Location: Brgy. Jose Rizal, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, Philippines
Entry Point: Sitio Centro, Brgy. Jose Rizal, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur
Exit Point: Sitio Centro, Brgy. Jose Rizal, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur
Jump-off Point Elevation: 249 MASL (816.93 feet)
Elevation: 1,106 MASL (3,629 feet)
Days Required / Hours to summit: 1 day / 3 hours
Specs: Minor Climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail Class 3
Features: It has both open trails and forested trails. There is one creek and the entire stretch of the trail is characterized by series of assaults. A few houses by Bagobos (around five) halfway to the summit sells fresh buko fruit and two stores to buy snacks, lunch meal and other food items. Some of the trails are grown with bamboo and its ridge where peak is located provides an ample space for camping.
The entry point to the summit grounds
This is a part of my November 5-8, 2022 Davao del Sur Trip, where Nov. 5 and 8 were spent with my wife and son in Davao City and November 6-7 was allocated with my 2-day 3-summit climb in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. It became possible when contacting the Sta. Cruz Tourism Office recommended to me Rasta Man (Roben Tano) to be my guide since I am alone to climb these the three mountains.
The jump-off point
I left Davao City boarding a bus at 11:00 P.M. of November 5, 2022, where I just left my wife and son in our accommodation at Avida Towers and arrived in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur at 12:30 midnight which is already November 6. From there, I met my guide for the first time and we stayed in the barangay hall and waited for the morning where we did the food marketing ang breakfast.
Then, we boarded habal-habal from the town proper to the jump-off point in Barangay Jose Rizal for a distance of 36 kilometers for 75 minutes where I paid P200 since for me and my guide for P100 each. The registration fee for the climb is P50. We started the trek at exactly 6:00 A.M.
The trail at the start
The muddy and rocky trail
Since the night before rained, the trail was literally muddy and the rocks were slippery. I was like balancing all the time. I was not really ready for a muddy trail, though I was wearing a gore tex shoes.
The trail was along the densely-forested area
A creek along the trail after 16 minutes of trekking
Trekking in the mountains of Sta. Cruz is highly regulated by its tourism office. In fact, they require that in every 5 climbers, the ratio is one guide for a fee of P500. In my case, I paid P500 for the guide since I was alone in the climb.
At 6:40 A.M. bamboo plants were more visible
At this point, the trail was narrow and less muddy. I had the chance to have a more relaxing trekking without balancing myself from slippery rocks.
With a dog companion
My guide told me that the dog which you see in the picture usually go with the climbers from the jump-off point to the summit and back.
The open trail at 6:51 A.M.
I just noticed that my guide is always ahead of me for quite a distance. He didn't pattern his pace according to my pacing. Sometimes, when he is no longer visible to me, I would normally shout.
A buko break in one of the Bagobo's house
At 7:10 A.M., my guide and I rested in the house of a Bagobo which is along the trail. Of course, the main purpose is to buy a fresh buko.
Eating buko for a refreshing break
I got excited when my guide told me that fresh buko fruit is being sold in this house. I ordered three for P10 each and I drank its juice and have eaten the buko's jelly-like coconut meat.
Another relaxing stop at 7:40 A.M.
Houses here are really designed to provide a veranda to relax and rest. This part here has a few Bagobo's houses and one can also buy buko and other snack items.
An elevated veranda-like structure where climbers can rest
I am amazed that the houses here of Bagobo's provide a better elevated platform where climbers can take a rest or sip buko juice or eat some snacks.
Another place to accommodate climbers for their own rest
It was at 8:19 A.M. when I was able to reach another house of refuge since we stayed here. Some of those climbers stayed here and took their breakfast.
Heading to the summit entrance
At 8:45 A.M., I was already heading to the summit entrance. On my way, I had a question of why this mountain has been named Bamboo Peak.
The gate to the summit grounds
I entered the gate to the summit grounds at 8:46 A.M. It was such a gloomy day and only a few climbers were there. There were two groups there but we were only a total of nine at the summit.
Finally, I set foot at the summit at 8:58 A.M.
Yes, the elevation of the summit is at 1,106 MASL or 3,629 feet above sea level. In my own chill-chill pacing, my trek to the summit clocked at 2 hours and 46 minutes. Not bad, despite of the muddy and rocky trail that I had and I even had three buko fruits.
The summit without clearing
Since it was gloomy then, we have not enjoyed scenic clearing at the summit. Though my guide told me that summit is known for its frequent fog, creating a serene, other worldly atmosphere. Since it was too cold and windy, we only stayed for 23 minutes at the summit which was until 9:09 A.M. If you want to know how many mountains I climbed including international climbs, you can read by blog post The 105 Mountains I climbed excluding the hills.
Just a part of my descent
In our descent, we stopped at the last house heading to the summit at 9:38 A.M. At this point, usually climbers take an ample rest before having the last push to the summit. There is a store here that you can buy your refreshments or other personal necessities.
Invaded again this scenic "veranda" for the last time
I reached this point at 10:30 A.M. and bought buko fruit again at the nearby Bagobo's store. At this time, we have seen bigger groups pushing for the climb to the peak.
Reached the jump-off point at exactly 12:00 Noon
We did not stay long at the jump-off point. We took a habal-habal drive heading to Mount Loay jump-off point for our Mount Loay Climb in the afternoon and near the jump-off point, we took our lunch in a carenderia.
Sta. Cruz Tourism is highly regulated thus guide is required for climbers for a 1 is to 5 ratio.
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