Hydro Falls | Baguio's Hidden Wonder

If you think Baguio City is just about historical places, food hubs, parks and open grounds, ukay-ukay, fruits and vegetables, and Good Shepherd delicacies, then you're just getting only the crust of the pie. Baguio has a lot more to offer, especially to those who are looking for thrill and adventure.

Now who would've thought that there's a gorgeous waterfalls just about 15 minutes away from the city proper. I myself was so surprised after knowing this piece of information from our friend slash resident tour guide, Emil of Asiong32 from Baguio City.

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Sunday - October 14, 2012

As soon as we checked out from our hotel (medyo gusto pa sana namin magpahinga kasi kakagaling lang namin sa Mt. Cabuyao, pero kailangan na talaga naming lisanin ang hotel sapagkat medyo overstaying na kami), our hungry tummies told us to go to Good Taste Restaurant for lunch. We were so hungry that our stomachs were already yelling and screaming for food. But we can't blame these poor tummies since it was already 02:30 PM, quite too late for a lunch time. Buti na lang garlic-buttered chicken saved the day.

waiting madly for our Garlic-buttered Chicken!
L-R: Emil of Asiong32, nurse Jela, Dane and Agnes of Tramping Philippines, Allan and Bryan.

After the delightful late lunch, the whole group (led by Emil) went on for one more adventure before we head back to Manila in the evening. Our destination - Hydro Falls. Certainly sounds unfamiliar to us, no one in the group has been into that place except, of course, for Emil. 

The jumpoff at Camp 6, along Kennon Road, was about 15 minutes jeepney ride from the city proper (fare was.. uhhmm.. nakalimutan ko na.. basta it was less than P20). I am not quite sure where exactly we alighted the jeep, but there's a waiting shed and a hanging bridge that served as landmark.

crossing the hanging bridge, this bridge is visible from the highway, it can serve as your landmark when you want to visit Hydro Falls. 

From the highway, we crossed the hanging bridge, then followed the pathway until we met a river. We didn't know there's a river trekking involved in this waterfalls adventure, akala ko petiks trek lang pero hindi pala. Boulders and rushing water made our river trekking a bit challenging and exciting as well.

start of river trekking

Dane and Agnes of Tramping Philippines

It took us 25 minutes before we had our first glimpse of the waterfalls. It was a big WOW! The trek was definitely worth it. Sobrang nabighani ako sa Hydro falls, so I trekked even closer the fastest I could.

boulders,

more boulders

huge boulders made the river trek challenging and time consuming

my first glimpse of the falls. just wow

I think, for about 5 minutes, I was just staring at the waterfalls, with my jaw dropped. I can't help myself from being so amazed by this stunningly beautiful body of water. It's a three level waterfalls of about 40 feet high. The water gushing from above creates a deep pool below. I was planning to get a natural massage from watefalls' power, but since the pool beneath the falls was quite too deep and the poor me don't know how to swim, I just dropped the idea.

almost at the falls, notice that there's a pipeline connected to the falls, therefore it's a clean water source.

lo and behold, the three layered Hydro Waterfalls. Why Hydro? I don't know, locals just call it that way. Well, hydro means water, therefore Hydro Falls is just the same as Water Falls.

Even if it breaks our hearts to leave so soon, the time was 05:30 PM, we started preparing ourselves to get back to the city. We simply cannot afford to spend some more time in the place since we still need to catch the last jeepney back to Baguio city, syempre ayaw naman namin maglakad sa Kennon Road pabalik ng city proper. But before we left, we had a very quick dip on the cold water of the river.

At 06:00 PM, the sun was down and the darkness of the night reigns the sky, therefore we did nighttime river trekking on our way back to the highway. River trekking on a nighttime wasn't easy at all, but despite that, I did not hear any complain from any of us. It just shows how happy we were when we left Hydro Waterfalls. Sighs, I wish I could go back there again soon. 

We reached Baguio City at 7PM and were still able to catch the 9PM bus trip to Manila.. sigh.