Who has ever walked the Leyte Mountain Trail and wants to share his/her experiences with me?
Thanks,
Yvekes
to my knowledge, nobody did the trail in the last 5 or so years. apparently, you don't get permission or guide from neither tourism office or DENR in neither ormoc or burauen or tacloban. from what i hear, they don't want to be responsible for any NPA issues that might happen, even though this is mostly theoretical now (for one, the NPA in leyte is mostly collapsed, and then they never did any harm to tourists).
this shouldn't discourage you at all from trying your luck yourself. i'm very curious about hearing experiences myself
good luck!
[ 08-Apr-2009, at 12:19 by ax ]
correct, you might want to have a word from Department of Natural Resource Office in Leyte before you begin your journey. This is to give you an idea where the ideal part to explore. The hills and mountains of Leyte are classified as landslide prone..especially now on rainy days part of summer (weird isn't it?).....other trekkers head off to the mountains of Luzon island..or better for further adventure you might try too the longest mountain ranges in Mindanao..the Diwata Mountain Range..a stretch of rigged slopes formed by the up thrust of the Pacific Plate against the Philippine plate.. you might want to have a birds eye view of that range at [snip]
Thanks for the hint, I surely check out that mountain range in Mindanao!
The hills and mountains of Leyte are classified as landslide prone
by whom? if that is so, please mention the source. i don't think they are more landslide prone than any other hills and mountains in the philippines. and you don't go hiking when there is a typhoon, do you?
I have some friends who are mountain guides based in Bacolod in Negros Occidental. So if you go there I could put you in touch with them.
Halo,
Looking trough internet and it seems nobody went the trail in spite the trail is heavily advertised.
I plan go there this year December. I consider 2 possibilities:
1) go there with my gf, she is experienced climber and well do in jungle. Take some food with and try to find way ourselvs.
2) find some local waray people near lake Mahagnao and try to ask guide there.
What do you recommend
First of all, you'll need a permit from the local DENR office, so maybe you're not even allowed to walk this trail on your own...
On the other hand, asking around for a local guide might be difficult. For Philippinos (Asians in general) it is very odd to hike with no purpose, most of these locals even take their motorcycle to go the toilet .
So after all, your best bet is to do this hike on your own if it is allowed, although it may be very difficult to find decent maps!
Please let me know what you've decided!
I know this is too late for a reply. But just for the benefit of those who are interested in walking the leyte mountain trail who happens to be landed by google on this forum, I wanna add what I know.
I am a Filipino trekker and I've been around the country pretty much. I've conquered six of the ten highest peaks in the country. Moreover, I've climbed the highest mountain in Leyte twice--Alto peak. This mountain is situated in Ormoc City. At is foot is Lake Danao (Southern exit of the Leyte Mountain Trail). Walking around lake Danao, I saw a signage (with an arrow) which read "Leyte Mountain Trail". Yes you guys are right. the LP talks about this trail in a way that would tickle the curiosity of an adventurer's heart. The thing is, almost no local knows about this "Leyte Mountain Trail". Not even my fellow "mountaineers". I'm going back to Leyte (my hometown) after the holiday season (January 2 I guess). I'll check out the vicinity of Lake Danao and see if the trail is still visible.
P.S.
The number communits insurgents in Ormoc has dwindled considerably. Although there are still some. My father still pays revolutionary tax to those communists for our coconut farm in another town in Leyte. So extra caution is still recommended when exploring the mountains of Leyte and Samar.
Hello....
I came across this site while doing research on LEYTE MOUNTAIN TRAIL... a brief background info about this trail may be in order.... sometime in 1982, the "Leyte Mountain Trail" project was initiated by the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) -a govt entity, in cooperation with the Australian government (if my memory serves me right)....
In August of that year, the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines (MFPI) chose to hold its Mid-Year Presidents' Meeting in Tacloban City (northern Leyte) and to conduct an "inspection" of the project...
We started the trek out from the volcanic lake in Burauen . . . at the time, a typhoon lashed out eastern visayas passing right thru the island of Leyte...and we were trekking under this circumstance practically for the rest of the period until we reached the western side of Leyte island in Ormoc City.... some 5 days after. The nearly-INVISIBLE trail and the typhoon made the trek too slow. . . there were swollen creeks and rivers to cross, too....
Of the original number of trekkers who started out, only about 40 percent of us were able to make it.... the rest backed out because of the inclement weather condition prevailing then . . .
From my group, all from Occidental Negros, were: me; ENGR. YOL FERNANDEZ; JOHN ANGLO; and REY PAVIERA.... (one surviving photo has been posted in facebook) . . .
the rest (or majority) of those who were also able to make it thru the jungles of Leyte in that more than 40-km of "trail" were members of the Philippine Airlines Mountaineering Club (PAL-MC) . . .
An account of our adventure has also been posted by a PAL-MC member somewhere in the internet. . ..
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