Climb Against Cancer 2010

December 4-5, 2010

A friend invited me in a climb for a cause. Target destination is Mt. Natib located at Orani, Bataan. Another challenging climb for me, and it met my expactation. It was a very challenging climb. This is also my first time to climb for a cause.

After registering at the outpost where soldiers are deployed. The trek is started at the end of the cemented road. The trail comprise of views of a village of rosters (they used to breed rosters for cock fighting). There are also great views of mountains along the Bataan Natural Park.

The first leg of the trail is gradual until your reach a hut where water source can be found. After the hut there is another gradual trail where it will end at the foot of Mt. Natib. Here is where the challenging part of the trail starts. For about 2 hours of very steep ascent with rope installed to support climbers, you end up at the summit. Mt. Natib is the highest peak within the Bataan Natural park with an elevation of 1255 MASL. There is a 360 degrees view, however, the summit was covered with fog.

Some part of the trail are infested with limatik (blood leeches). Some of my companions where paranoid and afraid with those little creatures. Well for me, I am just enjoying the trail. The campsite is also infested with limatiks which made my foot bloody during the camp.

The campsite is large, however, the ground is not flat. Together with strong winds it gave me a hard time pitching my tent. After setting camp, I started cooking. Right after the food where already cooked, the rain started to pour down and with strong cold winds which caused the socials to be cancelled. Everyone started getting inside their respective tents. It is very cold in the summit, about 18 degrees celcius. Well I guess its good night time already.

The noise of some of my companions woke me up early in the morning. Still having hope that there would be a clearing, I get out of my tent just seeing the fogs that where present the night before. Well no chance for a view, I guess a return climbed will be required.

After a very challenging descent, the group was divided into two groups were the other group went for a side trip (waterfalls maybe 3 hours away from the trail) and the rest of us decided to head back to the jumpoff to get home early.

This will be a memorable climb for me, new found friends plus a climb for a cause makes this climb a successful one for me (even without the view at the summit). Thanks to team Mt. Natib Climb Against Cancer 2010 for a very great experience. I hope climbing with you guys soon. Until next time.

Quadruple Birthday Celebration

November 13-14, 2010

This event was organized for a quadruple birthday celebration. Destination is set at Calauan, Laguna. Our camping grounds, Mt. Kalisungan summit.

The climb starts at a banana plantation. This part of the trail is home for mosquitos, so you wouldn't wonder if you see your skin full of mosquito bites. The whole trail is a steep ascent until your reach the grassland where your can feel the cool breeze. At the middle of the trail, there are views of some towns from Laguna and Rizal. You can also see Talim Island with its towering Mt. Tagapo which they say it looks like a female breast which its other name came from Mt. Susong Dalaga (Mt. Young Woman's Breast).

The summit has a 360 degrees view where you can have a glimpse of the Seven Lakes of San Pablo with Mt. Cristobal and Mt. Banahaw on its background. You may also see Mt. Makiling far at the west.

We reached the summit almost 7PM where it is already dark. We set our camp and start preparing our dinner. Then, its fiesta time. Our menu for the night; hotdog, adobo (pork stew), tinola (chicken in chicken broth with young papaya) with a hot steamy rice (YUM! YUM!). After the dinner, socials begun with alcoholic beverages; Lambanog (coconut wine) and GSM Blue.

We woke up early morning and ate our breakfast. We were about to break camp when it started to rain, I thought that the whole climb will have a fair weather since yesterdays weather is good. Well, weather in the mountain is very unpredictable.

We start descent and it is still raining. The trail was very slippery and not to mention, muddy. We then reach the jump-off and waited for our service which will take us to our side trip, Bunga Falls.

The falls looks like a chocolate falls, the water flowing was color brown (mud). I think the rain was the culprit why the color of the water is brown. Bunga Falls is also known as The Twin Falls. Its name was taken from Bunga (betel nut) Palms which grows around the falls. Some say that the catchbasin has some creatures which pulls outsiders feet. Well in my conclusion the pulling effect is caused by the force of the waterfalls which created a pulling effect.

The celebration was a great success. Thanks to Tanaka, Lakwatseros and all new and old friends for this successful climb. Until we meet again.

MakTrav

October 9, 2010

I thought I may not be given a chance to do this climb, and I was wrong. I have already scaled the trails of MakTrav(Mt. Makiling Traverse). Some of my friends told me that MakTrav is a very tiring hike, and yes they were correct. Roughly 11 hours estimated hiking time, truly it was very tiring.

This was organized by a friend (sir Luke), and this is their training climb for G2(Mt. Guiting-Guiting).

This was my first time to encounter a limatik (blood leeches). Having read some articles about limatiks before the climb prevent me from being scared of limatiks. Also, I'm too much enjoying the trail to be scared of limatiks.

First destination is Haring Bato, picture taking time guys! I guess this part has the most shots(pictures) taken. Next stop is Melkas Ridge Campsite, here we took our lunch. We also first encountered the limatik here, courtesy of Shirley. We were talking about limatik during our lunch, suddenly Shirley was calmly asking "eto na ba yun?" ("is this it?"), she was referring to a limatik in her pants. Then we answered "oo, yan na yun!" ("yes, that's it!"), and then she began panicking while the others was laughing at her. That was a very funny incident.

