CALAPTAN PEAK Mt. Silay, Negros Is., Philippines

Location :         Elevation : First Ascent : Gen. Features :    Nearest Jump-Off :

East of Brgy. Canlusong, E.B. Magalona,Negros Occ. It is situated in the SW part of Mt Silay 4,421 ft Unknown; First Mountaineering Ascent by NTCI on March 15,1998 It has two peaks. Feeding the Calaptan Creek, a major tributary of W-bound Malogo River, on its W side, Calaptan Pk is generally covered by dense second-growth forest. Settlements are found in the lower slopes in the W and S parts. Brgy. Canlusong (Lower SW of the peak) can be accessed from the Patag road from three points - CapitanRamon, Hiyang-Hiyang and Tayap. Open country hike from these points in the general direction of N takes 1.5 to 3 hours. The terminal of the Patag route is near the Gochangco Bldg.in Silay City. Another jump-off point is in San Isidro, an E.B.Magalona barangay NW of Canlusong. The terminal for San Isidro is in Bangga Da-an in Victorias City.

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Dense forest in the SW slopes of Dinamlagan Pk (Photo taken in 1997 by Dennis Ella)

General Mountaineering History

Situated northeast of the sparsely populated barangay of Canlusong (about two hours of open country hike from the Silay-Patag road, particularly in Tayap and Capitan Ramon) Mt. Calaptan despite of its many fascinations remains unknown even most mountaineers in Negros Occidental. Former loggers and local settlers claim the occassional emmisssion of sulfuric odor from the mountain and the existence of a cave tucked beyond reach in the deep ravine near the summit . This cave, according to a former logger, is once inhabited by a legendary gorilla-like creature sighted during the logging days of old. The source of several tributaries to Malogo River, Calaptan has several falls continuously supported by its thick forest cover ( mostly second-growth) that has proven to be a navigational challenge even to the nearby settlers.               The presence of mountaineers in Calaptan is a rarity. Allegedly, the BBMS made early incursions in Canlusong (and possibly in Calaptan). Factually, the first known mountaineering in Calaptan was achieved by the SB, particularly the Ella-Berina scouting party in search for Tingtingon and the tall Nasakob Falls in the southern slopes.              In the following year, a two-man NTCI team (actually the core members of the soon to be founded NTCI) in a four-day attempt to perform a Gawahon-Minapasok Traverse consequently climbed Calaptan Peak on March 15, 1998. Six months later, the SB in a venture to climb from Canlusong in the southwest achieved another unguided Calaptan Climb on September 21, 1998.. Later in 1999, the NTC, this time a three-man party, climbed Calaptan again before going down to the Eastern Slopes and rappeled on the steep Southeastern side down to Malogo River.

CLIMBING HIGHLIGHTS

"First Mountaineering Climb of Calaptan" Northwest Slopes (March 15, 1998) Northern Trekkers Club, Inc. : Jeffrey Legaspi and Jojo Delfin Nonguided Exploratory Trek                  From Camp I (southeast of Gawahon Ravine and northwest of Calaptan Peak) the two-man party climbed the Gawahon-Calapatan ridgeline, a first conquest of the West Face of Gawahon. Along the ridge, the party went south passing over Ronel Peak and eventually the Calaptan Peak. The party backtracked for the descent. This is the First Mountaineering Climb of Calaptan.                                                                                                                     Contributed by:                                                                                                                                             Jeffrey Legaspi (NTCI President)                                                                                                                                              northtrek@yahoo.com

"First Southwest Climb of Calaptan Peak" Southwest Slopes and West Ridge (Sept. 21, 1998) SB : Dennis Ella, Roger Sildres and Pedro Palabrica Nonguided Exploratory Climb             After staying for a night in the house of Brgy. Cap. Cuello in Canlusong, the team started early in the morning up the Southwest Slopes, at first along a trail. Eventually, the team had to tackle the steep forested slope, most often loosing sight of the peak, before they could hurdle the thin West Ridge with a very thick cover of `bariw'. The sluggish movement forced an emergency bivouac on the open ridge and the peak was clinched only later, early in the morning of the next day. This is the First Mountaineering Climb of Calaptan Peak.

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"Second NTCI Calaptan Climb" Southwest Slopes (Summer 1999) NTCI : Jeffrey Legaspi, Jojo Delfin and Roberto Duran Nonguided Exploratory Trek                On a 5-day attempt for a Gawahon-Minapasok Traverse, the party followed the previous route for a second climb of Calaptan. From the peak, the party went east and became confused in the Eastern Slopes. Running out of supplies, the party abandoned the plan for a traverse. They  skirted the mountain going to the Southeast Slopes where they did a dangerous rappeling over the steep slope down to Malogo River.                                                                                                                                         Contributed by:                                                                                                                                                 J. Legaspi (NTCI)