Mt. Famy is one of the closest places to do some hiking and camping in the summer. Situated in the north-eastern part of Siniloan in Laguna, Mt. Famy is one very attractive campsite to visit regularly.

Direction
From Manila to Sinoloan, it takes about 2 to 3 hours of bus and anothe 15 minutes of tricycle ride to the foot of the mountain (mostly buses travel straight to the hiking site).

For the weekend trip, you may spend less than P550 which will cover the fares, canned food and some extra change.

Note: P20 registration fee at the entrance and P100 if you need a guide. If you rent a horse and a guide, is another P150.

It is better to bring some canned foods and cooking utensils. But you can buy some foods in stores along the campsite and pay for them to be cooked (usually fried or sauteed). The cost have a meal cooked with some rice is P20. Mineral water is brought in very early in the morning cold softdrinks and beer can be had anytime of the day.

Schedule your trips to several cool places around such as Buruwisan River, Batya-batya, Sampaloc Falls, and the Lansones Falls.

The Benton County Parks Department offers an opportunity for an interested person/couple to camp for free as serves for volunteer service.

Benton County is seeking people to volunteers to serve as campground hosts, they would receive a site to park a trailer or recreational vehicle. The volunteers to serve as campground host for Salmonberry Campground from Sept. 9 to Oct. 15. The campground is located in Oregon Coast and 28 features sites, flush toilets and pay showers.

The volunteer camp host will receives the benefits such as recreational vehicle, with complete electricity (water, sewer and local phone service).

For more information:
The task or responsibilities is of camp hosts is available at the Natural Areas and Parks Department Office. Those interested can contact this number 541-766-6871 (Benton County Natural Areas).

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Mountain Valley Guest Inn 2 is located in Mabinay, Negros Oriental, Philippines, features many beautiful hiking and mountain biking trails through out the wooded and rolling hills property for your leisure activity. You can also hike in the shade of the large trees along the hiking trails at Mountain Valley Guest Inn 2.

Guest Inn is a very large, heavily wooded in trees, Government Forest is for your hiking, camping, mountain biking and exploration in Mabinay, Negros Oriental, Philippines. You can set up your own tents or by renting one of the Guest Inn’s Tents for P300/night.

Mountain Valley Guest Inn offers 6 different, themed romantic rendezvous hotel resort suites for a very memorable wedding night,  romantic honeymoon, memorable wedding anniversary, romantic birthday, romantic Balikbayan vacation and travel, or other romantic escapes, getaways, and romantic occasions, or a fantasy vacation.

Also nearby are the 7 lakes of Highland Resort for your exploration, swimming, and boating—Mountain Valley has a good boat you can rent for your enjoyment at Highland Resort. You can also swim in the famous and bountiful year-round Mabinay Spring and enjoy the Spring’s beautiful wooded park.

Room Rates:
P600, P800, & P1500 per night
(P1500 for waterbed, swinging bed or hot tub spa room)

Here’s How To Pay For Your Room Reservation   For Mountain Valley Guest Inn
Alternatively, if you are already in the Philippines, you can mail your check or money order payable in P-pesos to    Phillip Fry, P.O. Box 341, Dumaguete City 6200, Negros Oriental, Philippines, or you can make a bank deposit to our P-peso bank account at any nationwide branch of BDO Bank, Bank of Commerce, or UnionBank. For bank deposit details for the bank of your choice, please email Cathy at  philrealestate4sale@yahoo.com

Traveling to Mountain Valley Guest Inn

Travel by Ground and Sea

From Cebu City:
Go to the south Cebu bus terminal; take an air conditioned Ceres bus that goes from Cebu City to Bacolod (the bus will cross the ocean in a short ferry ride to Negros Island) but tell the conductor that you only want a ticket to Bulwang Mabinay (half way to Bacolod)..

Get off the bus at Mountain Valley Guest inn 2 in Bulwang Mabinay.  The guest inn is on the right hand side of the highway 6 km before Lumbangan proper. Watch for the many billboards advertising the guest inn as you travel toward the guest inn.

From Manila
Fly on Air Philippines or Cebu Pacific Airline non-stop from Manila to Dumaguete City—or ride a ferry that will take you Manila to Dumaguete, Negros Oriental.  When you arrive at either the airport or the seaport, simply walk out from the airport or sea port to the main highway and flag down a pedicab (a public utility tricycle).  Instruct the driver to go to Ceres bus terminal. From the airport, expect to pay at least 30 pesos to go to the Ceres bus terminal (if you flag down a tricycle on the national highway). If you hire a tricycle at the airport terminal, expect to be ripped off for 100 to 300 pesos for the same short trip. From the seaport, expect to pay 8 pesos to the Ceres terminal. If you have more than one piece of luggage, you might be charged somewhat more.

