With a cumulative elevation gain of 2,100+ MASL, the hike dubbed as “Cawag Hexa” is one of the most challenging climbs in Luzon and possibly in the entire country. Combining six mountains in the Zambales Coastal Range, this hike is famous for its scenic views of grassy mountain ranges and the West Philippine Sea and is infamous for being one of the most scorching hikes in the entire country. Hikers claim that this hike is like a gateway to inferno, but its beauty, according to many, is unrivaled. The six Cawag mountains taken for this hike are as follows:
Mt. Balingkilat (1,100+ MASL)
Mt. Bira-Bira / Mt. Nagsasa (570+ MASL)
Mt. Naulaw (530+ MASL)
Mt. Dayungan (900+ MASL)
Mt. Cinco Picos Junction (650+ MASL) or Peak 1 (770+ MASL)
Mt. Redondo (610+ MASL)
From the observation of mountaineers and hikers, here are some of the basic information for the hike:
Jump-off point: Sitio Cawag Settlement, Subic, Zambales
Specs: Major climb, 7/9 difficulty
Trail class: 1-4
Hours to complete the entire hike: 16-22 hours
Total trail length: 24-26KM
For this hike, I joined an event sometime around 2021, around the time when Cawag was newly-opened to hikers after being closed due to pandemic restrictions. Arriving at Sitio Cawag Settlement in Subic Zambales at past 1 in the morning, we immediately started the hike without much preparation. We were immediately greeted with tall grasses at the early parts of the hike. After taking on a fairly flat trail, we reached the first water source at the base of Mt. Balingkilat after an hour.
After refilling our bottles, we continued the hike. The trail after the water source is a continuous steep ascent along the grassy slopes of Mt. Balingkilat. The trail here, especially the ones in the higher areas, were very steep and requires the use of hands to lift up oneself. We reached Mt. Balingkilat’s campsite past five in the morning, almost three and a half hours after starting the hike. Here, we were met with gushes of cold winds and a silhouette of the Cawag Mountains nearby. We savored the view, ate some snacks, and refilled our water bottles at the nearby water source.
As the sun was rising in the eastern direction, we started the final assault to the summit of Mt. Balingkilat, the highest point of the entire Zambales Coastal Range. As the sun illuminated the surroundings, we were greeted with a jaw-dropping view of the Cawag Mountains and the steep grassy slopes we passed through. To the south, Mt. Dayungan and Cinco Picos’ intimidating peaks loom, foreshadowing the long journey ahead. Below is Mt. Bira-Bira being dwarfed by the mountains surrounding it, like an infant amongst 7-footers. To the east, the sun was rising on top of the Cabusilan Mountain Range where Mt. Pinatubo resides. To the right of this mountain range is Olongapo City and Subic Bay Freeport. At the back of the city is a faint silhouette of the two gigantic Bataan mountains—Mt. Natib and to its right, Mt. Mariveles.
We also had view of the northern extension of the Zambales Coastal Range. In that direction, we spotted Mt. Mabanban, the second highest peak in the entire range, and to its left, is Mt. Pundaquit in the town of San Antonio, Zambales, which I traversed way back in 2012 when I was still a high school student! To our west, the land ends on the stretching beach of Nagsasa Cove, and beyond is the West Philippine Sea.
We then transferred to the second peak of Mt. Balingkilat a few meters away from the first summit. The scene here was just too awesome, complemented by a windy atmosphere that seemed to welcome us sweetly.
We didn’t spend much time at the summit of Balingkilat since we were advised to get to the second mountain ASAP. The start of the descent from Balingkilat to Bira-Bira starts off along boulder-filled slopes drowned in tall grass. The trail then became narrower and steeper, where the landscape we were treading turned into a knife edge with dangerous drops on both sides. My companions along the hike agreed that this was reminiscent of Mt. Guiting-Guiting’s knife edge and kiss-the-wall portions.
We reached Mt. Bira-Bira around 8:30 in the morning, two hours after the very difficult and technical descent from the summit of Balingkilat. Prior to assaulting the summit of Bira-Bira, we rested by a shaded area as we were sweating buckets and panting from the heat brought by the descent. While resting, we had an awesome view of the knife edge trail of Mt. Balingkilat to our front. Directly to our left is Nagsasa Cove, tempting us to go to it. But this wasn’t a beach trip, sadly.
