Ivan Henares, who is popularly known in the Filipino online community for his blog, Ivan About Town, teams up with Gideo Lasco, founder of the UP Med Outdoor Society, to put up Pinoy Mountaineer.

Started in July this year, Pinoy Mountaineer is working on centralizing information about Philippine mountains, “from Mt. Iraya to Mt. Bongao,” as they put it.

Aside from information about geography, including flora and fauna, Ivan and Gideo also provide fast tips and useful trivia.

Writing about Mt. Dulang-Dulang in Lantapan, Bukidnon, the second-highest mountain in the Philippines, Ivan says:

The second-highest mountain in the Philippines also possesses one of the most impressive forests in the country. Mt. Dulang-Dulang, chief among the high mountains the Kitanglad mountain range, possesses a mystical aura that visitors compare to the elven forests of Rivendell in “Lord of the Rings”. Indeed, the long trek to the peak boasts of a variety of landscapes, starting from the wide trails with pine trees and grassland and progressing into denser and denser jungles. The jungle will reach a point that virtually everything is covered with moss and clouds. Trees are like bonsai, with spiraling, convoluted branches and ‘beards’ of lichen and white moss that give an ‘ancient’ feel to the forest. The temperature goes down even in daytime, and when you emerge from this jungle to the clearing at the peak, you can behold the whole of the Kitanglad range and even catch a glimpse of majestic Mt. Apo.

Read more here.