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| Mt Mariglem Zambales Philippines, WW | |
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| | Mt Mariglem Zambales Philippines, WW | | | |
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Mt Mariglem Zambales Philippines, WW
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| Hiking | 4.04 Miles |
1,403 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.04 Miles | 6 Hrs 3 Mns | | 0.89 mph |
| 1,403 ft AEG | 1 Hour 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Note: The first 3.25 miles of my route is the 30 minute trike ride to the trailhead. The end point of my route is basically where we started and finished hiking.
My original plan was to arrive at 7 am, but because of the long drive, morning traffic, needing to buy a hat, etc., I did not arrive to the jump off point (registration point) until about 8.10 am. I paid a 50 peso registration fee (under $1 USD) and had to fill out a liability form, only 1 page, signing in 2 places. I was told it was a very safe place and the locals were all friendly in my experience. This is a popular hike and there are group trips going there every weekend. I was also told that the only other group that day started hiking at 5 am, 3.5 hrs before me! I happened to be there on a Monday morning.
They asked me if I wanted to hire a guide for 700 pesos (about $12 USD). I decided it would be a good idea. There was another option to hire a trike to get from the registration point to the trailhead. This is something the other guide did not mention. I was told the entire hike would be 13 km round trip if starting from the registration point. But, with this heat and starting this late I decided it was a good idea to hire the trike. It was basically a motorcycle with a sidecar attached. The side car was big enough to hold 4 people. The cost was 300 pesos (about $5 for the trike ride) which I was told would be about a 30 minute ride. The road was like any 4x4 road in the US with a lot of rocks, water puddles, ruts, etc. It was a bit of a rough ride but that motorcycle and sidecar must have had great struts/shocks. Looking at the terrain ahead of us, I was expecting a really bumpy ride, but it felt smoother than I imagined. After riding about 10 minutes, we needed to get out of the sidecar so that the driver could get through a rocky muddy area. We walked a side trail following the road which took only 1-2 minutes, then got back into the sidecar after the bad spot in the road.
About 5 minutes later we had to get out again. This time, the motorcycle needed to ride up a very steep slope that was probably something like a 30 degree angle. It was a muddy rocky area. The driver was having trouble getting up the hill so we needed to get behind and push a few times. Getting up this hill probably took about 3 minutes but it was a good workout along the way. At the top of the hill we got back in the sidecar and the road here was flatter. From here it was another 15 minutes to get to the starting point.
At the starting point I paid the trike driver 300 pesos ($5 USD). My guide, Arden, said the trike driver would wait for us until we finished the hike. I said with the hiking, breaks, photos, swimming, etc. this hike could take us 5-6 hours to complete. But he said its OK, the trike driver has nothing else to do all day! Apparently the 600 pesos ($10 USD) is enough income for the entire day in this small town.
By the way, Sept is the middle of the rain season in Philippines. Even starting to hike around 8.30 am it was incredibly HOT on the entire hike from the starting point to the summit.
Starting off, we followed a steep trail going up the side of the mountain. We could see a high ridgeline. Along the way, we would reach 4 different peaks, some of which appeared to be saddles, technically speaking. The 5th peak was Mariglem. It was so incredibly humid and there was no breeze. I usually don't take breaks hiking up a mountain but today I needed to. There were very few trees on the way up, only a few and we would not see any more trees for another 4 hours until we were closer to the river.
The lack of shade and the heat made this a difficult hike. We stopped for short breaks at each peak along the way. It probably took us 20 minutes to get to peak 1, then another 20-30 to get to peak 2, and so on... Each of the peaks had a wooden sign either hanging from a tree or a post in the ground. If it had been cooler, I'm confident that I would have been able to hike faster but the humidity and heat was draining. I got photos at each of the 4 peaks. The views got better as we got higher up. I was able to see the ocean to the West, which was a few miles away. There were some nice views of the mountains around us and everything was very green. This is normal during the rain season. We were actually hoping for rain during the hike.
After reaching peak 4, we could clearly see Mt Mariglem and the trail was relatively flat along the ridgeline to get there. Maybe it was only 5-10 minutes more to summit Mt Mariglem from peak 4. When we got to the high point there was a sign that said Mt Mariglem 573 MASL (meters above sea level). When we got to the final summit, I was soaked with sweat and humidity. I took some photos at the summit and a video. We stopped to drink water and had some snacks. By this time, I had already drank probably 3 liters and didn't have a lot more. I was told there was a mountain spring down below where we could get drinkable water.
Not long after summitting, the sun went behind the clouds and that helped a bit but it was still incredibly HUMID. We walked a steep trail going down but it wasn't quite as steep as the trail going up to the ridgeline. When we got lower down the mountain, there was a vendor with a cooler full of drinks (water, coca-cola, sprite, mountain dew, etc.). I ended up buying 3 drinks for 60 pesos a piece. That's about $1 each. We sat down and took a break for maybe 30 minutes. From here, my guide told me we had about 45 more minutes to get to the spring. We continued hiking down the trail. There were trees ahead and we entered a jungle area for the final 15-20 minutes before getting to the spring. It was nice to be in the shade. I saw bamboo, banana trees, palm trees and lots of what you would expect in a jungle. My guide said there were no snakes. We saw maybe a few birds the entire way and a large frog down near the river.
