. However, all versions agree he had muscle strength akin to that of strongman Hercules from ancient Greek lore.

Picture illustration of Bernardo Carpio

The legend’s basic plot is that Bernardo Carpio, a human being of great strength, who was trapped between two great rock mountains and tries to break free, the two rock mountains are namely Mt. Binacayan ad Mt. Pamitinan. Some versions say he is keeping the big boulders from crashing into each other, and other versions say he remained trapped still trying to break free until now.

Journey
After our visit to Pamitinan Cave, we camped at an area which Kuya Oliver offered. We planned to hike the two mountains the next day as early as we can in the morning to maximize our time for the day. It was due to circumstances in camping site settlement and the prohibition to camp in the summit that delayed our planned itinerary.

There were couple of setbacks, but needless to say, our  camping was fun and diverting with the presence of music that keep banging our head and the booze that concluded our unending conversation that edict us to settle to our tents.

Just when everybody was about to sleep in the midst of silence, Jan,a.k.a Pabebe Boy, shouted "walang forever" then everyone burst into laughter. It felt good ending the night laughing and going to sleep with a smile.

Saturday morning, everyone was awake and already had breakfast while waiting for our guide to arrive. The boredom was rising due to our guide's tardiness.

Our initial plan to hike Mt. Binacayan even before sun rise was delayed because our guide, Kuya Albert was late. There were already many speculations about his whereabouts. We all know he was unregistered as a guide and he was just filling in as a temporary guide that day. So some thought he abandoned us already or he encountered a problem with the registration office. He told us that he sends his dirty clothes in laundry shop because he is too busy to wash his clothes. Then we had this funny conclusion that he probably picked up his clean clothes first before meeting us.

We were entirely prepared to hike when Kuya Albert appeared. Perspiration and tiredness was evident base on his appearance that day.But he did not bother to waste time and so our journey went on. There were a lot of hikers ahead of us so we anticipated a jam-packed trail and crowded summit.

There was never a dull moment all throughout our climb. It was because everyone in the group has jokes and all has something to bring to the table on random witty discussions. The result of having a guide who is such a badass joker and new found hiking buddies was a cheerful conversation and a lot of funny jargons.

These words below were the popular jargon in our group:
-   “Ano yan joke?ke – Kuya Albert most famous line.
-  “Hardcore” – commonly referring to our strong companions, never afraid of death just to get a good pose with the landscape. 
-    “Pabebe” – opposite term for Hardcore
-    “Walang forever” – battle cry for the singles! Not bitter. 

Probably not a lot of people can relate and understand as to why these words are funny. But for sure the group of Lets Camp Outdoors (Dennis, Jan, Amie and Maan) and Epic Travels PH (Alvin, Rose, and Jun) will somehow smile whenever they hear or see these words.

From left to righ: Amie, Maan, Jan, Alvin, Jun, Rose, and Dennis

It was already 8 am in the morning when we commenced passing through various homestead, and the rocky Kaingin with corn plantation before climbing boulders. Use of gloves is highly encouraged to prevent cuts. Manly strength should be maintained to overcome the cliff and steep rock until reaching the apex of the mountain. Omnipresent sharp rocks and bamboo trees will defy the resilience and endurance of every hiker, be strong.

The corn plantation area along with our guide - Kuya Albert

In every good spot with spectacular view, everyone will halt and strike a pose for photo and video ops which prolonged our hike. Even in the utmost level of confidence, you can never perceive what might happen when performing those death defying shots, the so called “buwis buhay shot” on those boulders and rocks near the cliff.  Here are some photos: 

 The two lovers: Alvin and Rose

 Jun on rock climbing

 Dennis sightseeing the mountains

 Jan performing the Karate kid stances

 Amie

and Maan 

Some people cannot stand to watch others that are going even to the edge of the cliffs or high rocks just to get good pictures. We call those in our group as “Pabebe”. While those that did not seem to care about death just to pose with the landscape were called as “Hardcore” / “Beastmode” regardless of gender.

Halfway to the summit, there was already inadequacy of water we brought , the feel of hunger struck, and we’ve been inundated with fatigue. The adversity of reaching the summit and the lack of our allotted time were among our challenges, so we decided to allocate our photo and video ops on the apex and began to concentrate on our hike.

