Hiking Adventures #23: Mt. Ayaas Dayhike - My 5th Mountain in Montalban, Rizal

I've been an avid climber of Rizal mountains or the Sierra Madre not just because it's near in Manila. It really offers a lot, from exciting trails to great views. One of the best town in Rizal that offers a lots of nature tripping is the town of Rodriguez (formerly Montalban) where there are 5 mountains open for mountain climbing. I already scaled Pamitinan, Binacayan, Hapunang Banoi and Sipit Ulang, and one more left, which is Ayaas.

Mt. Ayaas

This climb ended up having only 2 participants, me and my long-time hiking buddy Cindy Ferrer. This should be another climb with my officemates from Deltek, although Cindy is also a Deltek employee. I hate cancelling climbs so even we're only 2, so we decided to go.

Going to Mt. Ayaas

We met at Mcdonalds in Aurora Blvd. adjacent to where the terminal of FX going to Montalban. Just the same going to the other mountains I've mention previously. The fare is P50.00 and we ask the driver to drop us off to Eastwood in Montalban.

Before I continue, when Ayaas was opened to public, it's first jump-off was in Brgy. Wawa where also the jump-off of Pamitinan, Binacayan and Hapunang Banoi. But later on, the jump-off was now in Brgy. Mascap where they claimed that the mountain resides on their Barangay and they should be the one to regulate.

So we headed to Brgy. Mascap from Eastwood. You will ride a tricycle going to Brgy. Mascap and make sure that you'll be riding at the right terminal, just ask the locals about the location. Because if you ride on tricycles going to other Barangay, they might charge you a lot. As far as I can remember the fare is P30 per head if full.

When we reached Mascap, we went to the Brgy. Hall to register. We paid P50/head as environmental fee and signed a waiver.

We started at around 8AM in the morning. The weather is good, kinda hot but good enough. First part of the trail is not ascent, you'll pass some shaded areas but after that you'll be exposed to sun. Soon, the trail will be concrete since they widening the trail.

We reached the summit after 2 hours and 30 minutes. The summit is an open grassland, it's hot but a little bit windy. You'll have a 360 degree view of Sierra Madre mountains and you can see mountains like Balagbag, Pamitinan, Binacayan, etc. What I like the most on the views is the combed-like mountains near beside the summit.

Me and Cindy at Mt. Ayaas Summit

With fellow hikers we met in the summit

We didn't do backtrail and descended in another trail since we're only hiking Mt. Ayaas, so this is a traverse.

In Brgy. Mascap Tourism offer 3 mountains, Ayaas, Hapunang Banoi and Sipit Ulang. Some hikers try conquering the 3 mountains in a day. They also offer Payaran Falls which I visited during my first hike in Mt. Sipit Ulang. Also, the cave near Sipit Ulang is already open for tourist.

EXPENSES
FX: P50/head (Cubao to Eastwood)
Tricycle: P30 - P50 (Eastwood to Brgy. Mascap) *Note: As I said awhile ago, please complain if the drivers is charging you more that P150. 
Guide: P500 / group
Environmental Fee: P50/head

CONTACT NUMBERS
09053826633
09998606740
09306034631


You might also like to visit:
Hiking Adventures #16: Mt. Sipit Ulang Dayhike Plus Sidetrip to Payaran Falls
Hiking Adventures #9: Mt. Pamitinan and Mt. Binacayan Twin Dayhike
Hiking Adventures #7: Mt. Daraitan Climb Traversed to Tinipak River