Mountain News: Mt. Bulusan now open / Halcon to reopen in March 2013 / Lumot-Sumagaya-Balatucan now closed

June 10, 2012September 6, 2015 Gideon Lasco 2 Comments balatucan, bulusan, halcon, Lumot, sumagaya

First, for some good news: Mt. Bulusan, in Sorsogon, is now open to hikers! This was confirmed to us by our friends from Bicol. The opening comes after PHIVOLCS lifted its Alert Level status in April 2012. We will be posting Mt. Bulusan itinerary very soon in PinoyMountaineer, and I am also personally planning a hike very soon up this volcano, one of the mountains in Bicol that I haven’t climbed yet.

On the other hand, Mt. Halcon will likely be opened by March 2013 according to our friends from the Sialdang Mountaineers. Currently, the local stakeholders are now planning the system of guides, permits, etc which will hopefully be in operation once Mt. Halcon opens. I am also hearing that when Halcon does reopen, hiking will be seasonal; there will only be designated “climbing seasons” for the mountain, and off-season hiking will not be allowed. We will be posting more details as soon as we get hold of them!

The bad news, however, is that Mts. Lumot-Sumagaya and their twin Mt. Balatucan are closed at the moment, due to “security issues” (you know what it means) as relayed to us by our friend Koi Grey. This comes just a little over a month after we climbed these mountains of Claveria, Misamis Oriental last May 5, 2012. This also means that the status of these mountains is constantly fluctuating, so it is best to check with the locals first before making any plans!

Mt. Maagnaw, Mt. Banahaw, Mt. Hamiguitan, and Mt. Ragang continue to be closed or inaccessible as well. If you have any updates or new information about any of the mountains that I mentioned, do let me know by emailing me at gideon@pinoymountaineer.com or dropping me a line at Twitter (@pinoymtnr) or Facebook (facebook.com/pinoymountaineer).