We were wet every single moment of the hike except when sleeping, I pulled more than 500 leeches off my body throughout the hike and the undergrowth scratched me up beyond belief. Combine that with 2,800m of incline, multiple river crossings, and rugged terrain and it’s a damn tough adventure for the body and mind. The final layer of difficulty to this hike is receiving a permit, one of the most impractical processes of any trek in the world.
Mount Baloy is located in the beautiful, mountain region of Valderrama on the west side of Panay Island. It’s in the Western Visayas of the Philippines in a long mountain range that spans almost the entire west side of Panay. The peak is one of three tough climbs in the region, which combine to form a series called the Trilogy.
Mount Nangtud (2,073m), Mount Madjaas (2,117m), and Mount Baloy (1,958m) are the three mountains in the Panay Trilogy. It’s a bit of a challenge for trekkers who are mentally strong enough to complete all three peaks in the trilogy.
By cycle, I made my way to Valderrama in two days. The 150-kilometer journey from Ilo-City was broken up with an overnight stay in San Jose.
Upon arrival in Valderrama, I checked into the police station. They were unsure if Mount Baloy was even possible, and tried to convince me it had been raining too much. It hadn’t been raining too much and their reluctance would be a sign of things to come. They then sent me to the Mountain Rescue center, where I also signed in.
They called Benito, the guide and I waited there before he came to meet me and got a grip on the situation. Unfortunately, even with his contacts at the mayor’s office, it became clear we would need to go back to San Jose on the bus to get the initial permit from the IP office. It would have been great to read this requirement online before riding through San Jose on a bicycle.
The next day we rode the jeepney back to San Jose and got the permit. We also convinced the lady in the office we would email the permit from the local community in San Agustin rather than drop it back in physical form the next day.
That night we traveled all the way back to Valderrama and then by motorcycle to San Agustin. They approved our climb in a big group meeting of the elders that lasted more than an hour. It was emailed back to the IP office in San Jose and we began the climb the next morning. Sorry for that long story about a permit but that was the reality of the build-up to this hike.
After so much organization and preparation for this hike, it was great to finally set off and get started. The trail begins with about 20 river crossings. You will sometimes be up to hip height in the water or even higher depending on the recent rains. Along the way, you will pass a number of local fishing traps, which are huge structures built out of bamboo to trap fish in floods.
It takes about two hours to complete the river crossings and make it to the start of the uphill climbing. You will reach Camp 1, which is beside the river although it’s only used for hikers who start very late in the day. The local guides decided to just use flip-flops up until this stage but I opted to get my shoes wet, which I recommend from the first moment.
The next part of the hike is probably the most scenic. Following a winding path, you rise up a steep slope to look back over the gorge and the river you have just spent hours zig-zagging along. This section provided some of the best views of the hike. It takes about two hours of hiking in this section to reach the ‘Emergency Camp’, also known as Camp 2.
After just four hours, we reached Camp 2 at an elevation of about 800m. Little did I know, but this would be the last place where I wasn’t concerned about leeches. We set up camp on the little strip beneath the forest. There wasn’t much room here and I managed to set up my tent on a slight slope in the mud while the guys hung their hammocks nearby.
We rose early the next morning at Camp 2 and got ourselves packed up and ready for a big day. Our plan was to go straight from Camp 2 to the summit of Mount Baloy and then camp overnight at Camp 3. We set off up the open ridge, passing by the local, free-range cows. The incline on this day is pretty constant with 1500m gained to reach the summit.
The great thing about the dense nature of this trail is that even if the sun is out, you can avoid being exposed to the heat for the majority of the climb. However, what you cannot escape is the rain that is known to be a constant on Mount Baloy.
The other constant on Mount Baloy is the leeches. The locals had told me to expect leeches and I thought I’d come across a couple. Was I wrong! The leeches were intense. As soon as we reached the forest on the way from Camp 2 to Camp 3, they were everywhere.
I had more than 500 on me throughout the entire trip. Yes, I counted! While most of the leeches are small, they are hard to flick off.
They attach to your shoes and then crawl their way up your legs. It was disgusting and slowed us down a lot. It got to the point where there were so many, we didn’t remove them from our socks and only flicked them off if they crawled onto the skin of our legs.
After four hours and forty minutes, we reached Camp 3. It’s a wet, swampy little area inside the forest. Leeches were rampant. We set up our tents, had a quick pre-prepared lunch, and then made our way up for the summit push. It takes about an hour to get up to the summit from Camp 3.
On the way, you will encounter the ‘Snake Trail’. It’s essentially just a winding section of trail that has a lot of branches and roots tangled across the path, making it hard to progress. It’s nothing too technical and just forces a slower trek up to the summit.
At the summit, you actually have no view. There is a small plaque posted on a tree at the summit stating the elevation. This is where you get your photo for proof of completion!
Despite having no summit view, the entire area near the summit is like a mystical enchanted forest. Vines and moss are draped over twisted trees as fog rolls through and raindrops fall from the leaves. It’s very beautiful in its own way.
