It has been a long-time dream of mine to climb the highest point in all the Sierra Madre provinces dialanis mountain Quirino’s highest peak (pronounced “djalanis”), a giant step closer to my goal – that’s why I wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to do it with the help and support of Quirino Peaks. Kew Mountaineers. Like the province itself, Mount Dialanis is home to Dumagat, Bugacarot, Gadin, and other indigenous communities, and like other peaks in the Sierra Madre, Mount Dialanis is located deep in the forest. We – myself, Darryl, Charina, Kate and FR – traveled overland from Manila via the scenic Malico Road. As we approached Maddela, Mount Dialanese itself was majestic at over 1,800 meters above sea level, which boded well for our group.
From Maddela we took a 4×4 giant jeep to the trailhead Sitio Dialanese and started hiking at 0504H, aiming to complete the entire hike in one long day – usually three days. We immediately passed through woodland and some watercourses. before entering the depths of the jungle.
Along the path we saw a green venomous snake and a huge beehive above our heads, which we didn’t dare to disturb! . Incredibly, we could hear deer calling as we ascended into the forest.
At 1108 hours we arrived at the campsite and decided to have lunch there and wait for the rest of the group. However, at that point it became obvious that the entire group was not going to be able to reach the summit at the speed we were going, so Darryl and I, along with the guide, continued to target the summit on behalf of the entire group. The path has since become overgrown and requires a lot of acrobatics to navigate through the mossy forest. After 2 hours and 20 minutes of hiking from the camp, we reached the top of the mountain at 1424H!
We returned to the campsite in 1615, but the road ahead was still long – we reached the trailhead in 2023, after 15 hours! Thousands of fireflies seemed to say goodbye to us, putting on an unforgettable show on our way back from the mountains. Overall, this was a challenging hike and a worthy addition to the pantheon of the Sierra Madre – some of which I have also climbed, such as Mount Cagua in Cagayan, Mount Bintod in Nueva Vizcaya, Mount Kemarugon in Nueva Ecija, and Mount Mingan in Aurora – and I wish Chiafu climbers all the best in their efforts to document and establish more routes in the province.
