Hiking Adventures #10: Mt. Kalisungan Dayhike

I was planning for another dayhike after our successful twin hike in Mt Pamitinan and Mt. Binacayan last March 28. I looked for a mountain near Manila and came up on choosing Mt. Kalisungan in Calauan, Laguna.

Mt. Kalisungan

GOING TO MT. KALISUNGAN

 

Our meeting place was in Mcdo Buendia beside JAC Liner. We departed at around 5:45AM then rode a bus at DLTB terminal heading to Sta. Cruz. I asked the driver to drop us in Duck Junction (Victoria Junction). If you see big ducks at the right side (assuming you are seating on the bus), that was it. The bus fare was P120.00 and the travel time will take 2.5 hours. When we arrived at the junction, we rode a tricycle going to Brgy. Lamot. Ask the driver to drop you at the Barangay Hall to register. The fare was P20.00/head in our case, but according to other blog it was only P50.00/ride.

Tricycle ride going to Brgy. Lamot

Before we start, we took 15 minutes to prepare. We registered at the Brgy. Hall and we donated a considerable amount that serves as registration fee. Guide is not required. And we decided not to have one even though they warned us that the mountain has labyrinth of trails. When we get started, I asked the head guide named Mang Bino, the starting point but he refused to answer telling us "Ay bahala na kayo".  It seems like he was forcing us to get a guide. I got a little bit pissed on what he said, but I tried to understand that guiding is one of their source of living.

However, we still managed to continue by asking the residents the way up. There are a lot of trails that are very confusing, we follow what the last resident told us. We followed the trail until it went gone. We decided to call Mang Bino because we were already lost. Mang Bino said that we were on the Old Trail and revealed that there's a new one.

This must be a reminder for all the hikers out there who wants to scale Mt. Kalisungan. Seek for guideship if you're going to climb the mountain for the first time.

The view after 30 minutes of trek.

Mt. Kalisungan is more harder than I was expecting. You would thought it will be an easy climb but no. The old trail has a lot of assaults but well-established. Although it was a longer trail than the new as per Mang Bino, it has a lot of trees that serves as shield from scorching weather. There are a lot of fallen trees at the trail which faded the trail. So then I realized we made the right choice to call the guide. Halfway through, you can already see some Southern Tagalog mountains like the nearby Mt. Makiling and even Mt. Maculot. The view is already spectacular, how much more in the summit, so we keep moving.

Mt. Maculot looming from Mt. Kalisungan

Mt. Makiling as seen from Mt. Kalisungan

Me with Abbie Giron and Pluto Diaz assaulting the summit

Mt. Kalisungan Summit

Mt. Kalisungan Summit

We used to stop in a house along the trail. I was surprised then because they're selling Mountain Dew that gave so much relief. We're few meters away from the summit as we were walking on a grassland. If you notice the mountain from below, the summit has no trees, so we assumed that we are near. The wind blows intensively. It was a good thing because there's no trees above and ourselves was exposed on sun's heat. We have reached the summit in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Then we had our lunch, explore the summit and take photos.

Sweet relief 

Lunch Time at the Summit

The view at the summit

Clear Bluesky

The Cross in the summit of Mt. Kalisungan as I have seen on some blogs was already gone, maybe cause by a Typhoon.

Mt. Banahaw and Mt. Cristobal as seen from the summit of Mt. Kalisungan

After an hour,  we descended via new trail of Mt. Kalisungan. The new trail is steep and slippery but it is shorter than the old trail. It has a lot of small stumps that could make you stumble. I advise to exert extra awareness while trekking on the said trail to avoid injury. We successfully descended after 1 hour and 30 minutes.

After the Successful Climb! Abbie with Mt. Kalisungan at the background 

After the climb, you can have an option to go back home or visit the nearby Bunga Falls as sidetrip. In our case, we visited the falls before we went back to Manila.

Check out my blog post about our sidetrip in Bunga Falls.

Group Shot! (L-R) Me, Abbie and Pluto

Mt. Kalisungan(760+)

Difficulty: 3/9

Jump-off: Brgy. Lamot, Calauan, Laguna

April 25, 2015

ACTUAL ITINERARY

0545    Board Green Star bus bound to Sta. Cruz from LRT-Buendia (P117)

0815    Alight at Victoria, Laguna (at the Duck junction). Take tricycle to Brgy. Lamot

0845    ETA Brgy. Lamot. Ask for the way up. Register at Brgy. Hall.

0900    Start trek via Old Trail

1145    ETA summit. It is marked with a white cross. Early Lunch.

1300    Start descent

1430    Back at Brgy. Lamot. Take tricycle to Bunga Falls

1510    ETA Bunga Falls. Swim, Tidy-up

1630    Wait for Buendia or Cubao-bound buses at highway

1930    ETA Manila

Note: There's a heavy traffic at Los Banos, Laguna.

EXPENSES

Transportation:  P280 - P300

Donation: P20/person

Guide: P400/group

Contact Number: Mang Bino - 09994100991