“Two is a company, three is a crowd.

Four is a group, Five is a party.”

I, together with the same group, had been going back to the town of Rodriguez (formerly Montalban) in province of Rizal, Philippines since October 2015. There are several mountains around the place. Some are closed to the public while five mountains: Mt. Pamitinan (~426 masl), Mt. Binacayan (~424 masl), Mt. Hapunang Banoi (~517 masl), Mt. Sipit Ulang (Crab Mountain; ~252 masl) and Mt. Ayaas (~627 masl), have been frequented by hikers especially on holidays and weekends. Some hikers attempted to do Pentology day hike (climb all 5 mountains) but as per our guide, Sir Abner alias Frank, only a few were able to accomplish it and were given achievement certificates. A Trilogy climb may be easier though still difficult and energy-draining. Our group climbed one mountain at a time. When we were taking photos and selfies at the rock formation that looked like a crab’s claw, Sipit Ulang, at Brgy. Mascap, I was able to capture Mt. Binacayan, Mt. Pamitinan and Mt. Hapunang Banoi through a hole among rocks.

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Captured from Mt. Sipit Ulang (L-R): Mt. Binacayan, Mt. Pamitinan and Mt. Hapunang Banoi

Among the five mountains mentioned above, I was not able to climb one. I’ll reveal what it is in my future posts about these neighboring mountains.