Mount Isarog

Tags: Asia, Hiking, Latest, Mountains, Philippines, Ultras

Mount Isarog (2000m) is an ultra prominent volcano near Naga City, and one of the most boring hikes I've ever done in the Philippines.

Summit log:

14-Feb-2013: Mt Isarog 2000 m (prominence 1951 m)

Participants:

Lyngve Skrede - Norway
Local Guide - Philippines

Getting there:

Most people take the night bus from Manila to Naga City. The more you pay the more luxurious and comfortable the bus is, anything from regular buses to semi-sleeper buses. There are a dozen of bus companies doing this route, I prefer Penafrancia Lines. From Naga City take a jeepney to Panicuason or the much more frequent jeepneys to Carolina, then a motorcycle taxi to Panicuason trailhead.

Red tape:

A permit and a local guide is required. The permit is really just an entrance ticket (100 pesos per day) and can be obtained in Panicuason. It might be a good idea to go to Panicuason the day before your climb to secure a guide and pay the "permit".

Route description:

The trailhead is located at the end of the road in Panicuason (420 m.a.s.l). From here it's 6 km to the summit on a good trail. Notice that the gain of elevation is almost 1600 meters. Most hikers do Isarog in two days, I did it easily in one day. It's possible to do a number of side trips to waterfalls along the route.

Link to my GPS-track at EveryTrail (also possible to download)

Notes from the trip:

Emily got sick with fever the day before our climb, so we decided I should go alone. In order to get an early start, I decided to take a motorcycle taxi all the way from Naga City. He dropped me off at the end of the road in Panicuason where I met my local guide as agreed. We started out in a furious pace, but the 23 years old guide "hit the wall" after a couple of hours and he had to slow down. We reached the summit in 3 hours and 15 minutes. We had no views at all because of the rainy weather. The descent was fairly miserable because of the heavy downpour. We spent 15 minutes extra to visit a waterfall, before we arrived back at the trailhead. I had to wait a few minutes to get a motorcycle taxi to bring me down to Carolina. From there I took the jeepney back to Naga City.

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