I've been hearing and reading
good reviews about Mt. Maculot ever since I became an outdoor enthusiast. Mt. Maculot is a mountain in Batangas, a
province south of Manila. It stands at 930
meter above sea level, a minor climb which features scenic views of Taal Lake,
rock formations, and forests. The good
reviews on this mountain gave me excitement that on Nov. 10, 2012 I did a
traverse day hike together with my college classmates Ronie and Marie Rose.
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| Distant view of Mt. Maculot |
Early morning of Nov. 10, we met
at Ceres bus station in Cubao. We
boarded the bus that left at around six in the morning. We reached the town of Cuenca in Batangas two
hours later and paid 155 pesos each for the fare. Cuenca is the town in Batangas where the jump
off to Mt. Maculot is. We dropped by at
the police precinct to register and for our last minute preparations. By eight thirty in the morning, we started
the trek going to the foot of the mountain.
We opted not to seek a guide as we were confident on the research we did
regarding the mountain days before the climb.
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| at the foot of Mt. Maculot |
After twenty minutes of walking, we
finally reached the foot of the mountain.
It is from here where the real trek begun. We started from a cemented road which
disappeared minutes after. Good thing
the trail was partly covered with trees, that even if it was a sunny day we’re
not bothered at all. The trek continued gradually
ascending until we reached a part of the trail where there was a kid selling
buko juice. We took a five-minute rest
and ordered a buko juice. We continued our trek, this time we seemed to
be catching our breath. Again in another
part of the trail, we encountered a man selling buko juice. We took another stop but opted not buy a buko
juice and instead drink our trail water.
I noticed that we already gained a considerable altitude enough to give
us a glimpse of the taal lake.
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| in one of the rest stops |
We resumed our trek after a
couple of picture taking. This time, no
more trees to cover the trail until we reached the camp site. We headed straight to the rockies as the
camp site was crowded. The rockies is Mt.
Maculot’s charm. It creates a very
scenic view of the entire Taal Lake including of course the famed Taal
volcano. From rockies, other mountains
in Batangas and nearby provinces are visible too. Even parts of Mindoro Island are apparent on
a clear day.
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| at the rockies |
The trail going to the rockies
was a bit challenging. One should be
extra cautious in negotiating it as there’s always that possibility to slip or
slide with your body parts hitting the boulders. When we got to the rockies, it was just
beautiful that we spent almost an hour picture taking. We explored its different parts, going up and
down on its boulders. We didn’t seem
to care that it was already high noon and that we’re exposed to the intense
heat of the sun. We did enjoy
especially when other hikers went down and we have the whole rockies to
ourselves.
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| at the rockies |
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| Taal Volcano as viewed from the Rockies |
My companions were still in great
joy with the rockies experience when I told them that we need to go down. We headed back to the camp site and ate our
packed lunch. We rested for a while after
we consumed our lunch. At exactly one
thirty in the afternoon, we resumed our trek this time heading to the
summit. The sun was high but fortunately
the trail to the summit was forested. Some
parts of the trail were even concealed by over grown grasses. There were also wild flowers along the way
that catches our attention. After thirty
minutes of trekking, the trail became steeper reminding us that we are nearing
the summit. We made several stops to re hydrate. We continued our trek until
we hear the voices of the group that trekked ahead of us.
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| thick forest leading to the summit |
Finally after an hour and thirty
minutes of trekking we reached the summit.
From the summit we saw a portion
of the rockies and Taal lake. Taal
volcano and its crater lake were also visible.
We took several pictures before we decided to descend to the other side
of the mountain leading to the Grotto.
We can still hear the voices of the other group hence, we followed them
thinking they are trekking the right trail.
Minutes after we banded with them, I noticed that the trail seemed
dead. At the back of my mind, knowing
that the mountain is popular and frequented by hikers the trail couldn't be
like that. We were lost. We decided to backtrack to the summit leaving
the other group while I was trying to recall what I read on the accounts of
those who were able to traverse the mountain.
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| the Grotto |
We got back to the summit and
surveyed the area. We found the right
trail concealed by over grown grasses. In as much as we’d like to inform the other
group, they were already far. We were
also looking at the time; we’re a bit worried that the night might fall upon us
while still on the trail. We hurriedly
descended and minutes later we reached the rope segments. We carefully negotiated this steep part of
the trail and continued our descent with increased pace. By four thirty in the afternoon, we reached
the Grotto. We stop for a while to take
some photos. It was a beautiful
afternoon. The sun was slowly setting
down on a clear blue sky. We followed the station of the cross on our
way down until we reached the end of the trail.
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| the sunset |
We then took a ride to the police precinct where we freshen up and
change clothes. Then we proceeded to
look for a place where we can have dinner.
We found one and the foods were delicious. It was already past seven in the evening when
we boarded a bus going to Manila. All three
of us were dead tired and asleep while on board the bus. Who cares? We did have a good climb.
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| my friends |
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| wild berry |
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| taal lake |
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| wild flower |
