Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. ~Dylan Thomas

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Mt. Maculot and the lost trail



A week after my Mt. Batulao day hike was another non-working holiday. It is Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) being observed every 9th of April in the Philippines. Another climb was set by the takbo.ph peeps so Allen (Ambo Kulit) and I decided to join with them. The climb was at Mt. Maculot in Cuenca, Batangas. (For more information, just Google for Mt. Maculot)  The meeting place was near Buendia LRT station around 2:00am where we prepared our packs while waiting for other climbers to arrive.


 Ready to conquer Mt. Maculot..
(Left to Right clockwise – Carina,Vicky,Tracy,Carly,Rick,Doc Art,Allen,Glenn,me,Ellen,Dennis)


We boarded the bus at 3:00am expecting it to leave the terminal as early as possible but to our dismay, it took 1 hour to get as much passengers they wanted. If not for this one passenger telling them about the time, it would have left later than 4:00am. The bus left the terminal late and there was traffic jam along Lipa-Tanauan route going Cuenca, Batangas so the plan of watching sunrise in Mt. Maculot was spoiled.

We reached the town of Cuenca, Batangas around 7:00am on our way to Mt. Maculot. It was unfortunate that Doc Art had to miss the climb because of the call of duty that he had to get back to Manila. From the town proper, we had to pay registration fee at one point then went to the Barangay Hall to relieve ourselves.



Climbers’ registration area..



Morning break while Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto watches over them.


From the Barangay Hall, our tricycle drivers took us to the jump off point for the trail leading to the grotto.
The group had a breakfast as we got more excited to climb Mt. Maculot.



Breakfast at jump off…


Let’s get it on…




The climb was going to the grotto. The group had to pause for breaks on the “stations of the cross” along the trail until we reached the grotto.

 Stolen shot no more for Vicky…



Group picture at the grotto summit..

The group’s next goal was to go to the summit of Mt. Maculot



Finally, after an hour of trekking from the grotto we were at the summit of Mt. Maculot. The path was not easy for we had to pass thru the so-called “the wall” inclined around 80-90 degress.

But wait……… there’s more……

As we were about to go to down, we saw 2 trails. One trail was the usual trail familiar to our trail master Dennis and a new trail. Curious as we were, the group took the challenge of taking the trail less travelled I guess. Allen warned me about the new trail for there was a trail sign on a tree at the summit indicating that this trail was actually the wrong way. We went down this trail grabbing every vine that we could to assist us on the trail only to find out that it was a dead-end.

We got lost.


When everyone was at the end of the trail leading to this dead-end, the group decided that we should be going back to the summit and take the other trail.

The sweeper had to assist the rest of the group as we go up to the summit again. Thanks to Allen for staying with and assisting Dennis at the most difficult part of this trail.

After 2 long hours of grueling trek from this ‘lost’ trail, the group reached the camp site where we could buy drinks for refreshment. We had the chance to mingle with a group of mountaineers on their way to Rockies.


 Base camp…


Allen and I found ourselves chasing each other going to Rockies. The rest had to stay at the base camp to have rest coming from the lost trail. The view at Rockies was awesome looking at Taal Lake down below us.




Allen at the diving board.

My knees were shaking at this point but I took the courage of going to the diving board and experience a breathtaking view from there. The thought that ‘one miss you die’ applies. Satisfied with what we have seen, we decided to re-join the group and descent.

 Group picture at the base camp.

It is disappointing to see that despite a number of warnings along the trail, a lot trash were scattered everywhere. I can’t resist to compare Mt. Batulao with Mt. Maculot from my trail experience. I just wish mountaineers going to Mt. Maculot would be more conscious in taking care of the environment. Nonetheless, it was a memorable climb for us especially when we took the ‘lost’ trail.

Another trail learning experience has been added to my list.

Job well done at Mt. Maculot.


That’s all folks. Hope to see you again on the next climb.







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