Why Not Maranat? (The Mt Maranat exploratory dayhike)

September 01, 2013

San Jose Del Monte - Norzagaray Boundary, Bulacan

Everyone's been to Mt Balagbag. And Mt Maranat is the darker hued mountain beside it. "Hinulaan ko lang yung iti natin eh!" the host of this event confessed. Unrated in Pinoymountaineer, no official itinerary template, unknown. That's what Maranat is. After more than four months of hiatus from the mountains, that's what i signed for.

5AM 

Rendezvous point is Tunko, SJDM, roughly an hour bus ride from Cubao (Fare: 45 pesos). With that, accessibility is not much of a problem. 

6AM 

From Tunko, there are jeepneys to and from Licao Licao. First trip will be around 5AM and last trip from Licao2 will be at around 6PM. Fare is 26 pesos for less than an hour travel time. If you're in a large group, you do not need to worry about jeeps since they'll be everywhere ready to be hired.

Also, keep  in mind that this is the same jump-off point of the famous bike trails of Mt.Balagbag so your research about it is very much applicable with Mt.Maranat.

7AM

We're locked in this idea that Maranat will be as a breeze as Balagbag so we are in everything but hurry. Ate Nene of Sitio Bocaue may have mentioned to scrap those expectations but we carried on. She gave us 2 guides for 800 pesos for that day. 

Our initial plan, however Ate Nene quips, is a Maranat-Balagbag traverse. And since Maranat is not that much famous, our guide fee is from the art of haggling since the locals don't have the standard rates.  I don't mind paying extra though,if that's a way we can help  them locals and drive them to really take care of this wonderful place. 

The  trail i'll say is amazingly cleaner compared to that of Balagbag or any other inhabited trails elsewhere. Our guide says that most of them parts were privately owned. Fruit-bearing trees are abundant and bamboo harvesting and coal mining is very eminent.

Most part of the ridge gives you a clear view of Mt Balagbag.

Kudos to the local government for the reforestation efforts making the trail all the more enjoyable. All trails, as it is being used by the locals constantly, are pretty well established, a probable Trail Class 1-3. 

8.30AM

We instantly got our groove in the trail and arrived at this little sari-sari store after an easy walk. Maranat river and falls, our guides explained, will be around 3 hours at an average speed. 

Larger groups, like our crowd of 12, would really take much more time in the river. Not sure why is that but everything made sense when we got there. 

9.30AM

The rigde trail ended in a descent to the river bed. And boy when i say descent, i mean steep trail class 3-4 that requires you some maneuvers. I don't mean the scary ones though. This is the type that novice thrill seekers would enjoy. Though, going back there if we back trail, will be a pretty hardcore assault.

Best thing about that part of the trail is that it gave us a sneak peak or probably the best view of our destination.  

The Maranat Falls. 

The remember i told you about us spending quite a chunk of time in the river? 

Well, this can justify that.

And what to do while we wait for our turn? Give in to the river calling my name. 

By the river we met Tatay Nestor, the owner of the lone house by the Maranat Falls, some 200 meters ascending from the river. He told us the river separates SJDM from Norzagaray. And with him is Ace whom i initially thought is a local but really is just a hardcore adventurer. He became our guide for the entire day. No offense with our hired ones but Ace here speaks the adventure language i so can understand. 

The shirtless hunk on the left is Tatay Nestor and his humble abode. 

He told us we're welcome anytime to spend the night under his roof. 

11AM

Told you that river took time.

Now we face the grueling ascent to Tatay Nestor's place. After draining my energy swimming against the rapids of the river and also rappelling across, steep trail is a bit intense. And i love every moment of it. 

11.30AM

We finally arrived at our destination, Tatay Nestor's place tired and hungry. Wait, destination is Tatay Nestor's place? 

Then we learned from Ace that Maranat's summit is a grueling 4 hour climb from where we are. This is the reason why i cant give out a perfect itinerary template for this dayhike. Did i mentioned how we just rolled some dice to come up with an itinerary? 

Tatay Nestor offered nilagang kamoteng kahoy which we indulged hesitantly. His hospitality is above the sky i tell you. We're even offered to pick guapols planted around his house.Most of all, he offered us to come back and stay longer. Then i'm thinking of next week eh?

Some of us are still hard on the idea of traverse, keeping in mind that Balagbag is just about a couple of hours easy climb.  So after our quick lunch, Ace lead us down to the Falls. And when i say falls, i mean,lots of em. 

1.30PM

After the joys of never ending cliff dives, we regrouped and seriously assessed our traverse plans. By this time, the decisions is a lot easier. We willingly ditched the grassy mountain for a couple of hours more in this paradise. 

3PM

We unwillingly left Tatay Nestor's place. A couple of clouds are showing some signs of rain and we don't need that. Not until we crossed the river which they say swells right after some downpours. 

Though there are possible en routes for a traverse from Tatay Nestor's place, crossing this river to and fro is the most common and the one being used by the locals. 

Luckily enough, rain poured after an hour from our river cross. Rain wrapping up our climb, is a pleasant surprise; shaped up this climb to be one of my favorite.

5PM

We are all down the jump-off and piled on to the comfort rooms to clean up. Then, it took us a couple of hours more to go back to Tungko for our dinner. 

As i wrap things up in my head, i instantly told my friends how i need to blog about this experience. First line of business, i've to give this climb a 5/9 ratings for the boulders, ridges and 70-80 degrees assaults. Do not take my word from it though, as i've told you, we've been to just halfway through to the summit. Maranat summit and Maranat-Balagbag traverse is probably doable in a 2 day itinerary; or a day hike with absolutely no time to explore the enticing beauties of the water cascades. 

Given my fascination with Falls and waters in general, this climb shaped up to be one of the most enjoyable, nearest and cheapest in the greater Manila area. All the more, I feel that what i've seen is just the tip of a humongous iceberg, just a cave mouth waiting to be explored. 

However accessible the jump-off is though, turned out to be a not so easy hike as we have initially expected. But i wont discourage you to take on its challenge. Anyway it is not a question of how you can survive its trails, but what you can do to take care of it and keep it as it is. 

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