BULACAN | Mt. Manalmon Hiking

Mt. Manalmon's rock part summit

S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

JUMP-OFF:              Sitio Madlum Brgy. Sibul San Miguel Bulacan, Philippines

TYPE:                       Minor climb

LLA:                         15deg. 15.11' N 121deg. 1.22' E, 196 MASL

TRAIL:                     Trail with continuous, flat slightly slope line and balance ascent

TERRAIN:               Terrain minimally steep, fall hazard possible

REQUIREMENTS: Hiking shoes/sandals, some sure footedness.

Mt.Manalmon part of the historical Biak-na-Bato National Park in San Miguel, Bulacan, was the second mountain I conquered, weeee!

At the jump-off, my newly gained friends

From Cubao, we took Cabanatuan-bound bus to Brgy. Kamias San Miguel, Bulacan (Five Star bus terminal near Cubao MRT station) P114/person. From there, we took tricycle to dusty road leading to jump-off, Sitio Madlum for P200/tricycle which was approx. 45mins. Don’t worry it’s really worth it.

BTW, there’s a mini market about 15 mins away from the jump-off. Drop by there if want to buy something. Also, if you want to be fetch after your hike, you can just inform your tricycle driver and have their numbers.

Crossing Madlum river via "balsa" (bamboo raft)

At the jump-off, just ask the locals for a guide (P60/person) whowill take you to the mountain’s summit. After agreeing on fee matters, started our trek by crossing the Madlum River via balsa (free for hikers) but others tried Monkey Bridge (free) instead.

After crossing the river.

We passed by a station-of-the-cross-like area upon crossing the River and then entered the Madlum Cave. Be careful because its really slippery. Stones are not just ordinary stones, they are marble!

The bush.

Afterwards we passed bushy areas and other part of the Madlum River. Along the trek, we will noticed a huge boulder in the middle of the way. If you decided to go to Mt. Manalmon’s summit, you turn right but if you want to go to Gola’s you turn left.

The campsite viewed from the summit.

Three hours of trek to campsite was accomplished with longing of chance of cold air, kinda warm due to trees enveloped most of the area. I was surprised then as a beginner, that the summit was just 5 meters away from the campsite as to compare to my first mountain climb at Nasugbu Batangas which was a couple of kilometers.

Rock face of the moutain's peak.

The view from peak was so amazing, 360-degree scenery view of Madlum River and different Mountains like Mt.Gola, Mt. Arayat and Mt. Buntis. Peak itself is just approximately 3 meters in diameter and Majority of it is a huge rock; the only ordinary rock I noticed in the whole area, not a marble nor sedimentary rock.

Mt. Gola on left with a view of Madlum river.

Another interesting part at Mt. Manalmon's summit is a certain spot where you'll get a perfect backdrop of the Madlum river and Mt. Gola.

Mt. Buntis seen from Mt. Manalmon's summit.

March 29, 2011:

Yey, this was my 2nd mountain to conquer. It's an easy climb, fit for beginners like me. Trail was ok, and i haven't notice any trash along, good points for the guides and locals who're taking care of the mountain! Ooops I also we had spelunking experience on Madlum Caves, traversed monkey bridge, zipline and swam on the river after the hike!