My Third Climb- Mt. Batulao

MounTrails # 3

Mt. Batulao
Nasugbu, Batangas
Jan. 23, 2010
Group: Take Five
Hikers

For a kick-off climb of year 2010, I chose Mt. Batulao. Our purpose for scaling this mountain was primarily because it is near Metro Manila and its accessibility from Tagaytay City, a well-known place for vacation. This climb is also special to me because this is my first organized climb, for a freelancer like me, together with other people who are freelancers as well. And from this climb, a group known as Take Five Hikers was born.
My friend Lanie, from Ilocos, and I went to bus terminal beside MRT Taft Station in Pasay City to meet our fellow climbers and friends at around 7:00 A.M of Jan. 23, 2010. After having breakfast in Jollibee, we proceeded to bus terminal and rode a bus bound to Nasugbu, Batangas and left the terminal at 8:00 A.M. We asked the bus conductor to drop us on Evercrest Golf Course in Nasugbu, the jump-off for Mt. Batulao.
We arrived in Evercrest Gold Course at 10:30 A.M. After we met our other companions, bought food for our lunch and secured a guide (guide’s name: Francis), we started our trek to Mt. Batulao at 11:00 P.M using the old trail. Though the sun was scorchingly hot, the views along the trail were rewarding. These views are perfect for picture taking. Sun was at its highest but we wore jackets for some purposes, sun protection and windy yet cold atmosphere of the Batulao trail. I think one of the best reasons for climbing Mt. Batulao, apart from its scenic views, is the cool feeling that it offers to climbers along the trail. I observed that there were several stores in the trail, offering climbers some refreshments at a little bit costly price. I also observed some trashes along the trail. We picked as much trashes as we could. Such trashes may not be considered a major destruction to the environment of Mt. Batulao as of that moment but if not given much concern, time will come that these trashes will destroy the mountain’s beauty.

The old trail of Mt. Batulao have signs for campsites, marking the mountaineer’s nearness to the summit, having camp 10 as the highest located in Mt. Batulao’s peak. We reached camp 1 at around 12:00 noon and camp 8 at around 12:45 P.M. After we had our lunch in camp 8, we resumed the trek to camp 10. We reached camp 10, Mt. Batulao’s peak, at 2:40 P.M. The views from the summit were wondeful. Actually, the views from the trail between camp 9 and 10 made me scream because of the wonderful views I’ve seen that time. It made me realized that I want to see more wonderful views not only from Mt. Batulao but also from other mountains. This realization made me crave to climb more mountains. Although the trek between camp 9 and camp 10 was not easy (we used ropes), we made it to the summit and took some pictures there. After 20 minutes of staying in the summit, we started to descend using the new trail.

The new trail was not as challenging as the old trail but still, it offers the same coolness as the other trail. Descending using the new trail, a mountaineer will have to pay Php 20 for registration. I don’t know if this could be considered an exit fee as the other trail, the old trail, requires a payment of Php 20/ head for registration too. If a mountaineer opts to use a single trail only (e.i. old trail or new trail only; in our case, we used the old and new trail that’s why we paid a total of Php 40/head), then he/ she wll only pay Php 20. At some point, we enjoyed running along the new trail. Yes! We ran as fast as we could, though this could be tiring but very enjoyable. One thing to watch out to this trail of Mt. Batulao, among others, is the extreme wind. Whenever we encountered an extreme wind along the trail, we stopped and sit for us not to be swept away (^_^). We felt that we could be carried away by the extreme wind and had our way along the ravine that will result to the fastest descend of our lifetime and possibly, our death.

After we reached the Nipa Hut around 5:00 P.M in Batulao where we stopped for some buko juice (buko juice is one of the popular drinks in Mt. Batulao aside from softdrinks and halo-halo), we had some chitchat with the locals. We gave the cookies that we did not consume to children. We also left our trashes and the trashes we picked up along the trail on the Nipa Hut with the owner’s permission.
At around 6:30 P.M, we went to our sidetrip, Tagaytay City, to reward ourselves of a relaxing sleep after the Mt. Batulao climb.

Footnote:
I woke up at around 6:00 A.M of Jan. 24, 2010 to enjoy the view outside our room in Lakeside Resort where we stayed in Tagaytay City. I was amazed by the beautiful scenery of Taal Lake.

Apart from Taal Lake’s beauty as well as its surroundings, the cool weather added to my momentum of thinking the next destination for mountain climbing. After we left Lakeside Resort, we indulged ourselves to a popular cuisine in Tagaytay City. BULALO! Yum! ^_^



Kaisipan Pagkatapos ng Akyat
Sa akyat na ito sa bundok Batulao nabuo ang grupong Take Five Hikers na hanggang ngayon ay patuloy na gumagawa ng ingay sa komunidad ng mga mamumundok (^_^). Paano ito nabuo? Heto ang salaysayin: Sa Camp 1 ng Mt. Batulao kung saan kinakailangang isulat ang grupo na kinabibilangan ng mga mamumundok para sa rehistrasyon, si Sir Mike, isa sa mga kasama namin sa akyat ay nagtanong kung ano ang pangalan ng grupo namin. Dahil lahat kami ay tinuturing na “freelancers” o mga mamumundok na walang kinaaaniban na anumang pormal na samahan ng mga mamumundok, ay naisip nya na tawaging Take Five Hikers ang grupo. Nakuha ang pangalang Take Five Hikers mula sa mga salita ni Sir Ken, isa rin sa kasama sa akyat, sa tuwing kami’y magpapahinga. Sinasambit nya lagi ang “Oh take five muna” na ibig sabihin ay limang minutong pahinga na kadalasan ay lumalagpas pa sa limang minuto (^_^). Sa mga salitang yan nakuha ang Take Five Hikers.



_Cory_ Oct. 31, 2010