Saturday
May 9, 2015
The search for more mountains to conquer is still ongoing and our target for the week is the very famous, Mt. Maculot! I’ve already heard of it a lot of times from my friends and finally, a chance to climb it has sprung forth. Leggo!
Another 3/9 mountain, Mt. Maculot is known for the rockies, where you get a very beautiful view of Taal lake. There is also the summit itself, and the grotto traverse which we didn’t take because we were out of money.
I didn’t tell all my friends that I was going to this climb because I wanted to surprise them. So I met up with just one of them and the bus to Lemery from the JAM Liner bus station in Gil Puyat.
We asked the conductor of the jeep to drop us off at Poblacion town center and waited for the rest of the group to arrive at the registration point. There iwas a P20 registration fee per head and you also need to leave an ID behind per group.
After surprising our friends and being given our guide (Kuya Dennis), we were off to the trail.
The trail started off easy, but as we approached a few coconut juice checkpoints, we got really sweaty. What helped were the conversations with the group, keeping things fun and making us forget the tiresome climb. We also took lots of pictures along the way. Despite resting a lot, we were still able to maintain a decent pace.
On the way up, a mother & son who were from the area climbed with us. They were on their way to the Rockies as well to sell ice candy and softdrinks. I really admired their strength to be able to do it every day. The little boy also carried a bag much more heavier than mine!
We reached the campsite after a couple of hours. From here, one could choose to go to the Rockies or to the Summit. We refilled our water canisters (2L of water is not enough for me!) and decided to go to the Rockies first.
At the Rockies, there were a couple of other groups already doing their pictorials so we waited our turn. It wasn’t too crowded and we were finally able to take pictures.
After a quick ice candy and some rest, we returned to the campsite and started the trek up to the summit. At the summit there wasn’t really much to see. It looked like a really disappointing summit because there was nothing in there but really hot air. But I liked the climb up to it because it wasn’t as jungle-y as the trail to the rockies. We took more pictures.
We didn’t stay too long because it was getting hotter by the minute. We started our descent immediately. The descent was way faster and although some of us stumbled and slid down, we were happy with our time.
After the climb, we washed ourselves, paid the guide (P600!), and went back to the main highway to look for a bus to Buendia. I slept most of the way back…
And that’s Mountain #5, conquered! Thanks to Rosalie, mam Tin, and pinaywanderwoman for the company up this mountain. Also thanks God for the wonderful day and weather conditions for the climb.
-jgzn
P.S.
After the climb, I was invited by my college friends to eat out at the newly-opened Sambo Kojin branch at Megamall. The place looked really spiffy and was the best Sambo Kojin branch I’ve been to. Well, it’s also a bit more expensive than the other branches, but the price is well justified. Yum!
Jai Online 