Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

— from “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

I booked a hike to Mt. Malussong in Aritao, NuevaVizcaya the day before the actual event. I have been wanting to go there to avoid the hiking crowd that has been going to the more popular mountains like Mt. Pulag, Mt. Batulao, Mt. Mariglem, and the like.

Little did I know that what should have been a chill hike would turn out to be a challenging twin hike with the lesser known Mt. Mahilot.

MT. MALUSSONG

Mt. Malussong, at 825 meters above sea level (masl), is definitely beginner-friendly. The Aritao LGU proudly claims the mountain as the municipality’s hub of sea of clouds and paragliding site of the south. The trails are mostly open grassland with red soil and a sprinkling of eucalyptus and molave trees. There are mild ascents up until a few meters before the summit where the ascent gets steeper.

We left the foot of the mountain a little past 7am. Thankfully, it was a cloudy day and the wind was still a little chilly during our climb to the summit. Needless to say, we were a little late to catch the sea of clouds, but the clearing gave us a stunning view of surrounding mountains and the Aritao municipality from the summit. Our guide also pointed to us the man-made forest created by the locals after super typhoon Pepito in November 2024 caused extensive damage in the mountains of Aritao.

Our spirits were high up to that point, teasing our trip coordinator about “surprising” us with the twin hike. He actually asked us if we wanted to do the twin hike or just do Mt. Malussong, but the opportunity to see Mt. Mahilot was just too tempting to pass up. Add the fact that we were the only group to hike in the area that day.

For those who intend to climb Mt. Malussong only, there are two ways to go back to the jump-off. One is via back trail, and the other one is via what the locals call “covid trail”. The latter was created during the pandemic, and is the more challenging and longer trail going back.

MT. MAHILOT

Standing at 800 masl, Mt. Mahilot was opened to hikers about a year ago. It is also beginner-friendly for those who are physically fit. Older people like me, or those who have zero exercise, will find this challenging because of the series of ascents leading to the summit.

Unlike other mountains that has been opened to hikers only recently, this mountain does not offer the most spectacular or “instagrammable” view. This may be the reason why it has not reached peak popularity unlike Mt. Mariglem and Mt. Kapigpiglatan in Zambales.

The lure of Mt. Mahilot for me is its unchiselled trails. While there is a distinct path from Mt. Malussong to Mt. Mahilot, the trail in the latter barely has anything like a tree branch, vines or shrubs to hold on to. Ropes would have also helped, especially at the 90-degree inclines. It’s mostly red soil and a few rocks and dry eucalyptus leaves here and there, making the trail slippery throughout. Whether the trail leads downhill or ascends, it is practically difficult to navigate. At one point, on our way back, I had to squat and slide my way down from the summit since it would be safer rather than taking the risk of tumbling all the way down. The ascent just before the summit is so steep and slippery that I would slip back down with every step forward.

I slipped several times throughout the hike to Mt. Mahilot, and fell on my bum twice. I scraped my shin the first time, and I almost twisted my ankle the second time.

One of my fellow hikers almost gave up, asking our tour guide if he can call for a rescue. I wasn’t sure if he was serious, but he did ask several times.

While a lot of the trees were either uprooted or split because of super typhoon Pepito, you can still get a whiff of eucalyptus leaves along the path. It’s just the perfect relief for weary hikers after struggling for about 6 hours taking on Mt. Malussong and Mt. Mahilot.

We finished the twin hike in one piece, and even managed to reward ourselves with a visit to Imugan Falls about 31 kms away (we took the van going there, of course).

Having gone through these two mountains in one go, it still amazes me how I could do it at this age. I get inspired by those who are a lot older and have climbed much higher mountains. Do I regret this? Absolutely not. Every pain, every breathlessness, missteps, and even self-doubt that I go through before, during and after every hike prove that I am alive. This is life worth living — away from the crowd, from the chaos of the city. Pero syempre kelangan mag-work sa city para may pang-bundok di ba. Real talk lang.

Just a heads up for those who are planning to go to Nueva Vizcaya: prepare yourself for a wild ride once you reach the 100-km zigzag road from Benguet to Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya. We almost threw up along the way.