A Quiet Pace: Mt. Susong Dalaga (Rodriguez, Rizal)

2023 finally arrived and one of our long continuing goals is to remain fit and active. Fortunately, it coincides with another goal—more mountains. Thus we go back to where we left off from last year as we head back to Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal to touch down on another one of its peaks.

This time we visit yet another bosom of Mother Earth: Mt. Susong Dalaga.

The Mountains of Montalban

Mt. Susong Dalaga is a small mountain located within a part of the Sierra Madre range in Rodriguez, Rizal. Standing at 325 meters above sea level, the mountain has grassy ridges and is a relatively easy ascent. It is flanked by Mt. Lagyo, Mt. Binicayan, and Mt. Parawagan among others. The name means maiden's breast in Tagalog and is one of the many mountains in the country that is named as such. Last year, we have climbed at least one susong dalaga.

We initially planned to climb Mt. Susong Dalaga as a part of twin hike with Mt. Lagyo but as we learned later on, that may not be possible.

Commuting to Rodriguez, Rizal

As we had already visited the area last year, we just travelled to Montalban the same way as before. At early morning of January 8, we met up at the UV Express terminal station beside Farmer's Market in Cubao, Quezon City and took the Montalban-bound UVs. Fare costs Php 50 per person.

UV Express terminal at Farmer's Market, Cubao

The travel time to Montalban should be less than an hour. We got off at Luver's Mall in Barangay San Rafael and took the WOWTODA tricycle (@ Php 60) to get to the registration area at Sitio Wawa.

It was already past six in the morning when we arrived and the familiar view greeted us. Mt. Susong Dalaga is adjacent to the Pamitinan Protected Landscape which includes Mt. Pamitinan, Mt. Hapunang Banoi, and Mount Binicayan.

Mt. Pamitinan

Entrance to the Pamitinan Protected Landscape

Upon discussing our goals at the registration area, the person in charge told us that it would not be possible to do a twin hike because of the ongoing blasting operations at Mt. Lagyo. Apparently, the ongoing Upper Wawa Dam project uses rocks collected at Mt. Lagyo. We are slightly disappointed to learn that but at least we can still proceed with climbing Mt. Susong Dalaga.

Curiously, we are told that there are no registration fee for Mt. Susong Dalaga, only the guide fee which costs Php 800 for a group. At this point we are introduced to our guide for the day, Arjohn. It is worth noting that Arjohn is deaf-mute so there is a bit of challenge communicating with him. Fortunately, we are not novices to climbing so we have not thought much about this barrier.

At 6:30 we finally started our trek.

Climbing Mt. Susong Dalaga

The trail to Mt. Susong Dalaga starts at a length of paved road alongside residential houses. Here bicycle riders passed us by, either going to or returning back from what we assume would be Mt. Parawagan which is popular among riders and trail runners.

The path is popular among mountain bikers

After a while, we had to step out of the road as we began the rough trail. We are first greeted by rows of banana trees and grasses. At this point we can already see the conical peak which is Mt. Susong Dalaga. Arjohn would not fail to tell us every time the peak would appear at the distance. We also noticed a couple of advertisement for camping grounds along the way.

Mt. Susong Dalaga from afar

Vegetable patches and trellises (we recall spotting green beans) can be seen as we continued along the path. The path became wetter as it was greener. The sky was overcast and we were starting to worry about getting caught up in a rain deep in the trail. Despite our concerns, we still continued, passing by a small bamboo bridge and a brook.

There was a rest stop immediately after where we took a quick break. I guess at this point, dogs are to be expected where travelers are resting.

As we continued passing by more wet trails and streams, we arrived at some sort of fork in the road, where some locals told us that there is a new path going left that we must follow along. Clueless as we are, we just followed where Arjohn was going. This will not be the only time that we will be at this point in the trail.

But hey, wild pigs:

Arjohn was quick to gesture to us so we can see the foraging animals. The pigs immediately scrambled out of the way as we we went near, with us also being a little more cautious as those are still wild animals.

As we went on, the path turned into a small river. We made careful steps over slippery stones since we are wearing rubber shoes. We passed by a small resort with a natural swimming pool. At this point, it became clear to us that the path Arjohn might have known was already closed and he gestured to us that we have to retrace our steps. We felt a bit of dismay as we went back, for what we though would have been time lost. There was also a couple of missteps as we went back, as we both slipped on the rocks. Fortunately, nothing serious happened, just a bit of pride lost 😅. Arjohn would still assist us should it be needed, especially on the ever slippery path.

Finally we are back to where we had been earlier, where the pigs were grazing. Arjohn led us to another path, this time without running waters, but at times muddy and slippery nonetheless.

It could have been worse, if rain fell the day before. We also didn't have to worry about dipping our butts on running water.

As we continued on this path, the foliage grew thicker and the grass gradually grew taller.

We could hear sounds from a distance and time and time again, Arjohn would make a popping gesture with his hands as he point at the distance. At the time, we cannot figure out what he meant by that.

It finally it became clear to us what he was trying to communicate.

Blasting operation at Mt. Lagyo

As we learned earlier, Mt. Lagyo is also the site of the ongoing blasting operation. At our location, we can clearly see the extent of quarrying of rocks to be used for the dam project. We cannot help but feel saddened by the view of the broken side of the mountain. We wonder if Mt. Lagyo would still be accessible after all the work is done and how much would be lost by then.

We knew we were getting nearer as we began to see Susong Dalaga, with her grassy ridges, far more closer than before.

Thankfully we wore our trusty arm sleeves as brushing up against the tall grasses was inevitable.

Finally, at around 10:15 in the morning, we finally reached the areo—er, the area of the summit of Mt. Susong Dalaga.

At the summit of Mt. Susong Dalaga

With our guide Arjohn

At the summit, we had a 360 degree view of surrounding area. We can see glimpses of Mt. Binicayan, Mt. Lagyo, Mt. Parawagan, and the rest of the Sierra Madre mountains of Montalban. Thankfully, rain did not fall throughout the duration of our trek, thus we are left with nothing but only appreciation to every bit of nature that our eyes landed upon.

We took our time taking pictures and savoring the scenery. Once satisfied, Arjohn led us to another path opposite of where we came from, where a step path is carved alongside that edge of the mountain. The descent using this way is far more easier since the steepness is negated by the steps on the path.

And that trail ended on the small river 😂.

It appears that if we continued along the river earlier, it would lead to this path  that leads directly to the top of the peak. Based on the signages that we saw, this would have been a private trail that charges hikers for usage. It seems no one is enforcing the rule so we continued along without paying anyone.

The river trail is thus no longer a stranger to us and knowing how long the trail goes, made the trek back easier for us. We passed by the same streams and rest stops as before. Back at the vegetable area, we took one final snap with the mountain before heading back to the registration area.

Wrapping up

The whole experience is nothing short of surprises. Who would've thought we can last a whole climb communicating with just gestures? Wild pigs and chances of detours? I guess the whole experience taught us to be more tolerable and understanding of people around us but at the same time appreciate the fact the some people are still given opportunities in life despite the hurdles that they face. It also doesn't hurt to be thankful for the fact that we had the opportunity to appreciate nature in our travels. We are never sure if one day the same grand view that we are seeing today will still be the same view a few years down the line.

But these are all in retrospect. At the time, the only thing that we can think of is white rice and sisig to reward our efforts for the day.

Hooray!