Hiking is an entirely different activity which gives you an entirely different feeling than merely travelling cities and tasting never-before-tasted delicacies. Let me just step back from the travels and tell you something about an activity that you might want to try, something more intimate with nature, lets talk about HIKING!

I personally chose Mt. Iglit to be the first entry in my series of hiking adventures because the hike was special. This was my first hike with my dearest Pao. We literally went through ups and downs, and rocky muddy roads (with marshmallows) just to climb Iglit and see this

Ughhh, mornings are the best up there. Before sunrise is freaking treasure for the eyes; and when the sun came, words can’t define how much joy it brought us. Even Pao was shocked, mesmerised by the beauty of the mountain, it’s landscape (from one peak to another), with a good amount of sun rays striking the green field.

But hold your brakes, let us rewind to finding the place, how much energy to store the night before, and other how to’s before reaching such heavenly beauty.

Mt. Iglit is located at Calintaan, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines with climbing difficulty of 6/9, trail class 3 with bouldering according to pinoymountaineer.com. In simple terms, expect a loooong walk and use of hands for balance. In my personal experience, we traversed our way through for 8 to 9 hours. We started at roughly 7 AM and reached the final station (sleeping station) at 4 PM. Members of our group are legitimate mountaineers who climbed Iglit multiple times already so there’s no much time to rest 😀

OKAY, where to begin? You need to locate Occidental Mindoro.

• From Manila, the easiest way is to ride a plane to San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, and proceed to the DENR office and be guided before starting your adventure. For first timers, make sure to always register and get your permit before hiking. San Jose is located in the ‘south-most’ of the province while Calintaan is licated in the middle part of the Province, near Sablayan (the biggest municipality in OcciMin).
• From Batangas, you might want to try riding a roll-on roll-off (RORO) ship to Abra de Ilog, the winterfell of Mindoro. From there, ride a bus/van to Sablayan and again, locate the DENR office to secure your permit and instructions.

I was born and raised in Occidental Mindoro before we moved. My hiking companions since 2016 are also bred in Mindoro so there is really no problem for our group finding the place and making our way through. However, for visitors, a guide and proper orientation of dos and donts is advisable since Mt. Iglit is a protected area and a home to the tribesmen of Mindoro “the Mangyans”. Of course we don’t want to cause trouble because we are just passers to their land. THEY ARE DOING US A FAVOR.

I am not a fan of itineraries especially when hiking. No “at 1PM, you need to see this mountain right here, they serve special tacos” or the likes. It’s just leaves and streams appreciation and possibly joining soul with nature. So here’s what you can get from me:

DAY 1

• This is no 1-day hike. Allot one or two nights up there. The sleeping station is very comfortable.
• Start your hike as early as possible because you will be walking, climbing, struggling for 9 to 11 hours depending on how much time you need before you start moving again.
• On the way, there are few streams (mini falls formed) where you can shower a bit and chill.
• There is a wide running stream along the way where you might need to cross a hanging bridge which is not really a bridge but a single strip of rope-like metal. If the stream is not wild, then lucky you! You can just pass through with just wet ankles. (see bridge photo below)
• Walk, walk, walk. Nod and greet if possible the people you come across. Just walk and wait for a few hours before you see something majestic. It is waiting ahead.
• There will be a station where you can cook and eat before reaching the sleeping station. Of course, who would hike without food?
• By the time you arrive at the sleeping station, be ready to prepare your dinner party with those pancit canton and longganisa or if you are extra prepared, your chicken adobo. Thank you Paolo for the adobo.
• Relax, play that Uke, and throw jokes while looking at the stars

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DAY 2 (with relaxation)

• Start early. Wake up at 5:00 AM and run to higher grounds to see the before sunrise look of the land.
• Ditch early breakfast and wait a little more for the sun.

Alternative DAY 2

• Climb the summit (which we did not do)

Allot 5-7 hours going down; and as much as possible, you walk with the sun up. For our group, we bathed at the wide stream I mentioned above. You can also cliff-jump at the station.

Now come on, plan your next hike, touch that cloud, and enjoy life!