Hiking Adventures #4: Mt. Maculot - Dayhike to Awesome Rockies

A week after our Mt. Gulugod Baboy adventure, I was invited by Sir Aldrin Valentona to take a day hike in Mt. Maculot as requested by Abbie Giron. Abbie wasn't able to join the last climb. So I joined in for Abbie, and this would be my 4th time in Mt. Maculot.

at Mt. Maculot Rockies

Mt. Maculot is located at Cuenca, Batangas. There are thousands of hikers and ordinary people had already scaled the mountain. Every holy week, many people climb to Mt. Maculot to visit the Grotto for repentance. I had visited the Grotto for 3 times already way back high school. The mountain is located near in my hometown that's why it's easy for me to come and visit. Aside from Grotto, there is another spot in Mt. Maculot that attracts many people, the Rockies.

Since this was an unexpected climb, we were just five who confirmed to join: Aldrin, Cindy, Abbie, Zaldy and Me. Suddenly, Zaldy wasn't able to came on time. Maybe he forgot to set his alarm and unable to wake up early. So we decided to leave without him but expecting that he would follow. We rode a bus going to Lemery in JAM terminal in Buendia. The bus would lead us to Cuenca in about 2 hours after. Halfway through, Zaldy confirmed that he wasn't able to wake up, maybe due to his work schedule. Then, we got to Cuenca, the weather was on good condition that spurred us for this adventure. We took a tricycle ride heading to jump-off. Near the jump-off is the registration area where we logged our names and payed for registration fee. As of now, it was temporarily required to have a guide during the climb. The guide fee is P400 for first 5 person. The fee may increase if the group wants to traverse (Rockies - Summit - Grotto) under negotiation with the guide. It was mandatory due to several fallen trees and landslides along or near the trail because of Typhoon Yolanda who devastated the Southern Luzon last July 2014.

START TREK

Before we proceed, Mang Manolito Briones, our guide, requested to have a short prayer before we trek, then we had a groupie after the prayer. The trail was clean though slightly muddy because of the rain yesterday according to Mang Manolito. The weather was not too hot and there are lot of trees on the way, that's why we were having a cool trek. There are vendors in every rest areas. Some sell buko juice, softdrinks, halo-halo, etc. There are 3 rest areas before reaching the camp site that are good enough for 2 hours assault.

at the Starting Point

Short Rest at Rest Station 2

We've seen some damages on the trail due to typhoon Yolanda, especially the floodway along the trail. According to Mang Manolito, during the typhoon, a huge flood flows to the floodway that carried several trees and stones. The big rock formation covered by soil were now visible.

Groupie at the Rocks

Before we reached the camp site, it rains. We were teasing Abbie that she still had her curse. Abbie's last climb was our Pico De Loro adventure where we failed to reached the peak and the monolith due to bad weather. So she was hoping to have a perfect climb to take some photos on the top. I was still hoping that the rain will stop and we will going to see the awesome views from the Rockies. We decided to have our lunch at the campsite while waiting for the rain to stop. Eventually, it seems like the rain would never stop throughout the day, so after our lunch, we moved to the Rockies even though it was raining.

Overlooking Taal Lake at a Rest Station

at the Camp site

We went to Rockies drenched with rain water. The trail was slippery and muddy, it was hard because we were heading down. When we reached the way up to Rockies, there are big rock formations that we used to lift ourselves up. We heard thunders that made me scared...a bit :D When we reached the top of the Rockies, we were surprised, there was a clearing.

THE AWESOME ROCKIES

According to Mang Manolito, a clearing during a bad weather was rare. God gave us a chance to see the awesome view from the Rockies, because we leaped up our faith together. We never missed the opportunity to take some photos at the top. We carefully step into the rocks to take some photos because the rocks are wet. I was a bit nervous while striking a pose, every move I made was so slow. My fellow hikers are so brave and you can see it in their pose (unlike mine).

At the Awesome Rockies

Cliff on the right side of Rockies

Abbie Giron at right side cliff of Rockies

Cindy Ferrer at the right cliff of Rockies

Left cliff of Rockies

Back to camp site

Big rocks along the trail at Rockies

Big rocks at Mt. Maculot Rockies

We went back to the camp site and we decided not to traverse into the summit then to Grotto because the weather might got worst. Afterwards, we started the descent through the old trail again. After more than an hour, we reached the jump-off and proceeded to a house were we cleaned ourselves. Before we go back in Manila, we dropped at Japongs, where we ate native Batangas delicacies like Loming Batangas and Gotong Batangas. Japongs is located near the exit point of Star Tollway at Tambo, Lipa Batangas.

Even if we were only four who joined for this climb, we still had so much fun and we were very happy that we made it. This would be my most extreme climb so far, I guess you could see it in some photos and take note, it was raining up there. One wrong move could lead us to danger, but thank God we went back in our homes in one piece. It was risky indeed but it all worth it.

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