Find out more writings and journeys in my blog at https://www.journeyera.com/
Jackson Groves
We were wet every single moment of the hike except when sleeping, I pulled more than 500 leeches off my body throughout the hike and the undergrowth scratched me up beyond belief. Combine that with 2,800m of incline, multiple river crossings, and rugged terrain and it’s a damn tough adventure for the body and mind. The final layer of difficulty to this hike is receiving a permit, one of the most impractical processes of any trek in the world.
Mount Baloy is located in the beautiful, mountain region of Valderrama on the west side of Panay Island. It’s in the Western Visayas of the Philippines in a long mountain range that spans almost the entire west side of Panay. The peak is one of three tough climbs in the region, which combine to form a series called the Trilogy.
Mount Nangtud (2,073m), Mount Madjaas (2,117m), and Mount Baloy (1,958m) are the three mountains in the Panay Trilogy. It’s a bit of a challenge for trekkers who are mentally strong enough to complete all three peaks in the trilogy.
By cycle, I made my way to Valderrama in two days. The 150-kilometer journey from Ilo-City was broken up with an overnight stay in San Jose.
Upon arrival in Valderrama, I checked into the police station. They were unsure if Mount Baloy was even possible, and tried to convince me it had been raining too much. It hadn’t been raining too much and their reluctance would be a sign of things to come. They then sent me to the Mountain Rescue center, where I also signed in.
They called Benito, the guide and I waited there before he came to meet me and got a grip on the situation. Unfortunately, even with his contacts at the mayor’s office, it became clear we would need to go back to San Jose on the bus to get the initial permit from the IP office. It would have been great to read this requirement online before riding through San Jose on a bicycle.
The next day we rode the jeepney back to San Jose and got the permit. We also convinced the lady in the office we would email the permit from the local community in San Agustin rather than drop it back in physical form the next day.
That night we traveled all the way back to Valderrama and then by motorcycle to San Agustin. They approved our climb in a big group meeting of the elders that lasted more than an hour. It was emailed back to the IP office in San Jose and we began the climb the next morning. Sorry for that long story about a permit but that was the reality of the build-up to this hike.
After so much organization and preparation for this hike, it was great to finally set off and get started. The trail begins with about 20 river crossings. You will sometimes be up to hip height in the water or even higher depending on the recent rains. Along the way, you will pass a number of local fishing traps, which are huge structures built out of bamboo to trap fish in floods.
It takes about two hours to complete the river crossings and make it to the start of the uphill climbing. You will reach Camp 1, which is beside the river although it’s only used for hikers who start very late in the day. The local guides decided to just use flip-flops up until this stage but I opted to get my shoes wet, which I recommend from the first moment.
The next part of the hike is probably the most scenic. Following a winding path, you rise up a steep slope to look back over the gorge and the river you have just spent hours zig-zagging along. This section provided some of the best views of the hike. It takes about two hours of hiking in this section to reach the ‘Emergency Camp’, also known as Camp 2.
After just four hours, we reached Camp 2 at an elevation of about 800m. Little did I know, but this would be the last place where I wasn’t concerned about leeches. We set up camp on the little strip beneath the forest. There wasn’t much room here and I managed to set up my tent on a slight slope in the mud while the guys hung their hammocks nearby.
We rose early the next morning at Camp 2 and got ourselves packed up and ready for a big day. Our plan was to go straight from Camp 2 to the summit of Mount Baloy and then camp overnight at Camp 3. We set off up the open ridge, passing by the local, free-range cows. The incline on this day is pretty constant with 1500m gained to reach the summit.
The great thing about the dense nature of this trail is that even if the sun is out, you can avoid being exposed to the heat for the majority of the climb. However, what you cannot escape is the rain that is known to be a constant on Mount Baloy.
The other constant on Mount Baloy is the leeches. The locals had told me to expect leeches and I thought I’d come across a couple. Was I wrong! The leeches were intense. As soon as we reached the forest on the way from Camp 2 to Camp 3, they were everywhere.
I had more than 500 on me throughout the entire trip. Yes, I counted! While most of the leeches are small, they are hard to flick off.
They attach to your shoes and then crawl their way up your legs. It was disgusting and slowed us down a lot. It got to the point where there were so many, we didn’t remove them from our socks and only flicked them off if they crawled onto the skin of our legs.
After four hours and forty minutes, we reached Camp 3. It’s a wet, swampy little area inside the forest. Leeches were rampant. We set up our tents, had a quick pre-prepared lunch, and then made our way up for the summit push. It takes about an hour to get up to the summit from Camp 3.
On the way, you will encounter the ‘Snake Trail’. It’s essentially just a winding section of trail that has a lot of branches and roots tangled across the path, making it hard to progress. It’s nothing too technical and just forces a slower trek up to the summit.
At the summit, you actually have no view. There is a small plaque posted on a tree at the summit stating the elevation. This is where you get your photo for proof of completion!
Despite having no summit view, the entire area near the summit is like a mystical enchanted forest. Vines and moss are draped over twisted trees as fog rolls through and raindrops fall from the leaves. It’s very beautiful in its own way.
Find out more writings and journeys in my blog at https://www.journeyera.com/
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