Sometime in April i receive an invite for a dayhike to Mt. Romelo. I said to myself It had to happen sometime, and it seems to be starting to happen now soon. I remember the last time i've been to famy ( this is what they call this place before ), and checking the net for famy now my once favorite ‘secret’ spot in the Laguna area is gradually becoming known. Romelo's waterfall in Siniloan is the perfect destination for a hike during a boiling hot Thursday in April, as the only way to it involves a short but fun hike to Mt. Romelo and with three (yes three! Buruwisan, Batya-batya and sampaloc ) waterfalls waiting, and this place never fails to enchant me.
The seasonal nature of Romelo's series of famous waterfall never ceases to surprise visitors, many of whom have been known to inquire earnestly. “But where is Romelo's Falls?” This waterfall is dry during summer and a roaring cascade in during rainy season.So, if you want to see it in action, it’s best to come back in the rainy months.
Well, doing a dayhike is good for Mt. Romelo, there’s now a sign marking the all-important, turn off to the falls, the trail itself is much more obvious, due to mass hikers walking this way now (daanan din ito ng kabayo ! :) ). Jc , jackie is joining me in this trip and its been months pass since our last adventure.
Our short hike started at 10 am and we reach the campsite at 1 pm (napakadaming naming stop pver.. punong-puno ng buko tiyan nmn ) . We cross a mildly dense forest and after that besides some coconut fields, then we again hit the forest, this time pretty dense.Humidity is at its peak and temperature is 36C. We reach the campsite at 1 PM, i expect so much from this place and remembering my first trip to this place the waterfalls is attractive and this one is no exception (maybe).
To my surprise the first thing i notice is too much garbage on the campsite.Why is this trash found throughout the campsite ? plastics of different kinds can be found from upstream .
If your not satisfied with buruwisan , as if this wasn’t enough another two beautiful waterfalls lie on the same stream, one above and one a kilometer or two upstream, and the three can be connected by a cool and extremely fun river trace ( pampalubag loob).
Next thing we did is we went upstream all the way to batya-batya falls. But everything has change already, the once majestic beauty of romelo is now gone. Too much disappointment so we decided to go home rightaway.
We saw more trash on our way down, and complained a little less about it, as it seemed like a fair prize to romelo's 5 minutes of fame. and , Even in rainy season when the cascades roar if hikers dont do their duties eventually romelo's beauty will be gone forever..
