Trekking Mt. Mayon (via Old Lava Trail)

Province of Albay

Day 01: 27 August 2011

Trekking - rain or shine!!

Jump-off point at Sto. Domingo

While most people were enjoying the safety of their home with family and loved ones and some were bracing for a category 5 typhoon Mina while it traverses from Bicol region up north to the Cagayan Valley, I was at the wilderness climbing the majestic perfect cone under unpredictable weather with four other adventurous friends at Albay.

Trail leading to Camp 1

It was a "dream-come-true" after all. It was because of my love of photography and Mt. Mayon that brought me up the mountains, meeting new friends, enjoying nature and having fun.

Volcanic Rocks and Covered Trail

Early on August 27, 2011, five climbers met at a usual meeting place in Albay - the Legazpi bus terminal. After completing the head count, we head on to the jump-off point at Sto. Domingo.

Camp 1

The jump-off point is actually a golf-course so it was nice. The first part of the climb going to camp 1, which took us about three hours, was an easy climb.

Preparing for Dinner

We passed through nice landscapes of lava trail most of which were covered with "cogon" grass already. Then we reached a forest area and then finally, camp 1.

Water Source

Super typhoon Mina was brewed somewhere near Albay so for few weeks, it was raining hard in that place. During our climb, the weather was totally cloudy and windy and drizzling. Advantage of this weather condition was that it provided a cool temperature that prevented us from getting dehydrated fast while trekking.

City of Legazpi at Night view from Camp 1

On a normal pace, we reached camp 1 just in time for lunch. There were two climbers who went ahead of us and met them at camp 1. Just after lunch, it was sleeping time. Didn't have the change to take a lot of photos because it was too foggy. There was a short clearing at night so we had a change to see Legazpi city lights from above.

Day 02: 28 August 2011

The following day, we woke up early, took some photos of sunrise, had breakfast and started the assault to the knife edge.

Early Morning Sky at Camp 1

Unlike the trail at Mt. Malinao, the trail at Mt. Mayon going up was completely different. It was made of solidified lava, large rocks and cliffs.

Trail leading to Knife-edge

Climbing this kind of wet trail was indeed very challenging. It was steep, very slippery and a little scary knowing that behind us was a cliff and at the bottom were large volcanic rocks.

Old Lava Trail Wet and Slippery

Adding up to the challenge was the fog that we had to stop for a while without moving when it turned zero visibility and we don't know whether our next step was a rock or a cliff. The cold wind travelling at about 40kph was continuously pounding us from different directions carrying rain water.

Sitting near Knife-edge

But these conditions going up the knife edge had never dampens the spirits of adventurers like us. We pushed even higher and this time, we had to remove our shoes and crawled up bare footed on the trail just to have a better grip.

View of the City of Legazpi along the old Lava Trail

After more than three hours of crawling bare footed on the slippery wet rocky trail with strong cold winds moving from different directions, we finally reached the point where we all wanted to be. At last!!

Going down the Trail barefooted

While going up was already very challenging, going down was even more challenging and took us a little longer before getting back to camp 1.

Rocky Trail

We finally left camp 1, thankful that it didn't rain while assaulting the knife edge and no accidents happened.

Sto. Domingo Golf Course Jump-off Point

An awesome, very challenging yet very nice climb at Mt. Mayon. See more photos.

Daragang Magayon!!

-o0o-

Trekking Mt. Maculot

Province of Batangas

06 August 2011

Mt. Maculot climb was a Mt. Pico de Loro climb "reunion" since most of the climbers were also at Pico de Loro about a month ago. Twenty passionate and nature loving climbers met at Mc Donalds El Pueblo at 3:00AM and prepared for travel to Cuenca, Batangas, the jump-off point.

Jump-Off Point

We left the meeting place at around 3:30AM. We reached Batangas around 5:00AM. We were a bit lost looking for Brgy. Cuenca, the jump-off point. Nevertheless, we were at the place at 6:00AM 30 minutes earlier than our IT of 6:30AM.

We started trekking at 7:00AM as scheduled. Guiding us is Osep Reyes together with Joel Grande and Lorenz Zapanta. I started to get a little disappointed right at the jump-off point because of the weather. It was drizzling and foggy. I thought we would never see the view atop the mountain.

Trail

According to Pinoy Mountaineer, Mt. Maculot stands at 830 MASL. There are three destinations: the grotto, the peak and the rockies (706 MASL). At that time, the peak (grotto), according to our guide is closed and only the rockies is accessible. Our guides said that we were fast climbers reaching the camp site near the rockies at 9AM instead of 12:30PM.

Scaling the Rockies

While the rockies still foggy, we stayed for a while at the camp, had socials, picture takings and then an early lunch at 10:00AM. While having an early lunch, there was a clearing and we all saw the breath taking view of Taal Volcano and the magnificent landscape of the province of Batangas particularly Cuenca.

We head on to the rockies passing through grassy "cogon" trail. Mt. Maculot's trail in general is rocky and steep and slippery when wet. I remembered scaling the rock beak of Mt. Pico de Loro when climbing the rockies. The rocky trail is so steep that climbers had to crawl up at some portions of the trail.

Overlooking the Lake

We were at the top of the rockies before 12:00PM and saw another magnificent view of the Taal Volcano and the lake. The view was amazing. It was cold and the summit was so nice. I enjoyed taking photos almost everywhere. For an hour and a half, we did nothing but to enjoy the view, took a lot of pictures and enjoy the cool relaxing wind blowing to the direction of Taal Volcano.

Maculot Summit

We started our descent from the rockies at around 1:00PM and reached the camp site at 1:30PM and then continued our descent to the jump-off point. Again, we were supposed to start our descent at 4:00PM. At 3:00PM we were all at the jump-off point. Our IT showed that we were supposed to be back at the jump-off point by 6:00PM. Since it's early, our guides planned to have a side trip to Tagaytay but later, decided to stop-over at a "bulaluhan" near Cuenca.

The Rockies

After fixing our things and had a nice wash-up, we headed back to Manila at around 4:30PM. We stopped-over at "Banay-Banay" restaurant about 45 minutes drive from Cuenca for either a late lunch or early dinner. The menus were fantastic although I'm not sure if they were "authentic Batangas" dishes. Anyway, Bulalo and "Kilawin na Tanigue" were both good.

We headed back to Manila and back home at around 7:45PM. It was another tiring yet relaxing weekend nature adventure with friends full of fun and excitement! More photos: Gallery #1 Gallery #2.

-o0o-