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text by: Carla Ocampo

photography by: Lester Valle

photo captions by: Lester Valle

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DATE: 22-23 August 2009

LOCATION | TRAILHEAD: Barangay Malaya, Pililla, Rizal Province

ELEVATION | DIFFICULTY: ~ 745 meters above sea level (MASL) | Class 1

COORDINATES:  14°23?7.82?N 121°21?56.55?E

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Thank you, Lester, for that lovely title.

And for the sake of our readers from other countries, “Sembraning” is a term of endearment for one of our favorite Class 1 mountains in the island of Luzon, Mount Sembrano. And “praning” is… sigh… Filipino slang for PARANOID. We hate to burst your bubble, but, hiking in the Philippines isn’t 100% smile-worthy.

BAD REP

Mt. Sembrano in the town of Pililla, Rizal Province, has its thievery-slash-camp crashing scare. If you haven’t read by now (this is widely discussed in Philippine mountaineering forums online), there have been cases of stolen sandals, stolen cookware, stolen food… and the latest, as we heard it from fellow campers on our way down the mountain, was that of a fine tent sliced across its thin wall by a camp-crasher using a lighted cigarette. The imps go about their modus operandi by night. Thankfully, that time, the campers’ items were all accounted for, but the damage on the expensive tent was just heartbreaking. [...]

http://weekendwarriorphilippines.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/mt-sembrano/

mukhang ok umakyat dun ah... pro i think i need to have my knees operated first... hehehe...