At the Ceres buss terminal take a bus going to Bacolod via Mabinay. The guest inn is on the right hand side of the highway 6 km before Lumbangan proper. Watch for the many billboards advertising the guest inn as you travel toward the guest inn.

Travel by Over Land on Negros Island

From Bacolod:
Take a metered taxi to the south Bacolod bus terminal and take an air conditioned Ceres buss heading for Dumaguete via Mabinay.

Get off at Mountain Valley Guess Inn 2 in Bulwang,  Mabinay. The Guest Inn is located on the left side of the high way 6 km after Lumbangan Proper.

From Dumaguete:
Take a pedicab tricycle to the Ceres bus terminal (8 peso fare) and then take a Ceres bus going to Bacolod via Mabinay. Get off the bus at Mountain Valley Guest inn 2 in Bulwang Mabinay.  The guest inn is on the right hand side of the highway 6 km before Lumbangan proper. Watch for the many billboards advertising the guest inn as you travel toward the guest inn.

Info & Reservations:
Cell phone Number: 0906-510-4000 or 035-226-3154
(from outside of Philippines, dial 63-906-510-4000 or 63-35-226-3154)
Email: mountainvalleyvillage@yahoo.com

Mystical Mount Makiling is an inactive volcano rising about 1,109 meters above sea level. There are approximately 2,048 different species of plant. The lower slope is a tall dipterocarp forest while the summit is a dwarf mossy forest.

The slopes of Mt. Makiling are shaped to resemble a woman reclining, hence the air of mysticism that surrounds the mountain. A Maria Makiling, mystical goddess and the legend has the profile well-known figure of Filipino folklore. Many who have lived in Los Baños, Laguna have a special place in their heart for the mountain. Bundok Makiling. Maria Makiling dwells in this mountain and protects dwellers and travelers from harm. The home of the lady Maria Makiling where mossy forests stand strong, and hot springs abound.

Maria Makiling was a fantastic creature, half nymph, halves sylph, born under the moonbeams of Filipinas, in the mystery of its ancient woods, to the murmur of the waves on the neighboring shore. Mariang Makiling always remained pure, simple, and mysterious as the genius of the mountain.

Mt. Makiling Contact Information
MT. MAKILING (via Los Baños)
Los Baños, Laguna
Major Jump-off: Station 1, UP College of Forestry
LLA: 14.13°N 121.20°E, 1090 MASL (Peak 2)
Hours to summit / days required: 1-2 days / 4-5 hours
Specs: Minor climb, Difficulty 4/9, Trail class 3

ITINERARY
VIA LOS BANOS
0430 Assembly at LRT-Buendia, board Sta. Cruz bus (P99 as of Feb. 2009)
0630 ETA Los Baños Crossing, walk to corner beside Robinson’s Place for jeep to Forestry, or
rent any passing jeep (P150~200 as of Feb. 2009)
0700 ETA jump-off point, College of Forestry, register (P10)
0730 Start trek
0845 ETA Nursery, you can buy drinks here.
0900 Head off to Peak 2. Take note of the stations to mark your progress.
1015 ETA last campsite.
1130 reach the so-called ‘90 degrees’ at Stn. 27. Use the ropes.
1200 ETA Peak 2 (station 30), lunch
1300 Start descent
1600 ETA road to Nursery, proceed to Mudspring as a sidetrip.
1620 Arrive at Mudspring, take pictures.
1645 Back at Nursery, start walk back to jump-off
1800 Back at jump-off; walk down the road and wait for jeepney
1830 Dinner at Grove, Los Baños (many food options here)
1930 Head back to Los Baños Crossing, take Buendia or Cubao. (note: last trip for Buendia is 2030H)

MT. MAKILING/UPLB TRAIL TRAIL MAP
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Emmet County Fire Destroys a storage barn and camping trailer in Resort Township around 9:00 pm, Tuesday.

The fire chief still being investigated the cause but until now it looks like the origin from a wood stove attached to the trailer.

