Trekking Mt. Makiling (Back Trail)

Los Banos, Laguna
10 Sept 2016

It was a gloomy Saturday and once again four of us were on the road for another adventure. We were heading to Los Banos in the province of Laguna to be with Mt. Makiling.

We were supposed to do a MAKTRAV (Makiling Traverse) from San Bartolome in Sto. Tomas Batangas to Los Banos Laguna via the Palanggana Trail however, due to the weather condition, we decided to do a back trail instead at UP Los Banos. I also heard a news that the Palanggana Trail had been closed already since 2014.

With me were three of my usual trek-mates - Janice, Michael and Jeannie. Everyone was excited to hike up to Station 30, the highest peak of Mt. Makiling.

The jump-off point is approximately 66 km from Duty Free Mall in Paranaque and 1H 29M drive without traffic. We left the office at 0500H and then had breakfast at Cafe France at a gas station along SCTEX.

We reached the registration office inside UP Los Banos at 0820H and prepared for the hike.

 

After registration, we started walking along the pavement leading to the foot of Mt. Makiling at 0853H.

I immediately noticed the concrete road leading to the Agila Base. In 2012, it was just a rough road. 

There were several ongoing road works at that time and according to our guide, the road widening and paving project will cover the stretch from the registration office to Agila Base and when completed, the jump-off point may be transferred permanently to the Agila Base already.

We walked for approximately 8km from the registration office to Agila Base. We had a quick refreshment along the way before officially taking the trail to Station 30.

At 1118H, we reached Agila Base and had a short break. At this time it started to drizzle and sky was dark. This is where I had an encounter with a leech (limatik). I knew that there would be many of them as the area was wet.

We started our trek from Agila Base at 1136H. It was raining and as expected, there was also a rain of limatiks. 

 

We were wearing our rain coats and somehow it shielded us from atleast 40 limatiks falling to us from elsewhere.

 

Makiling trail is inside a thick forest. I was so happy to see again for the third time the century old trees.

 

Many of my favorite photo subjects were there and I enjoyed taking closeup photos.

 

At 1258H, we reac hed Station 20. Janice and Michael decided to trail back while Jeannie and I decided to continue the trek.

The trail was wet and slippery. It was still raining and limatiks are everywhere. At 1335H, we reached Station 24 and had a quick rest.

 

We took the road segment of the trail and also climbed up the bamboo ladder to the upper trail. 

 

Finally at 1443H, we were at Station 30, the highest peak of Mt. Makiling. We had our lunch at the peak and then started our descent at 1500H.

As we went down the trail, there were more limatik attacks and was still raining.Finally, we were back at the jump-off point at 1755H.

 

 

Along our way back to Manila, we decided to reward ourselves with crispy Bagnet!

--o0o--

Tree Planting at Mt. Makiling

Brgy. San Vicente Sto. Tomas, Batangas

19 October 2013

"Hitting Four Birds with One Stone!"

I Hiked, I planted trees, I had a great adventure and I did some exciting photo shoots.

2GO LMC organized a tree planting activity at the slope of Mt. Makiling at Brgy. San Vicente in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. This is part of the 2GO Group Corporate Social Responsibility.

Early 0423H on October 19, 2013, I arrived at the designated pickup point at "The Hub" located near Dr. Jose Rizal monument at the Rizal Park, Manila.

Based on our itinerary, we were supposed to leave for Sto. Tomas, Batangas by 0530H for the tree planting activity.

There were more than 100 volunteers on this event from all of 2GO Group of companies.

The registration started at 0515H and then we had breakfast. The briefing started at 0603H and it was conducted by one of the team leaders from LMC.

We started boarding the buses at 0615H. There were three buses and I was assigned at bus #2 together with employees from International Logistics group - Kerry-ATS and Hansa Meyer ATS. We were accompanied by one safety officer and four LMC members. We were 37 in the bus.

We left Manila at around 0645H. We had a quick stopover at a gas station along the SLEX to refuel the buses. We reached Brgy. San Vicente in Sto. Tomas, Batangas at 0850H.

One of the buses got lost and we waited. While waiting, it started to rain and there was a heavy downpour. We decided to wait inside the buses and also to have an early lunch.

At 1002H, we started trekking at the slope of Mt. Makiling towards the tree planting site. It was still raining. The muddy trail was very slippery.

At 1024H, most of us were at the base camp. At 1035H, the final briefing was conducted by a representative from UPLB.