We continued the hike and reached the summit of Bira-Bira after a short while. The connecting trail from Bira-Bira to Naulaw was the easiest part of the hike. In fact, I don’t think Bira-Bira and Naulaw are separate mountains. When viewing the Cawag Mountains from afar, one cannot distinguish which is Bira-Bira and which is Naulaw since they’re practically on the same mountain slope.
Despite the easiness of this part, it was still tiring due to the punishing heat of the sun. Mt. Dayungan, the next gigantic mountain, looms ahead, and it still seems far despite covering both the second and third mountains of the hike.
From Naulaw, we descended the grassy and windy slope en route to the water source at the base of Mt. Dayungan. I used my umbrella here as the wind was really strong. I was also getting exhausted at this point. After the descent, a short ascent ensues, at the top of which our companions were waiting under a tree and resting. One by one, we continued the ascent until reaching the forested part of Mt. Dayungan where the water source is located. We had our lunch there. It was 11am.
When the clock ticked at 12 noon, we continued the hike. At this point, I was already considering to quit since I didn’t have much provisions and I was already exhausted from the hike. I was also apprehensive of the thought of slowing down the group, especially since I was with a team of trail runners and really strong people. But my pride prevailed and I pushed through with the hike.
The ascent to Mt. Dayungan was probably the most psychologically punishing. Although we were lucky that the sun was being covered by clouds at that point, the ascent to Mt. Dayungan seemed never ending. Good thing was that one of our coordinators warned us that there are at least five or six deceptive parts in the ascent where you’ll think you’re already near the summit. So we were mentally prepared.
Despite the exhaustion from my knees, I surprisingly reached the summit of Dayungan an hour and a half from the water source. The summit of Mt. Dayungan is just a small area filled with rocks and boulders. The view here consisted of Balingkilat to the north, Nagsasa Cove to the northwest, Silanguin Cove to the southwest, and Cinco Picos’ intimidating peaks at the southeast.
It was the middle of the day, yet it was windy, and the sun was being blocked by clouds. We were blessed with such great weather!
We immediately started the descent after snapping some photos. The descent from Dayungan was manageable compared to Balingkilat’s. In no time, we reached the bottom-most part of the trail where the connecting trail to Cinco Picos ensues.
We reached the junction of Cinco Picos past 3 in the afternoon after two boring hours of walking from Dayungan. Most of our companions were taking the chance to sleep here. We were still mulling if we would push through going to Cinco Picos’ Peak 1, but we decided to just forego it and finish the hike with Redondo, the sixth mountain. We continued the hike at around 4 in the afternoon.
The path from Cinco Picos to Redondo was on a long, stretching grassy trail. On this part, we were informed that we would not be summitting Redondo and we were required to go back to the jump-off point since our van decided to stay there to park. Sadly, we only reached up to the junction that goes directly to Redondo, as we traced the trail en route to the jump-off.
Darkness caught up as we were tracing the trail that goes directly to the jump-off point. This trail that we were looking for seems to be the initial parts of a connecting trail from Sitio Cawag going to Mt. Cinco Picos. We were coordinating our maps to inform our location. Luckily, the trail is visible in STRAVA. Coming from the base of Redondo, we were able to successfully find the path that serves as the connecting trail.
Together with another hiker, one of our guides, and one of the coordinators, we reached the jump-off point at around 8 in the evening, more than 18 hours after starting the hike! Luckily, locals there prepared some meals for us. After washing and having dinner, I straightaway plopped onto my seat and fell asleep, soundly inside our van.
Cawag Hexa completed! I can confidently claim this was, by far, one of my most difficult and body-shattering hikes I’ve ever done. The effects of this hike on my body was no joke. I wasn’t able to jog for more than a week after this hike. When I attempted to jog 11 days after the hike, my knees were still in pain and were shaking. But it made me stronger, wiser, and readier for longer day hikes!
Hopefully, fate will allow me to summit Redondo in the future. Despite being a total body wrecker, Cawag’s jaw-dropping beauty is worth the reattempt.
Itinerary
01:00AM Arrival at Sitio Cawag in Subic, Zambales
01:30AM Start hike
05:00AM Mt. Balingkilat campsite
06:00AM Mt. Balingkilat summit
06:30AM Start descent
08:30AM Mt. Bira-Bira
09:30AM Mt. Naulaw
11:00AM Water source, rest, lunch
12:00PM Start ascent to Mt. Dayungan
01:30PM Mt. Dayungan summit
03:30PM Mt. Cinco Picos junction
04:00PM Resume hike going to jump-off point
08:00PM Jump-off
Highland Reflections: Kaisipan, Karanasan, at Kamalayan 