Peaking Pico de Loro

After trekking Mt. Pulag, I swore I’d never trek again for the next 10 years… But I wanted to set foot on top of this monolith…

The Monolith

So, I found myself hiking at Mt. Pico de Loro.

My stamina had already improved slightly. I could now run 300 meters once a week. I had completed 5 yoga sessions a few months back. And I had been thinking about exercising. Plus, this was only a day hike, so I was quite excited to conquer that monolith. I booked the trek with Travel Factor with my friends Leo and Luther (who agreed to sweep me, knowing that I was incredibly slow). And on the wee hours of one Saturday, we hopped into a van and off we went.

Forested trail of Mt. Pico de Loro

The trail to the summit—to the parrot’s beak—was mostly forested.  But although we were protected from the glaring summer sun, it was very, very humid. I consumed about 3 liters of water and Gatorade during the entire trek. Leo consumed about 4-5 liters. It was a good thing that there was a tindahan halfway to the peak because I only brought 2 liters of water. The trail was quite challenging (in my opinion) too… It was steep and we had to walk over boulders.

Steep descent from the Parrot’s beak to the monolith

A little bit of climbing was needed to get onto the monolith. Fortunately for me, I had Leo to step on from below and Luther to pull me from above. So, I didn’t really do that much climbing. We were on top of the monolith around noon so the heat was blazing. But the views were fantastic. On one side, you could see the green mountains and on another side, you could see the Pico de Loro beach.

Trekking + Me = ####

And so, after all the heat, the sweat, and a dead toe nail… I conquered the monolith at Pico de Loro and lost 2 lbs. Hurray!

Expenses:

Expense	Cost (PhP)
Package (Travel Factor)	1,810
Inclusive of permits, guide and transportation
Others	248
Breakfast at McDonald’s	78
Cab to/from pick-up/drop off point	70
Additional drinks: Gatorade and Coke	100
Total	PHP  2,058.00