Huge and sharp rocks are besieging the whole mountain. Amidst hiking to the summit, you will pass through a slope and inclined trail. Mt. Binacayan trail is difficult because of the rocks and their holes that endanger all hikers. Be very watchful even in the narrow part of the trail surrounded by bamboo trees. It is advisable to wear proper gears and attires to prevent cuts and blisters.

Some of the big rock located at Mt. Binacayan

As we reached the summit, we took a bit of rest and documented our stay. Our guide was wandering at that time, attempting to create a new trail to traverse but that lead us to a wrong direction. Our effort in descending was eroded, so we head back to the right trail to campsite.

The crew nearing the summit of Binacayan

A preview of them at the summit of Mt. Binacayan

Upon descending, some of my companions were confused. They asked. “Are you sure this is the right trail we pass by on our ascent?”, “Did we pass this trail?”

Out of confusion, some of our companions answered them and made some clarification about the trail. And some would venture to the wrong trail, maybe due to their starvation that diminished the strength of their body. They hurriedly descended without the contemplation of the right trail going down.

It was exactly noon when we all settled at Kuya Oliver Camping area, cooked our food and had rest then we had our lunch.

After having lunch, we channelled to Mt. Pamitinan. Due to the limited daylight time we had because the night is coming and we were all tired we agreed to only take pictures at the summit. Our guide picked some fruit along the way and handily shared it to everybody. It was such a great gesture from him.

Our bodies were already weak when we started to ascend, but we were empowered by the fellow hiker’s commentary on the summit and trail of Pamitinan. They assured that Mt. Pamitinan was a beauty and the nature scenery is astounding. The trail was lightly difficult compared to Binacayan.

Amidst our hike, we pass through a small store set up below the rock mountain, a spot for rock climbing. Our guide was a legit rock climber and he often shared his rock climbing experience inside or outside the vicinity of Rizal.

One of the rock climbing spot at Mt. Pamitinan

Some of our companion were tired and had a gruelling condition due to the hardship of the hike from Mt. Binacayan. They paced slow heading to the summit. Some were enlivened to the point of reaching the summit.

We agreed not to take photos and videos along the trail to speed up our pace. But we ended up bending rules because of the many spectacular viewpoints we passed through just like in Mt. Binacayan.

Before reaching the summit, we climb a 90 degrees rock with a reach of 10 ft. to be exact. The obstacle of the climb did not prolong due to the encouragement delivered and support offered by our companions and guide.

Upon reaching the summit, we instantly took pictures and sit back to enjoy the view of nature scenery and its neighbouring mountains. A death defying photo ops was executed. It takes guts to stand on the first rock summit, if you’re afraid of heights, don’t try to pursue it.

The first summit

The second summit was a big boulder that required us to do rock climbing before setting foot. We managed to document our stay using a video introducing each other group and declared that we conquered the two mountains set apart by Bernardo Carpio – Mt. Pamitinan and Mt. Binacayan within a day hike period. The struggle was real and difficult but it’s worth the risk. The accomplishment deserved to be told.

Here's a video of us at the second summit of Pamitinan

We descended back to Sitio Wawa after we summited Pamitinan. The thought of going home did not halt us to stay for one more day. Even beforehand our hike to Pamitinan, I did request my team members (Lets Camp Outdoor) to stay for one more day to venture to Wawa Dam which they agreed upon. Since our newly befriended Epic Travel PH members were scheduled for only 2 days trip, they’ve gone home after the scheduled hike. We settled first at our guide’s home, tidy up and they bid goodbye to us as we stay for one more night at Kuya Albert’s home.

To cut the story short, the travel to Pamitinan & Binacayan was glorified by epic experience and companionship.

Things to Bring:

• A good pair of trekking shoes
• Sun and Rain Protection (Sunblock, rain coat, shades, cap etc..)
• Water or rehydration fluids (prescribed is 2L)
• Extra clothes
• Slippers
• Toiletries
• Personal Medications
• Snacks (Trail Food) 
• Headlamp/ Flashlight
• Extra plastic
• Camera 

Possible Side trips
1. Pamitinan Cave
2. Bat Cave
3. Wawa Dam
4. Karugo Falls

Expenses (as of July 2015)

Cubao - Eastwood: P50 x 2 = P100 (Back and Forth)
Eastwood - Wawa: P15 x 2 = P30 (Back and Forth)
Entrance Fee: P2.00 with an additional fee of P5/head
Guide Fee: P200 - P500/day

Photo Credit: Maan Villamor