Trekking Mt. Pinatubo with KALI Leaders

Capas, Province of Tarlac

26 January 2013

There are few mountains worth trekking for the second time - Mt. Mayon is one and Mt. Pinatubo is another one.

After a 3-day exhaustive meetings, conference and strat plans at the office, leaders including myself decided to go out for a breather. We encamped at a staff house near the Casino at Clark in Pampanga on a Friday night and prepared for an adventure the following day.

Our overnight stay at the staff house was so relaxing sparkling with the spirit of fun. We had nice time sharing our funny memories with the company in the past. Our food supply was enough for a 14 hungry men and we were only 10. Since most of us were tired, we decided to have an early lights-out.

We had an early wake-up call the following day. At 4:30AM, we were all ready for an adventure. We met our guides at the Holiday Inn entrance gate and then packed our things inside the cars. We went out of Clark on convoy towards the jump-off point at Capas Tarlac passing through the SLEX. 

Along the way, we had short breakfast at a food court and then bought our packed lunch for the trek. 

Our convoy trip to Sta. Juliana Jump-off point at Capas Tarlac took us around 1 hour and 30 minutes. We were all at the jump-off point at around 7:00AM where the 4x4 trucks were waiting for us. After securing our trek permits and settling environmental fees, we were all set for the 4X4 adventure ride. We had 3 4x4 trucks and 3 more local guides.

We had a short briefing before we boarded the 4x4 trucks. We learned that there are 3 jump-off points. One at Sta. Juliana where we boarded the 4x4 truck.

The second jump-off point is at Lipit station where the 4x4 trucks will be dropping us for a 7 kilometers trek going to the third/final jump-off point. 

At 7:45Am, the adventure officially started. Everyone had fun riding the bumpy 4x4 truck as it traversed the lahar path with streams of water, gigantic rocks and dust.

At the middle of our way to the second jump-off point, we stopped for a short but nice photo session. There were native 'Aetas' around so we had short happy moments with them in front of the camera. 

As we continued our journey to the second jump-off point, all of us were mesmerized by the majestic beauty of the lahar path around us. I've been here two years ago and the trails now look differently than it were before. Our guides told us that the trails are constantly changing with rains and the wind.

After 2 hours of bumpy ride along the lahar path, we were finally at the second jump-off point. We were there at around 10:00AM.

We started trekking at 10:15AM towards the third jump-off point and then to the crater. The entire stretch from the second jump-off point is a 7 kilometer journey. We were so lucky with a very nice weather. The air was cool and the sun was behind the clouds. 

Everyone enjoyed the journey up to the crater. We had to 'cris-cross' over the streams of water as we traversed them.

The lahar walls are overwhelming. A different kind of landscape, a testimony of the wrath and power of Mt. Pinatubo.

Past 11:00AM, we were at the majestic crater of Mt. Pinatubo. Some of us went down the crater, some stayed at the station area and rest.

The crater turned deep-green color and there are signs that swimming on the crater is no longer allowed. 

Two years ago, there were even boats that brought tourists to the other side of the crater. 

We started our descent past 1:00PM. At 4:00PM, we were back at the jump-off point at Sta. Juliana and then left the place by 4:30PM. 

I could never forget my experience with this mountain. When I first trekked it, I never thought I could make it to the crater. 

But through will power, I made it and not just that, I started to like the trail and the volcano. This inspired me to climb other mountains to see different views from above. 

All of my adventures after my first trek at Mt. Pinatubo was all because of my first exciting and fulfilling experience on the same mountain. 

I don't normally climb a mountain for the second time unless it is really worth the time and effort. As for Mt. Pinatubo, a third or even fourth time is worth it. 

Climbing mountains is not just all about excitement and happiness, the values that it brings - RESPECT FOR THE NATURE, RESPECT FOR OTHERS AND RESPECT FOR ONESELF is an icing-on-the-cake. 

I'm so proud to have shared the adventure and the trail to those who love and respect nature! See photos of the click here.

-o0o-

Trekking Mt. Tagapo

BINANGONAN, PROVINCE OF RIZAL.

19 January 2013

Boat Ride

It's always nice to go back to the basic and so I started my climb this year with two minor treks.

I was so excited to be back on the trail again. This was my second trek for 2013. At early 4:00AM I was eagerly waiting for fellow hikers at a usual meeting place at El Pueblo. I arrived there first. 

Our trek guides Chito and Ryan arrived at the place a few minutes after. I was surprised to know that there will only be 4 participants for this trek, myself included.

I was so happy to see fellow hikers - Romeo Bautista and Oliver Pe at the meeting place. After having a short breakfast, We headed to the jump off point at around 4:30AM.

