Welcome to another hiking adventure- Sanchez Peak!
These past months since I’ve been back home, I have been hiking, trekking, mountaineering, whatever you may want to call it. I started with Lake Holon, then Mt. Matutum, which was the hardest of all for me so far and Nopol Hill. Why do I keep doing it? Well, what can I do when it’s the most convenient activity in the Southern part of the country. I couldn’t complain but be in awe of the numerous mountains and hills located in Mindanao alone.
In contrary to the majority of my travels in Thailand which are on beaches and islands, my activities here now involve hiking. There are even more mountains to explore as far as I know and based on my research. So, I will inform everyone in advance that my next travel posts will probably be all about me trekking and hiking. Hopefully, you’re all okay with that. =)
Sanchez Peak
For this post, I will share our hiking adventure to what is popularly known as “Sanchez Peak” in General Santos City. It is a 1-hour 30-minute trek to the peak but I learned that motorcycles suitable for trails can also climb up this hill.
To get to the beginning of the trek, you can either take a tricycle, motorcycle or bring a private car to Brgy. Olimpog in Gensan. The parking fee is 50 PHP only. There will also be an entrance fee of 20 PHP/ person before you can start the hike.
The hike to Sanchez Peak
The trail is mostly uphill compared to the trail going to Leyson park where there is at least plain field. I remember these big rocks almost in the middle of the climb that you should be careful of because some parts are slippery.
Along the way, you’ll see beautiful views like this one where I even caught a butterfly. =)
Heading to the top, we got to see the scenery below us of the city and the local villages. Just like in Nopol Hills, we were still hiking when the sun went down but the view of the city lights was very welcoming to us.
Restaurants & Accommodation
What’s unique reaching the top of this hill for me are the restaurants available where trekkers can request for specific Filipino cuisines. In our case, we had adobo and sinigang na manok (native) which turned out to be very delicious. We paid around 500 PHP for it plus rice. However, if you’d rather bring your food to save money, you can always do so.
Let me just share the story of how we originally planned for our food during this hike. It was actually funny because we agreed days before the trip to buy meals from Jollibee through their drive-thru services. In that way, we thought it could save us from worrying about our food at the same time, it’s Jobee so it’s expected that we’re going to be very full for dinner. It didn’t happen though because we ended up forgetting to buy for the reason that we enjoyed chatting along the road. We only remembered we didn’t have food until we were at the start of the trek. Ha!
It was a laughable situation. Good thing they have restaurants up the hill and our dinner was very satisfying or else, it would have sucked big time.
Upon reaching the peak, we paid another fee of 20 PHP per person and logged our names in. Luckily, we were the only trekkers up that time so we had the liberty to choose where to set our tent up. We got the best spot overlooking the city lights.
At the peak, they have accommodations if you don’t have tents or would rather opt to sleep in a room. Or I was thinking if you get drunk, there’s that room for you up there too. =)
Great Hang out Ven
Because of its accessibility to the city center, you can do a day hike if you wish to. It’ll be a good bonding moment especially with friends and family with an easy hike.
They have these cottages I think is good for groups. You can enjoy the view while dining or drinking.
Oh, we paid another 20 PHP/ person before reaching Sanchez peak which in truth is not really much. Overall, we spent less than 100 PHP for fees for this adventure.
I highly recommend this place for those who live close to Gensan or in South Cotabato. You don’t really need to bring a lot- just yourself and a few necessities.
