There is nothing in the world that can parallel the experience you get through hiking. It’s not every day that you would slog a heavy backpack that feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulder (and back) while laboring on a seemingly endless ascending trail undergoing through heat, cold, rain, thirst and hunger for hours, sometimes days just for a sliver of a hope that there will be a gorgeous clearing on top of the mountain. So when Mother Nature’s generous enough to show us her masterpiece once you reached the summit, one could not help but feel that it is truly is one of the most rewarding experiences one can have in life!
To begin with, there’s no guarantee that you will experience a glorious sunrise, sea of clouds phenomenon, or in short, a beautiful summit view, on top of a mountain. Sometimes, there’s even nothing to see on top when the weather is bad or when we’re really unlucky, as thick clouds would cover the top and rendering the entire place in total whiteness. In fact, in my four years of hiking around the country, half of the times it would end up in disappointments as I would see no clearing on top of the mountain.
Fortunately, I’ve learned to embrace the entire process of hiking as some sort of a therapeutic activity, savoring every moment on the trail being surrounded by trees, listening to bird songs while breathing much needed fresh air. They’re my much needed respite from the craziness of our modern society, so even if I’m deprived of a good summit view, I still feel happy and inspired. Even so, I cannot deny that to reach the top of the mountain and be greeted by an astonishing view makes the climb extra worth it for it is the cherry on the top or the icing on the cake of the climb. Hence in my four years of hiking around the Philippines, I could say that these six mountains have truly captivated me with their magnificent summit views.
MOUNT AMUYAO
Mount Amuyao is memorable to me for it is my first time witnessing an actual sea of clouds on top of a mountain even though it’s really just cloud clusters back when I was there in March 2017. Still, the view here on the 11th highest mountain in the country is amazing, especially on sunrise, as you’re treated to a 360 degree view of the cascading mountains of the Philippine Cordilleras, with the sun rising to paint the endless mountains and the sky with hues of crimson and bronze. The trail here going to the top of the mountain is also very captivating, as you get to trek through centuries old rice terraces immortalized in our twenty peso bill and in the ending of the movie Avengers Infinity Wars.
MOUNT APO
The tallest mountain in the Philippines offers a fantastic view that never fails to amaze me even if I’ve been there twice. Scrambling to the top on an otherworldly rocky landscape of Mount Apo, which is actually an active volcano, in the early hours of the morning, you will be treated to a magnificent view of the mountain’s Crater Lake once you’ve reached the top and if you’re lucky enough, a glorious sunrise revealing a panoramic view of the Southern Mindanao Mountains that’s blanketed by seas of clouds, with a distant Mount Matutum jutting out and looming in the background from a distance.
MOUNT HALCON
Located in the island of Mindoro and renowned as one of the hardest mountain in the Philippines, Mount Halcon, or “Sialdang” meaning above the clouds in local tongue, holds the key to one of the most beautiful summit view in the country for the few who’s bold and brave enough to climb her. Taking two days of punishing uphill climb just in time for you to reach the summit to spend the night, you will awaken to a morning where the sun rises just in time to revitalize your tired self while treating you to a sea of clouds formation that’s so close to you and your campsite you can almost swim on it! If heaven exist on our own earth, this must be it!
MOUNT KUPAPEY
One of the best kept secret in the Philippine Cordilleras, the quaint highland village of Maligcong is a backpacker’s paradise surrounded by centuries old rice terraces and stunning mountains, with Mount Kupapey being the star of them all. Located beside the famous Sagada but with lesser crowds, a trek to Kupapey takes only an hour getting to the top, even as you’re captivated by the scenery unfolding around you, as both the golden lights of the sun and blankets of cloud unveil below you a masterpiece of man and nature that is Maligcong rice terraces. Built by the native Kankanaeys centuries ago with their bare hands to raise crops, it is a proof that man can coexist with nature harmoniously. With the recent news of constant environmental degradation and destruction like the various forest fires around the world as well as the rising sea level due to melting ice caps, all because of man’s folly, a visit to Maligcong and a trek to Mount Kupapey might be what the doctor ordered in order for you to renew your faith and hope in mankind.
OSMEÑA PEAK
Not all trail leading to the top of the mountain has to be hard on our foot and back, and Osmeña Peak is a proof of that. Located around two to three hours southward of Cebu City at the highland of Dalaguete, you only need to trek for fifteen up to thirty minutes to reach the highest point of the Island of Cebu, making it entirely possible to do this hike in the morning and be back in the city by sundown. Though Osmeña Peak is an easy hike, not many of my Cebu friends and acquaintances has been there, which is a shame, as at the summit, you will be treated to one of the most beautiful viewpoint in the island of Cebu that consists of a karst like scenery of endless greens broken randomly by countless jagged rocky peaks, earning this place as Cebu’s counterpart to the neighboring Chocolate Hills of Bohol. Having been to many peaks around the country, Osmeña Peak still left me in awe. Nindot Kaayo!
MOUNT PULAG
The reason why I got started hiking in the first place. Mount Pulag, after all these years, is still one of the most beautiful mountain I’ve ever hiked to, even as all the mountains I’ve been to are gorgeous in their own way. Ranked as the third tallest mountain in the Philippines located in the province of Benguet, I’ve been here three times and each experience is special in its own way. Whether it’s my first time here as a newbie in the beginner friendly Ambangeg trail, my return trip a year later battling exhaustion on the much more difficult Akiki trail, or my third time leading a group of joiners again through the beginner friendly Ambangeg trail, Mount Pulag never failed to captivate me with her timeless view at the summit. Suffice to say, it would be a crime if someone who has a least bit of interest in hiking to never have hiked and experience Mount Pulag’s fabled sunrise and sea of clouds at least once in his or her lifetime!
This sums up the six peaks that in my personal opinion, has the most beautiful views in the Philippines. That isn’t to say that all the rest of the mountains not in the list aren’t worth going for every mountain is beautiful and unique in their own way, it’s just on the countless mountains I’ve hiked in the past four years, these significant six awed me the most.
So to the readers of this blog who hikes as much as I do, I know you have your own personal favorite summit views and I would be very much interested to hear from you. And to the readers who hardly hikes or is just considering taking up hiking in order to get fit, to travel and see more of our country, or to even drastically turn your life around as part of your new year’s resolution for the year 2020, my advice is just do it! Lace up your shoelace, grab a backpack and let’s go hiking. Pretty soon you’ll come up with your own list of your personal favorite summit views. Happy hiking!
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