From base camp, we started trekking up to the tree planting site at 1042H. The trail is more steep and more slippery. This was the most challenging part of the trail for most of the volunteers, who were not used to trekking.

At 1122H, few of us reached the tree planting site and we started to plant the seedlings. There were about 450 seedling bags.

The seedlings were already brought at the site and holes were made identified with a bamboo peg. All we had to do is to remove the seedlings from the plastic bags and then plant them inside the holes.

 

The tree planting site is not a flat ground but an inclined portion. Since only few of us were at the site first, we started planting at the base and gradually ascended on the slope.

Counting the seedling bags that I had, I realized that I was able to plant 35.

 

According to the person from UPLB, the seedlings are fruit bearing trees and not indigenous trees. The tree planting site is about 300MASL and so there is a nice landscape view of the neighboring places.

After planting the seedlings, I enjoyed taking photos.

 

The dedication of the volunteers are impressive. Despite the rain, the steep trail and mud, they did not give up and planted all the seedlings properly as it should be.

James Doolittle said, "There is nothing stronger than the heart of a Volunteer".

At 1220H, we started our descent from the tree planting site. As the trail was wet, muddy and slippery, It took longer for most of the volunteers to descend from the mountain.

We were all back at the drop-off point where the three buses were waiting at 1410H. We had late lunch and left Sto. Tomas at 1512H.

--o0o--

Tree Planting at Mt. Makiling

Brgy. San Vicente Sto. Tomas, Batangas

19 October 2013

"Hitting Four Birds with One Stone!"

I Hiked, I planted trees, I had a great adventure and I did some exciting photo shoots.

2GO LMC organized a tree planting activity at the slope of Mt. Makiling at Brgy. San Vicente in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. This is part of the 2GO Group Corporate Social Responsibility.

Early 0423H on October 19, 2013, I arrived at the designated pickup point at "The Hub" located near Dr. Jose Rizal monument at the Rizal Park, Manila.

Based on our itinerary, we were supposed to leave for Sto. Tomas, Batangas by 0530H for the tree planting activity.

There were more than 100 volunteers on this event from all of 2GO Group of companies.

The registration started at 0515H and then we had breakfast. The briefing started at 0603H and it was conducted by one of the team leaders from LMC.

We started boarding the buses at 0615H. There were three buses and I was assigned at bus #2 together with employees from International Logistics group - Kerry-ATS and Hansa Meyer ATS. We were accompanied by one safety officer and four LMC members. We were 37 in the bus.

We left Manila at around 0645H. We had a quick stopover at a gas station along the SLEX to refuel the buses. We reached Brgy. San Vicente in Sto. Tomas, Batangas at 0850H.

One of the buses got lost and we waited. While waiting, it started to rain and there was a heavy downpour. We decided to wait inside the buses and also to have an early lunch.

At 1002H, we started trekking at the slope of Mt. Makiling towards the tree planting site. It was still raining. The muddy trail was very slippery.

At 1024H, most of us were at the base camp. At 1035H, the final briefing was conducted by a representative from UPLB.

From base camp, we started trekking up to the tree planting site at 1042H. This was the most challenging part of the trail for most of the volunteers who were not used to trekking.

At 1122H, few of us reached the tree planting site and we started to plant the seedlings. There were about 450 seedling bags.

The seedlings were already brought at the site and holes were made identified with a bamboo peg. All we had to do is to remove the seedlings from the plastic bags and then plant them inside the holes.

 

The tree planting site is not a flat ground but an inclined portion. Since only few of us were at the site first, we started planting at the base and gradually ascended on the slope.

Counting the seedling bags that I had, I realized that I was able to plant 35.

 

According to the person from UPLB, the seedlings are fruit bearing trees and not indigenous trees. The tree planting site is about 300MASL and so there is a nice landscape view of the neighboring places.

After planting the seedlings, I enjoyed taking photos.

 

The dedication of the volunteers are impressive. Despite the rain, the steep trail and mud, they did not give up and planted all the seedlings properly as it should be.

James Doolittle said, "There is nothing stronger than the heart of a Volunteer".

At 1220H, we started our descent from the tree planting site. As the trail was wet, muddy and slippery, It took longer for most of the volunteers to descend from the mountain.

We were all back at the drop-off point where the three buses were waiting at 1410H. We had late lunch and left Sto. Tomas at 1512H.

--o0o--