Mt. Arayat

Lyngve had always wanted to climb this mountain. He said this mountain is very interesting. I had to agree with him, checking on the photos, it looks enthralling!

How to get there:

We were staying in a cheap hotel in Angeles City. Woke up 5:00 in the morning and asked the tricycle driver to take us to Brgy. Magalang which cost us 400 pesos. It was a long ride for a tricycle. He dropped us off in the first part of the Station of the Cross.

We had our breakfast for 10 minutes and started the trek around 7:10. We chose to follow the new trail. All we needed to do is follow the electric post/pole. There’s no chance of getting lost as long you follow the post. The trail was truly good, I liked it there. Some parts can be steep but easy.

I have read in an article that’s saying Brgy. Magalang is the best way to start the trek to Mt. Arayat, no need to hire a guide because no one’s going to insist. Unlike on the other side, that is Brgy. Bano, people can be really demanding when it comes to guiding fees.

It took us less than three hours in reaching the north peak, which is the summit of the mountain. The soldiers asked us to write down our names and didn't bother to ask if we paid the fee or which way we started the trek. A group of guys arrived 5 mins after us, the soldiers asked them where they started; the guys said they started in Magalang. One soldier said that was not the correct entrance and they had to register in Barangay Outpost. The guys were surprised. I was listening and didn't bother to tell the soldiers the truth. Another group of climbers arrived, and the same thing happened to them.

We took a lot of photos. The weather was perfect. The South Peak is visible from the North Peak; we can even see the rocks on the South Peak. Then we had our lunch, after that, we decided to do the traverse to South Peak. The trail is located at the back of the Nipa House. It was steep down. I was kind of worried we might get lost because there are some confusing trails. The best thing about this traverse is that there are marks of red, black and white plastic cellophane, which means, that’s the way. You just have to look for it.

Then we reached the rocks after an hour. Wow! You better climb the rocks because you can see 360 degrees the entire Pampanga, Mt. Pinatubo and Mt. Tapulao. The north peak and the climbers were even visible. Love it! Then we continued walking and walking and reached the south peak for less than an hour from the rocks. We continued walking for 20 minutes until we reached the campsite. We can see an extension in our GPS. We checked it out and I guess it was the view deck. Lyngve went further down and up to get on the view deck; I took some photos with a hill on the view. I got envious and asked Lyngve if I can do it myself. Lyngve wasn’t sure if I can do it so he had to accompany me. When I was on the view deck, to my left, it was a steep 1,000m down. It was scary. I think it was the most daring climb I ever did. I had to ask Lyngve to take photos real quick. I thought the wind would blow me off, I’d be dead ugly. But I survived. Haha!

We continued walking. Everything about the trail was perfect. It took us more than 2 hours to reach the foot of the mountain. We took a tricycle (50 pesos) and asked the driver to drop us at the jeepney station going to Angeles City.

Here's a GPS track just in case you need it:

Mt Arayat

EveryTrail - Find trail maps for California and beyond It was a long day filled with fun and excitement. I hope you were able to get information in my blog. Have fun and enjoy!