Mount Mandalagan

Location : Mandalagan Range in Talisay City, Negros Occ., the Philippines         Elevation : 6,168 feet (Marapara Peak) Gen. Features : Marapara Peak is its highest point; other peaks are Magkurog and West Peak; surrounded for the most part by pristine fores. (Note: The Magkurog or Danlog Peak was used to be considered by the SB as the highest point)

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Marapara Peak

West Peak

Magkurog Peak

Viewed from Marapara Peak, Magkurog Peak at 5,262 ft. was mistaken by the SB as, the highestpoint  in Northern Negros. It has very steep knife-edged ridges and a pristine forest . Very likely, no mountaineeers has ever climbed it yet.

GENERAL MOUNTAINEERING HISTORY

Covered by one of the last vestiges of virgin forest in Negros Island, Mount Mandalagan is situated  in the interior of Lower Northern Negros . Its highest point is Marapara Peak (6,168 ft.) Magkurog Peak (5,262 ft.) is situated to the northeast of Marapara. With its steep and jagged precipices in the proximity of its summit, Magkurog is very likely unclimbed to mountaineers until now.               Mt. Mandalagan abounds with tales and legends. Foremost of the myth set in Mandalagan, particularly in the southeast source of Malogo River, is the existence of a 'kamandag' tree and the fabled 'mangkupo', a snake that crows and has the crown of a rooster.              A resident of Canlusong in the distant northeast claims that there is a region of spongy moss and lichens (the description of a heath life zone) in the wilderness between Tiphag-Malapad and Magkurog. Another revealing account relates how a party of  hardy mountain men from Don Salvador Benedicto in the 1980's embarked in a search for Sulfatara from the outlying southeast. Hardy as they were, they were repulsed by an extremely cold and mossy jungle.               Perhaps, the most intriguing tale about Mandalagan is the fabled existence of Pulakpulakan which is described as a heath with a lake in the middle of steep mountainsides.               Mountaineering came into the picture in Mount Mandalagan in the 80's at the time when some Negros Occidental mountaineers began looking for alternative venues outside the Mt. Kanla-on National Park. By 1982, the BBMS, the pioneering explorers of the Patag Forest, discovered Tinagong Dagat (or Danao for the Kampuestuhan settlers who have a knowledge of it long before) in the south of Marapara.A two-hectare level field of very fine grass that turns into a lake in heavy rain, Tinagong Dagat became a popular mountaineering destination since its discovery and this popularity reached its zenith when it was chosen as the site of the MFPI Mid-Year Climb in 1999.                Gradually gaining popularity, Sulfatara in the east of Marapara is another spot in Mandalagan worthy as a national mountaineering destination.. Locked by Sirab Heights in the west,the scree slopes of Tiphag-Malapad in the east and the jagged slopes north of Magkurog, Sulfatara is a tiny region of hot springs and sulphur vents - proofs of the volcanic origin of Mandalagan.                    Note: Latest update (Jan. 1, 200) put to nought the contrary data contained in previous article.

The bald Sirab Peak lies to the east of Marapara. Sirab in Hiligaynon means to get on fire. Drought causes fire on the ridge razing down the vegetation. The reslient cogon is the most successful plant to establish a foothold on its crest.

This is a very rare bird's eye view of Tinagong Dagat which became the site of the Mid-Year Climb of the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines in year 1999.  This picture was taken during the Safari 1997, an event hosted by the Negros Mountaineering Club. Perhaps, the members of the Singarong Backpackers responsible for taking this picture are the first men who reached its narrow ridge, about 1 foot in width .

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