Pinagbanderahan Hike

Pinagbanderahan, Zig Zag Road along the towns of Pagbilao and Atimonan, Quezon

Coming from Lucena City this is the most accessible mountain for me to climb. Combined, the ascent and descent usually takes two hours, but since I insisted on going inside two of the caves, and it rained during the middle of our trek, I was on that mountain for almost three hours.

The trail was mostly stairs, so it was a workout for my thighs and legs. The floor was also damp, so we had to navigate carefully or else risk tumbling down. Since it was the rainy season, the trees and the leaves scattered on the floor were peppered with water. So the effect of it looked like everything was glistening under the weak sunlight.

We were the only people to climb that day, so it was kind of scary to think about the fact that the three of us have the mountain to ourselves.

The difficulty level of this mountain is 1/9, but I was heavy breathing in some parts of the mountain despite its unassuming level. There are many undiscovered caves on this mountain, but only one is really safe for climbers to explore.

Kuya Mario, our guide, was nice enough to tell me a bit about the history of Mt. Pinagbanderahan. He could have saved himself from explaining though because I could have just read about it at the top.

Reaching the top was refreshing because it was so bright compared to the shade of the forest we just passed through.

Going down was easier for me even though I slipped and fell on my butt. It was raining but the cover of the trees made it feel like it was only drizzling so we didn't get that wet from our climb. We used a different exit, so we had to walk on the road to return to the park. This climb was short but straightforward. And the caves were a nice addition to the hike. This is a perfect mountain to climb for beginners.

PS - There is a parking lot, bathrooms and eateries beside the tour guide's office at the top of Zig Zag Road.