It may be ironic, but yes, I have been passing Musuan Peak 4 years of my college life without setting foot even on its base since I’ve known it to be frequented only by teachers and students when doing botanical and zoological research. It even took me several climbs in Cebu before I had one to this inverted conical shape volcano covered with lush of vegetation. The Peak is actually located at my Alma matter’s (Central Mindanao University) Zoological and Botanical Garden in Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon. It is 4.5 km south of my home city of Valencia and 81 km southeast of Cagayan de Oro City. 

Also known as Mount Calayo (Fire Mountain) or Mount Musuan, Musuan Peak is an active volcano as declared by PHIVOLCS since its eruption during the 18th Century with an elevation of 646 m ASL and base diameter of 3 km. It is one of the most favorite hiking destinations in the green province of Bukidnon considering its proximity and accessibility from the national highway. It is perfect for activities like tree planting, picnic and scenic views of Mother Nature. The Mt. Musuan Zoological and Botanical Garden of CMU serves as its jump-off point.

Eager to climb/hike or do some outdoor activities when I’m home, I tagged along my niece, who’s studying at CMU, to climb Musuan Peak as my guide since she was there before for some school activity. You don’t actually need a guide here since it has an established open, wide trail to the peak, making your hike relatively easy. You may also take short cuts if you want a more adventurous or thrilling trek, but not advisable when it rained a night before because it’s slippery. 

So we headed straight to the main trail after paying P20.00 each at the entrance. While we’re going up the Peak, my niece is telling me that it has 10 turns to the summit. We literally count each corner of our turns. Lucky us, we had fair weather during the hike though it was raining days before and after that. 

 

 

How can you not capture scenic views around that only nature can paint? This is why the supposed 30-minute trek doubled. We rest on the sides of the trail a few times, but the sights down below and the varieties of creatures and trees especially the pine trees around became more interesting as we went higher.