Calauan, Laguna

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A weekend in Calauan, Laguna

Almost a decade ago, Calauan, Laguna was thrust into the limelight when it's former mayor (the notorious Mayor Sanchez) made headlines. Now it's back to being a sleepy town of farming folks. It was only recently that I learned there's an opportunity for trekking there.

I got this text message from PL inviting me to climb Calauan the following weekend. New place, huh? You bet! For fun climbers who barf at the mere mention of crowded Maculot, this has got to be the next hottest place in the trekking subculture, after Manabu and Daguldul.

What's cool is the small mountain in Baranggay Lamut. The summit affords a 360-degree of Laguna de Bay, the provinces of Laguna and Quezon. Familiar landmarks include the mountains of Mt. Banahaw, Mt. San Cristobal, and Mt. Makiling, and also some of the seven lakes of San Pablo. At night, the city lights below glisten like stars. Sometime later, we saw the fireworks display of Enchanted Kingdom in the distance.

Careful, though, when hiking. Some portions of the trail, especially the ones near the summit, are "kaingins." The local farmers hate their crops being trampled on. They say there are several trails going up. We followed the easiest, the grotto trail, marked by stations of the cross from the base to the peak. The locals hike up the place during Holy Week instead of going to more popular Mt. Banahaw.

After our descent the following day, we all agreed to swim in one of the spring resorts in nearby Los Banos. Whew, that was some great weekend!

Info on photos

I took all photos using Nikon N80 and 28-80mm & 70-300mm G lenses. Film: Konica VX 100. Scanning was done at the lowest resolution possible for faster loading.

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