Eventually we got to the spring. It was not what I expected. There were several primitive bamboo houses. One looked like a kitchen and another was occupied by chickens and a rooster. There were chickens and roosters roaming around. There was a hose in the kitchen which constantly had spring water running through it. There was no shut off valve or tank. This was basically the spring. My guide said the spring is constant and runs year round. He said his family lived here year round and traveled to the small town to buy food maybe once per week. This was truly primitive living which is just not seen anymore in the US. I don't believe there was any electricity here. The river was a few hundred feet below. We walked down to the river, I changed into a swim suit and got in the water. It was incredibly refreshing and the water was the perfect temperature, cool. There was a small waterfall and a rope crossing the water for support or emergency. The middle the river was about 8 feet deep.
10 minutes after I got into the water, it started pouring rain. I wished that the rain came sooner. But, since I was already in the water, it didn't matter. The rain was so hard I had to put my backpack under a rock formation to minimize the water. My phone and wallet was in there and I didn't want to get that wet of course. After 5 minutes of rain, I got out of the water. The river started getting a bit dirty because of the rain washing dirt into it. We continued on, walking a flat rocky road in the direction of the starting point. The rain stopped after about 10 more minutes and then we got to another swimming area. At this swimming area we saw a group of maybe 15 hikers which is apparently the maximum group size. I was told this group started hiking at 5 am, while we started at 8.30 am. They were definitely taking their time and probably were not exposed to the incredible heat in the later part of the morning. Splitting 700 pesos ($12 USD) over 15 people is very economical. I got into the water and talked to some of the other hikers. Some of the guys were jumping off rocks 10-15 feet high into the water. I had no interest in doing that. Better off being safe and avoiding any potential hazards. The water was cool and refreshing. We stayed for about 10 minutes and decided to continue. We had about 20 more minutes to walk and there were 2 river crossings. This was the same river that we swam in earlier but because of the rain, the current was a bit stronger here. The water level was about 2 feet high at it's deepest for the river crossings. The river crossings were probably something like 50-60 feet across each.
We got back to the place where we started the hike and our driver was waiting for us. We got in the trike and started driving back to the registration area. After about 5 minutes, it started pouring rain again. The driver went full speed, maybe 20 MPH, on this 4x4 road and the ride was pretty wild. We got to the top of the steep incline and had to walk from there, which took 10 to 15 minutes to get back to the registration area. Seemed like it would dangerous to ride the motorcycle down that steep slope in the rain. We got back to the registration area and the rain stopped. I sat down to rest and asked if they had any food for sale. I bought a plate of fish and rice for 150 pesos (under $3). My guide said he was going to travel to Olongapo city with his wife and baby. He was only 18 but had a baby already. I told him I would give him a ride for free since my hotel was in that direction. After resting we drove back to Subic bay and I dropped them off at the McDonalds where they would eat and then get a jeepney to Olongapo city. The baby was very quiet during the ride, probably sleeping much of the time.
I would highly recommend this hike but December would be a better time of the year for it. If hiking in Sept/Oct, during the rainy season, I strongly recommend starting the hike at 5 or 6 am, not 8.30 am. If you go on the weekend, the trails might be crowded and you might have to wait to groups ahead you to summit before you do. But, going on a weekday there are fewer hikers.
Stats
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round trip distance: 4.04 miles
AEG: 1,403 feet
moving time: 3 hrs 11 mins
elapsed time: 6 hrs 3 mins
Driving directions
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Follow Google maps to Mt Mariglem jump off near the small town of New San Juan. The route is paved all the way except for the last 1/4 mile which is a good and flat dirt road. You will not see high clearance to get to the jump off point.
GPS location of jump off point is 15.1530306, 120.0692824
From the jump off point, the round trip distance of the entire hike is 13 km or 8 miles. In the month of September be warned. The heat and humidity was like Florida in July. Even starting at 8.30 am was not a good idea, even during the rain season!
I stayed at the Wild Orchid Beach resort near Baloy Beach in the Subic Bay waterfront area. The hotel was about $43 US per night, had a very nice huge swimming pool with access to the beach. The hotel has a nice restaurant with reasonable prices.
Google maps said the drive time from my hotel to the Mariglem jump off point was about 1 hr 20 mins. It took me a bit longer because I had to buy a hat along the way and luckily found a roadside gift shop where I was able to buy a wide brim hat for only $3. It wasn't as wide brimmed as my normal hat which I need to replace anyway because of tears and damage.
See this guide for more details lakbaypinas.com
This is how I discovered this hike. |
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Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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