From April 16 to 19, 2026, I had the privilege of climbing doscuenos mountainThe highest peak in Isabela, with an altitude of over 1780 MASL, is a legendary and elusive destination for Filipino climbers, with the most recent hikes dating back to the early days of the past decade. While climbing this legendary double-horned mountain, we stumbled upon Jeddah Mountain – The north peak of the 1500m ridge, which we realized was a beautiful destination in itself! With the support of the San Pablo, Isabela Local Government and the Ministry of Tourism, and the guidance of Sir Guy Tiongson of the Sierra Madre Outdoor Club (SMOC), I was accompanied by my long-time hiking friend Daryl Comagon (AMCI) and three guides (Leslie, Alex, Tatay Rudy) who had scouted the week before and assured us that they had reached the summit of Dos Cuernos and that it could be reached in 3-4 days. Some police officers also escorted us to the base camp. We had some of the best weather conditions north of the Sierra Madre, but as my two-part narrative will recount, we still had to overcome many obstacles to achieve our goals!
It was already 1310 in the morning when we started our first day of hiking after paying a courtesy visit to Mayor Miro and local government officials and making final arrangements. The first day—perhaps the most relaxing—begins the hike at the end of the road in Phuket. Simanu Norte traveled to a small village called Shamag, named after the Ifugao chief from Mayoyao who settled the area. Reaching this place requires hiking through dry slopes like Talamitam – be aware of the heat index! – Reaching moderate altitude (300-400 MASL), then descending to the river and slowly ascending again to Shamag.
It was a beautiful place, situated on a bend in the river, with several wooden houses in the Patey or Cambro style. Shamag himself – now in his seventies or eighties – sang us Ifugao songs, we bathed in the river and slept in a hut.
The next day we thought we had reached the summit after a long day. The guides had done a reconnaissance the week before, and based on their information and our own navigational calculations, a long “day hike” with an alpine-style climb from Shamaga was possible. However, people soon discovered that As we guessed, the tour guide arrived not at Mount Doscuenos, but at a place called Mount Gueda, which was not possible on a three-day trip.
We realized this as we negotiated our hike from Shamag (starting at 0500H) to the guided campsite: This hike consists of climbing an open slope called “Santiago” (named after the immigrants from Santiago and Isabela who settled there) into the forest, then descending sharply through dense scrub to reach the hunter's trail that leads from Pena Blanca in Cagayan deep into the mountains. we saw a lot silo (a hunter’s trap) and a poor civet trapped in it; we encountered numerous vine thorns and managed to climb 1000 meters of altitude before reaching the place where the guide had camped – a hunter’s tent with a makeshift “stretcher” made of rice sacks.
At that point – around 1000 hours – the guide told us that we could reach the “top” in an hour, but we knew – with further confirmation from Daryl's drone – that we were still far away, so we decided stay where you are Leslie's Campground (a hunter’s camp we named after a guide), an hour away from Mount Gueda, attempted the summit of Mount Doscuenos the next day – albeit with limited supplies. In the afternoon, we decided to climb Mount Jeddah, also to understand how far Mount Doscuenos is and what the road conditions are like through Jeddah. An hour later we reached the top of the mountain: not the top of our dreams, but a beautiful and worthwhile hike and itself! Dead trees are reminiscent of Mount Calatungan, a panoramic view of the towns of North Isabela and Cagayan South; a partial view of the corner of Mount Doscuenos is also visible.
As we headed back to Leslie's campsite, we were filled with a mixture of fear and excitement at what lay beyond. Hiking details to be continued #864.
