#phmountains

Mt. Makiling’s trail starts rom Sto. Tomas Batangas and ends in UPLB College of Forestry, Los Banos, Laguna. I learned that there were originally two trails – Palanggana and Sipit – but since Palanggana Trail is already closed, we opted for Sipit Trail.

This is our group photo when we left the jump off at 5:30AM with foggy view of Mt. Makiling on the background.

I was also warned that the entire trail is plentiful of blood-sucking leeches called limatik. I had to put citronella lotion all over my body and sprayed citronella on my clothes to avoid them.

The initial trail was flat terrain. We reached the first and last water source at Station 2, this was early on in the hike so we didn’t really need to refill yet.

From Station 9, the trail turned into a strenuous assault.

Mt. Makiling’s rainforest is obviously well-preserved. t was very very green and the slopes looked like they were covered in broccoli.

The abrupt ascent along Melkas Ridge is prolly one of the most challenging part of the hike.  

Beautiful mossy forest of Makiling.

Rope sections. There were parts where rope-climbing  was required. And sometimes, we’re left with no choice but to also hold on to pull ourselves up on the rocky surface. We did some body contortions and crawling under huge tree roots.

After the obstacle course kind of hike, we finally reached Peak 2 (1090 MASL) – the summit of Mt. Makiling at exactly 10:00 AM.

Reading about Mariang Makiling and seeing the mountain in books weren’t enough. I needed to be there, and I did.

I wanted to take a nap but it was too sunny on the summit. We waited for the sweep team while having our lunch and started descent at 11:30AM.

Descent was relatively faster even if it was muddy and slippery. I could still jump, run, and hop off between big rocks and huge branches of trees. We we’re lucky that it didn’t rain or else going down can be very difficult.

After an hour of descent from the summit, we reached Agila Base at 12:30 near the foot of the mountain. We had snacks and fresh buko juice  from local sari-sari store.

You still have to walk on the cemented road from Station 11 to 1. Taking habal-habal/motorcyle is also an option for those who do not want to walk 7-km cemented road from Agila Base to UPLB registation point. We reached the latter at exactly 3PM.

I believe that every mountain is different. Mt. Makiling, for me, is neither easy nor difficult hike. Though I really got paranoid with the limatiks. 

It was also my first time to bring a beginner to a major hike. I was hesitant at first because self-sustenance is a priority every major hike but I’m glad that this lad really took effort to get out of his comfort zone to see, and experience what’s behind nice photos every after hike. 

We started going through the 25-kilometer trek at around 6 AM. On the onset, the trail comprises of well-established roads where certain types of vehicles can still pass through.

A notable priceless byproduct of hiking more than sweat and sore legs and calf muscles is interacting with the locals. On this hike, I met local kids and one of them is a second-grade young girl who wants to be a doctor someday.

Trekking along mossy forest was indeed an enchanting experience. I can hear the birds and other nature sounds along with my heavy breaths. 

Though the trail is quite steep and slippery from yesterday’s rainfall, it made me appreciate the rich vegetation of the mountain. Foggy, cold, moist. Branches of trees are as cold as ice. No pun.

Summit at Mt. Purgatory at 11:00AM. New friends and different stories of fellow hikers and the locals, a priceless byproduct of hiking more than sweat and sore legs and calf muscles.

Went straight ahead to Mt. Bakian (3rd mountain). There are still villages on the 3rd peak with election tarps stamped on houses. If campaign paraphernalia can reach the mountain during the election, I wish government assistance reach these far communities too.

We managed to reached Mt. Kom-Kompol, being the last summit, at 4PM to make sure we start descent at 5PM before it gets dark plus fog makes the trail less visible already. Tho it made the descent ambiance more dramatic!