Next destination, Peak 3. This is where we commence crossing the Melkas Ridge, which is very steep that you'll need the assist of ropes. This part is the most hazardous part of the trail.

After reaching Peak 3, you will now enter another challenging part of the trail, the wild boar trail, which will lead you to Peak 2 (the highest point of Mt. Makiling). This is where the UPLB trail starts, start descent and you'll end up at UPLB(University of the Philippines Los Baños) College of Forestry.

For me, the reward of the trip is the Sto. Tomas Trail itself. Since the trail from Peak 2 to UPLB College of Forestry offers few views especially when darkness approaches, like in our case, we arrived at the College of Forestry at around 8:30PM.

This is a very challenging climb, now I know why it is used as a training climb for a G2 climb. Ofcourse I'll be back and scale MakTrav again.

All new scenery

August 28-29, 2010

It's been a while since my last post. Well here I go again, trying to create an entry based from my previous adventure.

Day 1

Last August 28, we been to Tarak Ridge. We decided to take the ferry boat (SuperCat) going to Orion Bataan, since it is much faster 1 hour ferry ride compared to 3 hours ride on a bus. This is the first time I've tried to ride a ferry boat and it made me quite dizzy which hinders me to take a nap.

We arrive at Port of Orion Bataan at around 07:00 and take a trike to the market then to the highway which mini buses pass by going to Mariveles.

09:30, we arrive at Barangay Alas-Asin (jump-off), rested for a while and distributed the loads then start trekking going to the jumpoff.

10:30, we arrive at the hut, rested and took some pictures and snacks then started trekking.

14:00, here we are at Papaya River. We took our very late packed lunched here and refilled our water containers.

15:00, we started trekking the steep and forested trail going to the ridge.

17:00, at last the strong winds welcomed us at Tarak Ridge. We set our camp because the rain is starting to get strong. One of our companion started preparing the dinner, sinigang na baboy, and it's very good. After the dinner, I did not got the chance to join the social due to strong rain (my rain jacket is wet... so sad...).

Day 2

08:00, wake up time and we need to prepare our full packed breakfast. After the breakfast, the part that I don't like the most, break camp. Then we prepared and started trekking to the Tarak Peak.

11:30, we then started to descend. We reached Papaya river and took our late lunch (again), took a deep on the cold water of the river then continued trekking.

17:30, we arrive at the jump-off. The journey is almost at its end. We then wash up and prepare to leave. We had missed the last trip going from Mariveles to Manila. Plan B, took a mini bus going to Balanga then from there we ride the bus to Manila.

Another hard adventure for me, but another mountain has added to my list. Thanks to Onin for organizing the trip and to sir Luke and group for accompanying us.

See you guys on our next adventure.

Fun! Fun! Fiesta Climb!

July 3-4, 2010

The climb was organized by a college friend and invited me to join.

First stop is Lipa, Batangas. We took the market first before heading to Sulok, Sto. Tomas, Batangas(jump-off). We also bought our lunch at Lipa.

When we arrived at the jump-off, we rested for a while then start trekking. We decided to ascend using the Grotto trail and descend using the traditional trail by the next day. I think the trail changed a bit compared when I first climb up Manabu Peak last two years ago (its quite some time though).

We took our lunch at the Grotto then rested for a while. Then we started trekking up to the summit. When we arrived at the last hut before the summit, we took a break to prevent the suns heat.

We then reach the summit area which was stationed by a white cross. We immediately proceed to the campsite area due to the suns heat at the summit.

After setting up the tents, the sky gets dark and started to rain. However, it didn't last that long. After a while we started preparing our dinner. We cooked menudo(courtesy of Erwin), sisig(courtesy of Anne), adobo(courtesy of Eds and Lyn), unknown viand(courtesy of me! Hehehe) and rice(courtesy of Onin and Cyprus). This really was a team effort and it went all great.

After the dinner, the other group visits us to join our social. A very joyful socials with a bit of scary stories. Too many stories were told that night. A mixed of funny and scary stories which make the socials joyful. After that well its lights off time.

The early morning waked us up with the view of the twins Mt. Crisobal and Mt. Banahaw with the sun as its background. A very nice view to start your morning. We then decided the climb up the summit area to have a greater view.

After the breakfast, we then start breaking camp and then start descending. The trail is a bit slippery because of the wet and muddy trail. After a while, we then reached the house of the famous keeper of Manabu Tatay Pirying. Ofcourse we did grab the opportunity of having the very much famous Tatay Pirying's coffee. A few minutes of rest then we set to continue the trek.

All I can say is that this is indeed a Fun! Fun! Fiesta climb!

The dinner fiesta

Mt. Cristobal and Mt. Banahaw (view from campsite)

Mt. Maculot (view from summit)

White cross at the summit

Manabu "Starbucks"?

First times!

June 6, 2010

There are a lot of first time happened to me on this trip.
 - to climb up Mt. Maculot
 - to do a day hike
 - to climb that will need a rope because of the steepness of the trail

To sum this up, this first times are very worth experience.

