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| Mt. Batulao viewed from the campsite. |
S P E C I F I C A T I O NJUMP-OFF: Evercrest Golf Course Nasugbu Batangas, Philippines
LLA: 14.0408 N 120.8011 E, 811 MASL
TYPE: Minor Climb
TRAIL: Trail with continuous line and balance ascent
TERRAIN: Terrain partly steep, fall hazard possible
REQUIREMENTS: Hiking shoes/sandals, basic sense of direction, some sure footedness.
Mt. Batulao is one of the famous mountains in Batangas and perfect for a novice climber like me. It's my first mountain to climb by the way, not to mention the wrong outfit I wore plus the sling bag I brought, haha.
Going to this Mountain was a very long trek, dusty and arid climate. If you're coming from Manila area, you can take Nasugbu Batangas bound buses in Pasay Terminal between Mcdo and Chowking near Sogo (BSC Terminal or San Agustin buses). Buses will take you to jump-off (along the highway), Evercrest Nasugbu, Batangas for P120.
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| Coming from Alfonso Cavite, we just walked all the way to jumpoff that took us almost 1 hour. Picture: Nasugbu Batangas welcome ark (Left),"Maligayang Pagdating sa Lalawigan ng Magigiting". Rested at Jumpoff: Evercrest Golf Course. . |
Going to this Mountain was a very long trek, dusty and arid climate. If you're coming from Manila area, you can take Nasugbu Batangas bound buses in Pasay Terminal between Mcdo and Chowking near Sogo (BSC Terminal or San Agustin buses). Buses will take you to jump-off (along the highway), Evercrest Nasugbu, Batangas for P120.
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| Dusty rough road during summer time. Guess what on rainy season? |
From the jumpoff, you can ride tricycle for P100, or just walk and practice those walkaton skills. From the jump-off, trail is very dusty, few trees, some narrow paths and some uphill routes. Most of us were first timers then and only one person in the group had climbed before. We started our trek 5PM, in other words we did night trek and it was difficult for most of us beginners, plus the fact that only few had flashlights.
After an approximately 3 hours of walk (beginners), we finally reached the campsite, set up our camp, cooked dinner and had the social thingy. We had overnight there and continued hike early in the morning. Hmm, It was a little bit cold during late nights and early mornings, so better bring some sweaters!
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| Our sablay tent, the brought a beach tent!haha. Photo taken inside the tent. |
We woke up 5:30AM and started hike going to mountain's summit. Some opt to choose to stay at the campsite, maybe due to their physique, hehe. I thought then that summit will be just few meters away, but I was totally wrong.
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| First hill to conquer. |
Our first challenge was to climb a hill which leads to mountain's summit. Most of us thought it was the peak already because for beginners like us, it was our first time to climb that kind of mass, but again we're wrong.
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| Running slopes of Mt. Batulao's surrounding forms. |
Trail continues, climbed again hills and boulders, enjoying the natural views from a higher point of view that made me smile. Likewise when I saw our campsite from a far that made me getting proud of my self little by little because of the evidence of conquering heights.
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| The narrowest path I ever crossed! |
Also, we crossed a very narrow path which was death-defying for me and my Bf. Only us went there expecting it to be easier, thanks to our friend who tricked us hehe. We were so scared then that we had to sit and crawl just to cross that path.
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| Sunrise seen from the trails going to summit. |
In spite of waking up early, climbed and walked as fast as we could, we haven't fulfill our plan to view sunrise from the summit and just enjoy it along the trails going up instead.
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| Summit shot with the sun already up. |
Finally we're at the summit and enjoyed the 360 degrees view from the top. We saw Tagaytay High lands, Taal, Mt. Talamitam, Mt. Maculot, Balayan and Maragondon.
Upon exploring, we noticed an idol of Virgin Mary at the summit. They said that long time ago, a group of mountaineers brought it to the there and left it.
After taking pictures and enjoying mountain's beautiful views we went back again to our campsite using an easier trail. Gosh! There's an easier trail existing, why didn't we go through there? Our friend just said, "so you could experience both trails, hehe". This trail is so much easier, there's no cliff to be afraid of, no hills to climb and no narrow trail. So if you're a beginner you should try this trail first before you engaging a difficult one.
Trail going to campsite only took us 1 hour compared to the previous trail that took us 2 hours to summit. Upon reaching the campsite, we fix our things and ready our selves to descent.
I'm so happy to have a mountain climbing adventure for the first time! I will never forget this one, it was the only time I felt I'm free from any restrictions specially when I reached the summit, freeing myself from anything. Well that was totally amazing
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