Mt. Loay Independence Day Hike

Another good trekking destination in Sta. Cruz is Mt. Loay located in the mountain ranges o Barangay Zone 2 which I discovered on June 12, 2018 with some buddies from LOGSAC Jonas, Eidine, Julius Biala, Cholo, Cris, Froilan and Vertical to Sky Proprietor Doi Calbes who is set to hold a Vertical Kilometer Race in this mountain comes August 18, 2018. The trek, which happened after a short Independence Day celebration, was a sort of recovery workout for me after a 2-day Mt. Apo climb last June 9 and 10.

  

We started the trek at around 9:45 in the morning from the national highway of Barangay Zone 2, the familiar road going to Loay Elementary School. The total trail distance is 5 kilometers highlighting a 2-kilometer open road and 3-kilometer single track along a vast farmland of coconut, banana and fruit trees. While trekking we met several community members in Loay doing their daily farm routines.  

The total trail course has an elevation gain of 1,000 meters above sea level which definitely worn us all out prior to reaching the summit. Our only woman trekker Eideine Karla decided not to proceed to the summit because it was really very steep and the weather was extremely hot.

We arrived at the summit of Mt. Loay by 12:00 noon. The exact elevation in the summit is 1,040 masl, allowing us to view adjacent mountain ranges in Sinoron, Coronon and Zone 1. The most dominant peaks are Mt. Dioloy, Camotes Ridge, Pilan Peak and Mt. Bariraya which we all thought resembles Romblon’s Mt. Guiting-guiting at a far distance. The urban center of Sta. Cruz, including the huge Davao Gulf, are all visible from the summit.

A farm house owned by Mang Tony served as our rest area, also the very same hut where Eidine waited for us. An energizing buko break was provided to us by Mang Tony. After an hour of some fun convo we trekked down the same route at a faster pace we reached the trail head in 45 minutes.