Although considered as one of the more famous climbs for mountaineering newbies,
Mt. Romelo is better known for its waterfalls, namely: Buruwisan Falls,
Lanzones Falls, Sampaloc Falls, Sapang Labo Falls, Batya-Batya Falls,
Old Buruwisan, and Twin Falls (some say there is an 8th, "Diwata Falls, but I failed to verify this with the locals) that continue to serve as its crowd-drawers throughout the year.
Located in quaint Siniloan, Laguna, Mt. Romelo (although some fondly refer to
it as Mt. Famy in reference to the adjoining town of Famy, Laguna) is regarded
as a fun climb at 240 MASL. Nevertheless, climbing it would not be that fun
and challenging unless one is ready to get wet and dirty because of its muddy horse trails (yes, even
during summer).
While some would recommend hiking Mt. Romelo at summertime because it would mean less mud on the trail, hiking during the rainy
season however would be ideal for those who would want to see any of its seven (7) waterfalls at their best and mightiest.
With all these in mind, my former officemates collectively known as
P@Akyat together with my best climbing buddy (and his boxing trainer) went on a dayhike within the so-called Waterfalls Sanctuary of Eastern Laguna. While most in our group went to the Raymond Bus Terminal in Legarda (Sampaloc, Manila) at 0400H, three (3) of us decided to just wait for and hail the bus along Ortigas Avenue near Robinsons Galleria. Needless to say, the bus that will take us to Siniloan encountered some delays as it was already 0615H when the bus left the station. Fifteen (15) minutes later, we were lucky to be on board as the driver refused to stop at the gas station where we were waiting (because there was already a traffic enforcer at the intersection at that time). Hence, we had no choice but to jaywalk and run for the bus like crazy (in the middle of Ortigas and Meralco Avenue intersection).
It was 0850H when bus had a brief stop-over somewhere in the town of Mabitac, Laguna. The bus continued its trip after fifteen (15) minutes and we arrived at the junction after 10 minutes. We finally arrived at the jumpoff (opposite the KTri Restaurant) five minutes later (0920H).
After buying snacks and food for lunch at KTri, we proceeded towards and arrived at the Registration Area after a 5-10 minute walk from the highway. We paid the mandatory registration fees and after some pleasantries, we started hiking at 0945H.
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| The sign...on the left side of the highway |
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| We passed by this mini dam at the residential area |
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| Going to the jumpoff...there is a Dragonfruit Plantation on the left side of the road |
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| The Registration Area |
From the Registration Area, we passed through the hanging bridge and made our way through a number of houses and eventually entered the forest as the trail became steeper. We inched our way until we reached a clearing (It was one of the parts of the trail where there are no forest cover). The view of some parts of Laguna and Rizal were spectacular as the rustic scene of the countryside is really something to behold. We again entered the forest until we finally arrived at the 1st Station (Hut) at 1025H.