We started our trail at the grotto, passing through the forest to the summit, and descend to campsite and the rockies, then descended by the traditional trail.

We have noticed that there are lot of trash along the trail on the grotto side compared to the trail along the traditional trail. We have concluded that the trash on the grotto trail is the left by the recent holy week.

We took our lunch at the campsite before proceeding to the rockies. Then take pictures at the rockies and start descending thru the traditional trail.

Want a hand? Just use the rope. :)

On the way to campsite and rockies!

Breath taking shot!

Labor day trip; another paradise!

May 1-2, 2010

The trip has a very long story before it finally happened. I almost missed the trip due to financial problem, was almost canceled due to the weather, but it finally came true. The trip was very much successful.

Having the thought of a bad weather, luckily we arrived at the place with a very nice weather.

This is another exciting adventure I have done! New place for me to relax and enjoy Gods creation.

Another successful trip for me I guess. I hope this place will not be massacred by the tourist, and I hope that the future generation can still see this place as good as I have seen.

I thank Naldy, Cris, Gian, Christine and Tin for a wonderful trip!

Strike two!

April 24-25, 2010

I woke-up 2am(April 24) to get ready for another trip. I was still sleepy because I slept late preparing for the things I need to bring for the trip. At around 3am, I am already on my way to the meeting place. The meeting time is 4:30am but I need to leave the house early because the meeting place is way too far from my house. I arive at the meeting place at exactly 4:30am, took a light breakfast. It was more or less 3 hours on the way to San Juan, Batangas. All I did during the 3 hours travel time is to sleep and knock my head on the window (unconsciously). We then arrived at San Juan, Batangas and headed to the market place and bought our market needs there. After, we ride a jeep to Brgy. Hugom(jump-off), which is another long trip. When we arrived at Brgy. Hugom, we headed immediately towards the registration are. Registered our names at the log book, settled the registration fee and then we met our guide Enteng(which looks like he is almost eating his mustache XD).

 

We start trekking at the beach side for more or less 45 minutes. We took our lunch at Sitio Catmon, the start of the trail up to Mt. Daguldul. We wait and rest there until the sun is not that scorching hot. We started the trek at around 3pm.

A very challenging climb for me even though this is my second time going up Mt. Daguldul. A was sick for the past week so I wasn't able to jog. This mountain had given me a hard time, even in my past climb up here. But still, this is always been a worthy climb. We reached the campsite and it is already dark. We immediately set our camp, cooked our dinner and start the socials after a rewarding dinner.

It is not too cold nor not hot. After the 3 bottles of brandy was done, I already get in my tent to take a rest. The morning light woked me up together with the noise from one member of the group. All are motivated to trek down for a rewarding beach experience. The pacing was fast, that everyone is detemined to swim. We reached Sitio Catmon and took our lunch there. After several minutes of rest, we decided to trek the shore to Brgy. Hugom where we planned to take a dip at the beach.

This was a great reward after a tiring climb. Thanks to this group for inviting me again! I hope to see you guys for more climbs!

The cast:

Onin

Shirley

Adam

Neal

Jimi

Makoy

Mates

Evelyn

Eds

Jeric

Dante

Pochie

Yna

Jek

New friends; more climbs

March 27-28, 2010

A college friend invited me to join their climb at Mt. Gulugod-Baboy, and again, this will be my 2nd time here. A day before the trip, I planned to sleep at my friends house to prevent me being late. Meeting time is 04:00am at Taft-Buendia, we were just on time. We rented a van going to Mabini, Batangas. Then they stop by the market to buy some foods.

We arrived at the jump off and took our lunch and took some rest before starting the trek.

This was an easy climb, two hours of trek and you can already see the view of the grassland.









The last time I was here was around October, the grassland was very different from what I saw before. The grass were dry, other part of the mountain were burned due to the kaingin.

To sum it up, this trip is still a joyful one. Also considering that Mt. Gulugod-Baboy was one of my favorite fun climb. Hope to see this mountain again, SOON!

Anawangin Part 2

March 20-21, 2010

I’m here again, Anawangin Cove. It seems that there are many changes since I last came here. The place is too crowded, you can say that there’s a village in Anawangin Cove.

Our group was divided into 2 groups, 1st group planned to go trekking and the 2nd group planned to take a boat. We arrived at Brgy. Pundaquit at around 03:45 am. The 1st group, consists of 5 persons including me, started trekking at around 04:00 am, while the other group waited for the boat and will start traveling by sea at 05:00 am. Our group arrived at the summit of Mt. Pundaquit at 06:00 am, took a 1hr breakfast/break.

We arrived at Anawangin Cove at 08:30am. The second group was amazed because we were fast; it is because we don’t have heavy loads on our backs. This was one of my easiest climb, no heavy loads and a couple of days jogging in preparation for this climb.









The group planned to do a side trip at Capones Island by the next day. We even met sir Romy Garduce, in Capones Island shooting a documentary.

I can consider this as one successful adventure that I myself organized. Thanks for the tips from a mentor. I had fun, but maybe, only “maybe” I will not get back to Anawangin again!