When Fog Meets Mud: Mt. Parawagan

 
The weather these days is becoming more and more unpredictable. After three weeks since our last exploration, we finally had the chance to hike again and we've decided to revisit the mountains of Montalban, perhaps to try one more rocky peak. But as luck, or rather unluck, would have it, rains were expected to fall that weekend that we thought we might have to abandon plans. Fortunately though, we were still left with a rather easy option that would take us to a safer but slow and eerie ascent—Mt. Parawagan.

Mt. Parawagan and the Mountains of Montalban

Mt. Parawagan is part of the longer Sierra Madre range that extends into parts of Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal. Rising at a height of 480 meters above sea level, Mt. Parawagan neighbors a number of prominent hiking destinations in the area including Mt. Susong Dalaga and Mt. Lagyo, and Mts. Hapunang Banoi, Pamitinan, and Binicayan in the nearby Pamitinan Protected Landscape. Mt. Parawagan is considered a minor climb and is quite popular among beginner climbers as well as mountain bikers. The jump off point is located at Sitio Wawa, Barangay San Rafael.

Commuting to Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal

Since this is our third excursion to the area, we are already familiar with the commute options going to Montalban. If you're coming from Cubao, Quezon City, you can take the UV Express parked beside Famer's Plaza (@ Php 50.00). If coming from Marikina area, there are also jeepneys, both old school and modern, that can also take you to Montalban, just make sure that you are going past Hi-way (i.e. Rodriguez Highway) and into Luver's/Eastwood.

We met up at the WOWTODA tricycle terminal across Puregold San Rafael (Luver's Mall). The tricycle rides straight to Pamitinan Protected Area costs Php 75.00. We later learned that there are also jeepneys that are bound to Wawa, which make sense since our previous hikes had us leaving the area in jeepneys (Wawa-Kasiglahan @ Php 13.00 to/from Luver's).

As a low pressure area affected the country on the morning of February 20, we have decided to start the trip when the sun is already up. We hoped that by the time we reached Montalban at around 9:00 am, the rains would have dissipated. The forecasts expected rain for most of the day so we braced ourselves for a wet hike.

Hiking to Mt. Parawagan

There is a light drizzle as we arrived at Sitio Wawa at around 9:30 am. Even if you have not made prearrangements with local guides, it is more likely that some will approach you and assist you to the registration area. As with Mt. Susong Dalaga, the fee for hiking Mt. Parawagan is Php 800, though we'd hazard that once you are familiar with the route to the top, you can go by yourself (at your own risk, of course. The same cannot be said of Mt. Susong Dalaga). Nonetheless, we opted to have a guide and it would be apparent later on that we would need one. At this point we were introduced to our guide for the day, Ate Elena.

We began the hike thereafter and started on the same road that lead us to Mt. Susong Dalaga. This part of the trail is around two and half kilometers of walk along paved road so it is definitely a good start for beginner hikers. There are still houses along the way so it doesn't immediately feel outdoor like.

Ate Elena leading us. The trail is popular among bikers

Every so often bikers would pass us by, going to and from the mountain. Trail runners also frequent the trail and we encountered a few of them that day. We then reach the part that forks into the trail to Mt. Susong Dalaga

The rough trail leads to Mt. Susong Dalaga

Mt. Parawagan can be seen from this trail. The thick fog (or clouds) covers a large part of the summit.

Mt. Parawagan from a distance

Even as the trail is paved, the slope is still gradual and we felt our hearts beating fast (we haven't had much exercise lately 😕). After about an hour or so, we reached another junction but this time, our trail would continue on a rough trail.

Sign at the start of the rough trail

Some vehicles are parked here, which we assumed brought travelers to this mountain. It is also a location of a camp site, the first of the many that lines the trail up to Mt. Parawagan. We took a quick rest and some refreshments at this stop. Though the sun is covered by the clouds, our shirts were soaking in sweat already. A bit of chatter among the locals reveals the muddy struggles up ahead, for both people and vehicles.

