June 20~21, 2009
This popular hiking destination does not look good only on papers but it looks a lot better on our first hand encounter. The beauty of Mt. Batulao lies within its unique rocky formations and imposing peaks and ridges. Yes, peaks and ridges, this mountain has a lot of it. Its uniqueness cast spells to every mountaineers and adventurers alike making its grandeur really inevitable. Although a hike to Mt. Batulao is relatively easy, the coolness and the picturesque landscape of this mountain captured our interest.
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| Mt Batulao |
As usual, we almost postponed our hike because four of our group members backed out during our pre-climb meeting. I insisted that we pushed through with our trek. I sent a text message to Marc and he replied that he was all set for the climb. This made Allan changed his mind and Johnny who was still in Ilocos agreed to join us. We met at 7 Eleven beside the EDSA/Taft (Pasay) bus terminal at around 10:30am. We had our heavy lunch at the terminal cafeteria then took an 11:30am bus for Nasugbu Batangas. We were at the jump-off point (Evercrest Golf and Country Club) at around 2:40pm; we negotiated for a guide then took a 4x4 tricycle until the road was no longer passable. This actually saved about 30~40 minutes trekking time. As Marc would always say, we are here to help the economic activities of the area. As long as there are resources, we have to use them. In the same way, we are helping them (palusot, tinamad lang kami maglakad). After the bumpy 4x4 tric ride, we started walking in a very rough and slightly muddy road. It was a good thing that it didn't rain the night before our climb... the path could have been slippery. We stopped by at one of the village houses to have ourselves treated with a fresh buko juice.
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| Buko juice stop-over |
After a brief stop, we continued our way into a grassy and ascending trail. This time, the view of Mt. Batulao seemed to magnetize us... this majestic mountain in Nasugbu excited us thus pressing us to move in a faster pace. Twenty minutes after, we rested again at a nipa hut in which cold softdrinks and halo-halo were available. The scenario really amazed me. We were treated with cold refreshment in this mountainous area with no electricity. Wow Batulao talaga! To add spicy to it, the view from this place was so nice... because of its coolness, taking a nap was so tempting. Well, we didn't come here for this some sort of Mini-stop... our target, Mt. Batulao summit. We continued our hike until we reached to the part in which the trail was split into two. The Old trail (left turn) and the New trail (right turn). We took the new trail since this was the fastest way to the summit.
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| The new trail sign |
First, we passed by Peak1 then Peak 2 and so on... the trail was mostly ups and downs. The trek was actually tiring in some instance then it shifted into a more relaxing trek downhill. This kind of pace was repeated more than ten times until we reached the Batulao's highest peak. There were actually ten peaks prior to the summit. Before we commence our assualt to the summit, we set camp first at Peak 7 but later we decided to move our tent at Peak 8 campsite. In here was the registration area (fee was 20 pesos each)... cold drinks and even ice were available here. Daddy Resting (other mountaineers call him Tatay), who was the caretaker here was actually the one who created the new trail. The rest of the guys wanted to camp here because it was near the supply center and Daddy Resting lends to us his "Kubo" for our dinner and social. Although I like the idea of camping at Peak 7 because of the broader perspective at the peak plus a great view of the surroundings but they were more incline for a better night life (social).
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| Peak 8 Campsite |
Our assault to the summit minus our load (backpacks) was swift. It took almost twenty minute for us to reach the peak including a lot of photo ops. Although a little exhausted, the view from the summit was so rewarding. Like any other mountain, the feeling was really extraordinary. A 360 view at the summit was so nice. I could even spot my father-in-law's farm in Maragondon Cavite (over na to)... actually, Pico de Loro and Maragondon mountain range can be spotted at the nothern side, Balayan and Nasugbu in the western side, Taal lake and Tagaytay at the eastern side and Batangas city and Calaca in the southern part. I also got a glimse of the mountain range of Malipunyo, Mt Makiling, Mt.Banahaw and Mt. Makulot. We were actually planning to have a sunset viewing at the summit but it was only 4:50pm which means we have to wait for more than an hour before the sun sets. Twenty minutes after, we decided to go back to the campsite and have the sunset viewed at Peak 8. I patiently waited for the sundown but the clouds were building up at the western horizon resulting into my sunset viewing an upset.
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| Sunset |
Back at the campsite, we hurriedly prepared our dinner since all of us were very hungry. This time, Marc was negotiating with Daddy resting to have one of his native chicken sold to us for our dinner. At first, Daddy declined the idea because he already sold a lot of chickens during last week's Freedom Climb. Because of Marc persistence, Daddy eventually agreed. To make my story short, tinolang native chicken was the best. The social lasted until midnight where obviously the rest of the guys were having a lot of fun. I woke up early the next morning for a sunrise viewing at Peak 8 but it was too cloudy so I decided to assualt the summit. I waited for a good sunrise viewing at the summit but I was unlucky. To ease my frustration, I chatted with other mountaineers and there I met a group from Mindanao (may kababayans). It was already 7am when I went back to our campsite. After our breakfast, we broke camp at around 9:30am. The sun was already up when we started our descent which made our trek a little exhausting since most of the Batulao's trail has no forest cover. We arrived at the jump-off at past 12pm. We just cleaned up at the sari-sari store across Evercrest then hit back to Manila.
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| Our group leaving Mt Batulao |
Side note: Another twist of Mt. Batulao's name origin.
According to Daddy Resting, during his younger years, his father told them a story that every Good Friday a ball of fire (santilmo?) can be seen near the rocky ridges. This is where Mt. Batulao's name derived... batung umiilaw.
A climb to Mt. Batulao is definitely fun... I will be back. Until my next adventure... God bless us all.