It took us an hour and a half travel from El Pueblo, and we were at a parking slot of a drug store in Binangonan waiting for the operator of a local boat to bring us to Talim Island where Mt. Tagapo is located crossing the lake - Laguna de Bay.

Laguna de Bay

We boarded the boat at around 7:00AM. The boat is large enough to carry max of 60 passengers and we were only 7.

We enjoyed riding with the waves as we crossed the lake. There were lots of fish pans with "Tilapia" and "Bangus" fingerlings.

Trail

At around 8:00AM we reached Talim Island and we immediately went to the Barangay Hall to register.

We passed by our trek lead guide house located just beside the church to arrange for a lunch for all of us. Up we go the trail past 8:30AM.The wind was blowing and it was cold. This helped a lot in our ascent to Mt. Tagapo.

The trail is very nice. The first 1 hour of our climb was easy with lots of bamboo trees along the side of trail.

Mt. Tagapo Summit

The next 1.5 Hours was the little challenging part of the climb - with steeper trail and tall cogon grass at both sides of the trail. We stopped for a quick rest at a nearby camp site and then continued our assault.

The landscape view at this part of the trail is breathtaking. Over looking the impressive Laguna de Bay lake with a background of yellow green cogon grass at the slope of the mountain.

Landscape view atop Mt. Tagapo

It was cold at the peak and cloudy. We reached the summit at 10:45AM. We spent the next 1 hour at the top feasting our eyes with the landscape view below.

At 11:45AM, we started our descent. We're finally back at the jump-off point safely at 12:30PM.

After having our lunch, we left Talim island on board the local boat at around 2:15PM and anchored at Binangonan port by 3:20PM. We had a short visit/photo at the old church of Binangonan before boarding our van.

Church of Binangonan

We left Binangonan back to Manila at 3:45PM and were all back to El Pueblo 5:20PM. 

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Trekking Gulugod Baboy

MUNICIPALITY OF ANILAO, PROVINCE OF BATANGAS

12 January 2013

My first adventure on the trail in 2013!!

Trail

For more than a month, I was off the trails and found myself occupied with yuletide activities both at home and at the workplace. I missed the mountains and the trails so much but I had to stay at home up north away from the busy city and streets of Manila to be with loved ones.

Although Mt. Gulugod Baboy is not on my bucket list, I felt that I needed to stretch a little bit to burn some extra calories brought by the festive Christmas season and the New Year celebration.

According to a friend who had been at Mt. Gulugud Baboy, climbing the mountain is not a major one, yet just like any other mountains, the trail and peak have always something unique and nice to present to those who come and visit it.

Green Summit

At around 3:45AM, I arrived at a usual meeting place at El Pueblo and I was so happy to see few old friends. I was so happy to see an avid climber Nung Panprung once again after a while.

We left Manila at around 04:00AM onboard two vans. There were more or less 20 of us. We had a short stop-over at a gas station along SLEX for a restroom break and to buy some supplies.

Along the way, I met a friend Oliver Pe and had a nice chat with him and we talked a lot about adventures and mountaineering.

White Tree

At around 07:00AM, we were at the Jump-off point at Brgy. San Teodoro, Anilao.

Our climb commenced past 7:30AM walking on an inclined pavement. Part of the pavement is covered with a land that slide down from the slope of a mountain nearby. The trail is generally nice. There were several houses along the trail.

At around 8:30AM, we stopped at a nearby house, had a nice short rest and took group photos.

At around 9:45AM, after passing more than half the entire trail, it started to drizzle and then it finally rained. It started to turn a little cold too and the wind blows from behind us. Slowly, the trail was covered with fog and there was almost zero visibility.

Summit landscape

At around 10:15AM, few of us were at peak 1 already while the others are still on the trail going up. There was an on-off mild to moderate rain with winds blowing to the west and still the peak and the surroundings were covered with fog.

While waiting for our fellow climbers and hoping for the rain to stop and the surroundings to clear, we decided to have an early lunch.

By 11:00AM, finally there was a clearing and we saw the nice landscape around us and we were able to reach the nearby peak 2 as well. We had so much fun taking pictures and exploring the peaks.

Camp Site

We started our descent at around 11:00AM.

While walking up the mountain was so much fun, going down was different as the trail was wet and slippery. Nung and I had fun with the slippery trail and we had even time taking few shots of the trees along the trail.

By 12:30PM, we were back at the jump-off point, had a shower and tidy-up.

We left the jump-off point at 1:45PM and had a stop - over at Casa Rap to cool ourselves with a tasty "halo-halo" and sweet "sinuman".

Everything went well and we were back at El Pueblo 6:00PM.

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