It was 10:20 am when we began the next part of our trek. Though the pavement ended, the earth is not immediately clayey. Also, at the time the rains stopped apart from a light drops every now then so we had an easy time. Ate Elena also shares that on dry days, the trail can become very dusty and with less shade, it can also get very hot.

Behind us, we can see the other mountains in the area, though Mt. Susong Dalaga is hidden behind them. However, we can see Mt. Lagyo, scarred by the ongoing quarrying of rocks to be used for the ongoing dam construction.

Mountains behind us

Mount Lagyo

Because the incline up is gradual, we barely noticed that we are already on very high ground. There are still some people residing at this height. Most of them rely on solar energy as electric companies no longer reach the area.

As mentioned, the trail is popular to trail runners, though it's not just people running.

We encountered some pooch along the way

We have barely been making steep ascents at this point. We can only guess that on clear, dry days, the walk up would have been much quicker. Also at this point, the fog is starting to drop.

The light rain was going on for a while now and the trail is starting to get more muddy. We passed by a few more houses and the occasional chickens and pigs. We wondered how life goes on at the top of the mountain and how difficult it might be to get provisions. Every now then, a dirt bike would pass us by and we've witnessed a fall and some near misses as they try to descend down the muddy path.

The rain is starting to pick up but we didn't mind getting wet since it is still not a downpour. Ate Elena on her part settled on a banana leaf for cover. The fog starts to thicken as the rain continues to fall.

Ate Elena and her banana leaf umbrella

As we continue along, the fog continues to thicken.

The fog thickens

We were starting to get zero visibility as we move forward.

...and thickens

Until we found ourselves in the middle of a horror movie/game.

Silent hill?

It was not really scary though. Rather, it was fascinating being caught up inside the thick fog. I'd say the fog adds some mystical touch to the whole experience. 

If only we haven't spent a large amount of time scraping mud off the soles of our shoes and sandals. As we got closer to the summit, the earth got muddier that we have to stop several times to shake them off or risk slipping on the trail.

We passed by the grotto with the large image of Jesus and before long, Ate Elena signaled that we're nearing the summit. There was short steep ascent until finally at 11:45 am, we arrive at our objective.

Summit of Mt. Parawagan

And there was no view to behold 😅. What else do we expect given the rain and thick fog? We were joined at the top by one biker who came all the way from Valenzuela, and likened the whole trail to a Walking Dead scene.

It was grassy with a couple of guava trees at the summit of Mt. Parawagan. On a clear day, you might be able to have a 360 degree view of Montalban up to the neighboring cities. You might be able to glimpse a view of the other peaks such as Mt. Binicayan and Mt. Pamitinan.

But not today. We settled on the taking pictures of the surrounding fog and the dews among the grasses but we contented ourselves with knowing that we might have already seen what we missed today from the top of the other peaks that we summited here in Montalban.

At the summit of Mt. Parawagan

Wrapping Up

We stayed up for less than half an hour before we decided to start our descent. The rain was starting to pour harder as we go down and the trek was made more arduous by the constant mud sticking on our feet. We had to grab some branches just to scrape the mud off. However, we kept reminding ourselves that it could have been worse.

The trail down is made easy by a couple of dogs that we encountered. We've brought some dog treats for this reason and we were happy that the pups happily obliged themselves for a stick or two of treats.

Farther down, Ate Elena led us to a natural spring, a source of water for some of the locals, where we washed off the soles of our sandals.

Natural well at Mt. Parawagan

Our pace was slow that we reached the paved road at almost 2:00 pm and from there on our walk down became easier. Some drivers offered to pick us up as we go down but we declined since our goal was to complete the hike on foot. Besides, we spent most of the week sitting down and this is our chance to give our legs a good stretch. The sun started to peek out of the climbs as we continued our way down.

It was about 3:00 in the afternoon when we got back to the registration area. We had a quick wash at a nearby artesian well and after settling our obligations with Ate Elena, we finally headed out to nearby San Mateo for our long overdue meal.