A man who lived in the trailer doesn’t have an insurance and lost everything. The storage barn was insured but is also destroyed. Nobody was hurt in the fire. The owner says, he looked out his kitchen window that night and saw a ‘red glow’. Then, he called 911 immediately.

The high winds hampered control of the fire, make it difficult one to fight the fire. more info

Camping Activity for Scouts, to enhance the skills, trust and teamwork. Almost 230 scouts are currently participate in Bruenei Muara District in the Brunei Muara Scout Camp at Kg Beribi.

According to Awg Hj Majid, the Brunei Muara District Acting Scout Commissioner, the aim is to build survival skill and friendship between scout memeber. He said “The participants comprise eleven teams from various secondary schools within the district.”

The three days camping event with different activities like building tents, flying fox, night marching, outdoor games , obstacle course, orientering, and emergency and rescue activities. The activities helps build trust and teamwork among scouts or participants by walking blind folded.

The camp will conclude on March 25, 2009.

Campers like to spend their holidays on the shore of  South of France or in the Lake Garda in Italy with their tents in Snowdonia or the Lake District.

According to the prediction from Eurocamp, one of the 3 biggest camping holiday season companies in Europe which has the first time in 15 years set up a centres in Britain.

For those people based in the UK, the company concentrated on selling upmarket camping holidays to British travelers going to Europe destination. 15 years ago, in Cornwall was shut down its last UK site.

This summer, the National Trust and the Forestry Commission is opening camp site with nine bases in association to attract travellers to visit Europe, because of the high value of the Euro.

Carl Michel, Eurocamp’s chief executive said “he mood is for simpler and shorter holidays, I think.”

The cost per night is £53 includes:
* 4 persons or family of four can rent a tent
* stove
* pots
* pans
* bedding

The tents are in rural locations. The proper camping and don’t have any hassle to putting up a tent.

If you wonder where you want to spend your holiday season on this summer, Ryanair has a flight. It is not so cheap in the hotel and accommodation.

Many regular campers complaints the rate hike for camping at Chester Frost Park.

Melvin Keylon of Hixson told commissioners on Wednesday’s meeting “I don’t agree with what y’all are doing. Times are hard, and y’all are going up on everything.”

At the meeting, 15 campers came and protect a proposal to raise rates between 20 and 40 percent for Hamilton County Seniors, depending on the camp site. The other Hamilton County residents rates would have gone up between 11 and 21 percent and for out of county residents rates between 18 and 24 percent.

The commission rejected the increase of 4-2 vote.

Rudolph Braswell of Lakesite said “the increases which the commission rejected in a 4-2 vote aren’t fair.”

Mr Braswell presented the increase rate the put an across the board 10% increase on in county seniors, a 15% increase for other county residents and 35% increase on campers from outside Hamilton County.

County Mayor Claude Ramsey proposed an amendment that would halve the rate increase for seniors but the amendment failed to get majority vote needed to pass.

The increase rate proposal will be sent to the Commission’s Health, Personnel, Human Services, Arts, Recreation and Public Relations Committee to be reworked.

Commissioner Fred Skillern, Chairman of Committee suggested to the commissioner should look at the gradual increase pegged to state park camping rates.

The New York Officials says that camping reservations has rise now to 6 percent this year because of families plans to save money for vacations.

The State of Recreation, Office of Parks and Historic Preservation has 45,300 advance reservations compared last March 2007 has about 42,600. The big impact of people planning to vacation or camping reservations.

Carol Ash, Parks Commissioner says camping and visits to state parks are more attractive and affordable option to spend your day or vacation weeks.

It has been rising the popularity of the state park on each year. Last year (2008) it’s being recorded with 137,000 advance campground reservations.

The Parks has agency oversees with 67 campgrounds, 8,000 campsites, 800 cabins and 41 vacation rentals and also charges verying fees for access to campgrounds.

For more information of New York State’s Campground:
Check out the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation official website.

Binghamton University students continue showed how their fans in the last few nights with tents. To be first to get general admission tickets for Saturday’s game by camping out in front of the events center.

Friday in morning were set up 8 tents front of the game site with fans beginning to stake out territory. The one group says it was important to arrive early to claim the seats or spot in the BU Zoo.

Bu Junior David Passes said “We’ve been going to the games for all of college and we sit in the same seats every time, so we’re not gonna just not get those seats for the biggest game of the year or the biggest game in school history.”

All fans and choice seats was stands and very chilly that night.

You can view the video at Camping to Clench Front Seats