Category: Climbs and adventures
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A lot of everything
Of trails. Of mud. Of river crossings. Of cows. And their dung. Known for the towering rocks forming its pillar-like summit, Mt. Marami (405+ MASL) also has a monolith aptly called Silyang Bato. Located at Maragondon, Cavite, the mountain can be easily reached via a three-hour public commute from Metro Manila. From the bus drop…
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Bakun trilogy
To kick off the new year, our mountaineering group embarked on a challenging trek, which on hindsight, when I think about it now, set the pace for our upcoming climbs in the first half of 2012. Series 1 took us to the famed Bakun Trio: Mt. Tenglawan (1,940 MASL), Mt. Kabunian (1,700 MASL) and Mt.…
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Talamitam’s animal farm
Talamitam has a cuteness level of 5 with all the pairs of neighing horses, curious cows, photogenic carabaos and charming baby goats. Oh wait, this isn’t a farm. Mt. Talamitam is an easy dayhike like her sister Mt. Batulao. Legend has it that a giant once lorded the plains. He had one foot in Batulao,…
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Traversing 21 mountains
I now understand why some mountaineers keep coming back. As with most Benguet mountains, the scenery going to and from Ugo is picturesque. Rolling pine tree-covered ridges, chilly temperatures, long yet slightly ascending and descending paths complete the breathtaking landscape. The tiring traverse is capped by a crossing of the 90.7-metre hanging bridge of Sitio…
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Damas traverse
I will give it to you straight. Steep. Yes she had fabulous views at the peak, refreshing river crossings and the thundering drop of Ubod Falls, but, what stuck to me about Damas is her killer ascents and knee-busting descents. The guides may insist the slopes are gradual, but they are not. With the jumpoff…
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King of the country’s mountains
So there we were, at the peak, shivering from head to foot in the cold mountain air and rainfall. Ah, Mt. Apo – indeed the grandfather of all Philippine mountains (2,956 MASL) . Halfway into conquering him, we have already had our fair share of shifting landscapes and contrasting trail types. As nighttime bade hello,…
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Tarak and its windy ridge
My first climb for the year took me to one of Bataan’s highest points. Tarak left me with two things. First, like a wordplay, I now understand how it got its name. The initial portion of the climb involves the usual wide trails through grasslands and flatlands. Three hours into this type of trek, you…
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Arayat: the case of the missing trail
And I thought guides are supposed to know and lead the way. Up until this climb. An ambitious dayhike traverse from the Magalang to Arayat trails ended on a rather mischievous note as we learned from the lead pack that our juvenile brothers from Brgy. Ayala on the Magalang side seemed to have lost the…
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Maculot for the holidays
In celebration of the holidays, we had a Christmas party and year-end dayhike at Mt. Maculot in Cuenca, Batangas. Albeit rainy and slippery, we had fun eating cake at the Grotto and blowing candles at the Rockies. After the quick Maculot traverse, the group gathered at the mountaineers’ store for a simple potluck meal and…
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Kalisungan is not a walk in the park
Expecting a quick dayhike ala the likes of Daguldol and (as I was told) Gulugod-Baboy, imagine my surprise as I squished and squashed my way through sloping trails of mud and horse dung. Fruit flies hovered over dead banana trunks and coconut husks scattered along the way. Mosquitoes were abuzz at 3/4 of the trail.…
Always Wandering 