Hiking

100-3018 – View from parrot’s beak

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We are sticking to our resolution of doing at least one hike a month, so on March 1st we went up Mt. Pico de Loro. According to Wikipedia, it was named by Spanish sea-farers as the summit resembles the shape of a parrot’s beak, and when seen was taken as a signal to turn east to get into Manila Bay. We had to book in advance with DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) as they allow only 90 hikers per day (it was closed for 6 years due to the volumes of trash left by visitors, degradation and soil erosion) – but when we arrived our payment hadn’t appeared on their system…so our hike started with a bit of stress (from me). However the hike was pleasant – not too steep with lots of forest cover and really old trees (the area is protected) which I would have loved to have stopped to sketch.

Sat-1-Mar-2025

99-2989 – Blustery on Mt. Mabilog

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On Sunday 9 Feb we went for a short hike up Mt. Mabilog near San Pablo City (keeping up with our resolution to go on at least one hike per month). This blog gives you an idea of what you can see on the hike. It was very muddy on the way up and quite treacherous on the way down. Our guide (who was 72!) seemed to have no problem though and just skipped along chatting all the way. From the top we could see some of the 7 lakes (Lake Yambo, Lake Pandin are relatively nearby and in the distance we could see Sampaloc Lake) of San Pablo City.

Sun-9-Feb-2025

98-2968 – Mt. Buntis green blobs

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Instead of joining the #UskManila #SketchWalk in Escolta, Manila on 18 January, we decided to go on a short hike – our first of the year. This trek started at the Kaingin hanging bridge in Maragondon, Cavite and finished at the peak where a sign said that the revolutionaries camped there for one week when they were escaping the Spanish forces. According to some, Mt. Buntis is called such, because the mountain is shaped like the pregnant belly of a woman…can’t say I could see that.

Sat-18-Jan-2025

91-2789 – Hiking shoes

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This is the last sketch I did while we were staying in Suffolk…my daughters new hiking shoes. The day I drew this we planned our meals for Womad camping, did a big shop in the supermarket, said goodbye to my mum and sister and crammed all of our luggage into the car. These shoes seem to be excited for the next leg of our holiday, as they are already walking off the edge of the page!

Thu-25-Jul-2024

90-2768 – Hiker

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I rarely do sketches from photos, but made an exception so I could make a little birthday card for my wife. This was done from a photo taken on our hike to Nagpatong rock in Tanay, Rizal, in June 2022 (see sketch No.2093), with May wearing the shirt she almost always wears when we go hiking!

Fri-5-Jul-2024

89-2722 – Tinikpak River from Mt. Daraitan

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Here is the last sketch I did on our hike up to Mt. Daraitan. I did this on the second day when we reached the peak. While the other visitors were busy taking so many selfies and pictures of themselves posing on a rock, our little group all got out our sketchbooks and really looked at the fantastic view! The hike back down was pretty brutal (on the knees). Then we had a whole rigmarole to deal with our car as the brakes had failed on the way to the start off point…and in the end we left it there to be fixed, taking another car home (thanks to our friend and driver)…but that’s another story.

Sun-9-Jun-2024

89-2721 – Green grass

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At our campsite on the way up to Mt. Daraitan the person we had arranged it with, let us use a little wooden house for two of us to sleep in and as a place to cook and have our meals. I sketched this one looking out of the house at the surrounding greenery.

Sat-8-Jun-2024

89-2720 – Wonky tent

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I finished my #Potentate concertina sketchbook pretty quickly so now I am going back to using Clairefontaine Aquapad 300gsm cold pressed paper in a new home-made one. On the weekend we went for a hike up Mt. Daraitan in Tanay, Rizal Province. The first leg of the hike (just a few hours) took us up to a campsite below the peak and we pitched our tent with this lovely view. We have been using our #Hilleberg tent since we lived in Bhutan. The poles have become a bit bent but it still does the job.

Sat-8-Jun-2024

86-2685 – Mt. 360

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Despite the unbearably hot weather (the ‘feels like’ temperature has been close to 40 degrees celsius recently), we decided to go for a short hike a few weeks back. We set off from home very early (around 4am), so that we could get to the starting point before it got too hot. We were also lucky enough that it was overcast and even rained a little bit during the hike. Mt. 360 is in Tanay and is called that because at the summit you have a 360 degrees panoramic view including the Sierra Madre Mountain Range.

Sun-28-Apr-2024