Mt. Ayaas + Mt. Sipit Ulang Day Hike

#yagitChronicles

These two mountains – Ayaas and Sipit Ulang are just one of the few hiking destinations for nature lovers, adventurers, beginner and intermediate hikers and “hugot” aficionados.

Blades of gold and green  Tall Cogon/Kunai grass coats the top of the mountain. Their blades dance with the wind under the bright sun; a fine weather when we got there.

Its proximity to the metro makes it a good candidate for a twin day hike and its very established trail makes it very popular for both intermediate and new hikers.

Classification by Pinoy Mountaineer (Mt. Ayaaas):
Minor climb
Difficulty: 3/9
Trail Class: 1-3

Classification by Pinoy Mountaineer (Mt. Sipit Ulang):
Minor climb
Difficulty: 3/9
Trail Class: 1-4

Budget : <1,400 Php per head (Group of two)

Itinerary: 

4:30am   Meetup Farmers, Cubao (beside Jollibee)
4:45am   ETD UV Terminal to Eastwood, Rizal (Alight at Total Gas Station)
5:20am   ETA Eastwood, Rizal, (Ride Tricycle to Brgy Mascap)

Just across the street where you alight , you will see a queue of tricycle waiting for passengers tell the driver you are going to Brgy. Mascap.

Tricycle fare is 150 pesos (one way).

5:45am    Arrival at Brgy. Mascap Brgy. Hall (Register)

5:56am    Start Hike to Mt. Ayaas

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Trail to Mt Ayaas is mostly “leg works”. You’ll rarely use your arms and hands except for holding on to some woody vines or small trees for balance.

Few shots along the way: A speck of red on a sea of blue and green, still stood out among the three.

Along the way to Mt. Ayaas summit, you will pass by series of banana plantations. Other crops are also planted along the way.

7:35am    Mt. Ayaas Summit

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If there’s one thing I like best about Mt. Ayaas, it’s got to be the Summit and the trail near the summit.

Another hiker pose for a picture #stolen

Wide portion of the mountain is blanketed with tall grass and when you arrive at the summit, scenic view awaits. there are very few trees at the summit so you can see the rest of the neighboring mountains like Mt. Hapunang Banoi and Mt. Pamitinan.

Few shots along the way : Cogon grass everywhere!

The metro is also visible from the top with all the towering buildings which really looks so tiny when viewed from afar. One thing I don’t like in the view is the haze of the metro – this gray blanket of smog covering the city. So I suggest you focus on the “greener” side where mountain ranges extends like chains of interconnected summits as far as the eye could see.

8:00am   Start descent
8:55am    Arrive at Brgy. Proper (have some rest and snacks at Sari Sari Store)
9:05am    Start trek to Mt. Sipit Ulang
9:10am     Jump off Mt. Sipit Ulang
9:30am    Traverse “Super Trail” limestones ( take some pictures along the way)

Makeshift footbridge along “Super trail”

Braving the perilous way to this pointed slab of limestone, we gathered our courage to get to this spot.  “Emo mode”

Braving the perilous way to this pointed slab of limestone, we gathered our courage to get to this spot. “Emo mode”

10:10am   Rest, buy snacks from Aleng nag titinda (Yup, May Tindahan, mahal though. Pero tandaan walang mahal sa taong uhaw. )

10:21am   Arrival at summit, Buy snacks (Again!), Queue starts

Chill under the tree near the summit
Picture taking at the summit
Picture taking at the “summit of the summit”

There’s quite a lot of hikers already when we arrived in the summit. Well not much. Problem here is every group is allotted at least 15 minutes for picture taking. Imagine this, We are 6th in line so 15 minutes x 6 do the math. That’s how long we waited just to have climb the summit.

The kunyare nahihirapan faces (pero di nga mahirap talaga mga tsong tatalas ng bato!) Mas matalas pa sa dila ng kapitbahay mo. De jk lang!(No room for hate here)

Finally! Almost in the “summit of the summit” part .

Good thing there’s a lot of shade in the waiting area. Not just shade. Some good samartan built a long wooden bamboo chair in a tree nearby. So chill you must. Habang nag hihintay..

Hogging all the space, this monster took all the chair for himself. Kidding! I found a good place too. ( we call him the monster of code review because he always see bugs in your code then makes you revise your scripts. Geez! )

At the summit of the summit. They call it the “Sipit”.

When viewed from afar, the summit looks like a crab’s pincer thus the name “Spit Ulang”.

Take extra care if you want to try climbing the “sipit” there’s very few foothold and the rock is realy sharp. So careful.

11:45am   Start descent

A good place to rest. Cool and shady.

12:05pm  Back to jump off

Photos along the way:  Some hikers stacked up some rocks along the river side.

Pay guide fee ( 500 pesos for each Mountain)
Lunch
12:55pm  Brgy Mascap departure via Tricycle
1:25pm    UV to Cubao
2:40pm   Arrive at Cubao

Expenses:
FX from to Farmers to Eastwood and vice versa: 100
Guide fee: 1000
Tricycle from Eastwood to Brgy. Mascap and vice versa:300
Environmental Fee : 50

Total: 1450 per   person 

*minus the “maluhong” Jollibee prior to commute.  Eh masarap ang peach mango pie eh bakit ba

Doing a solo twin day hike here is quite expensive because minimum rate is 500 pesos per mountain so as much as possible hike by group so you will spend less.

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