I really do not know how to start this post but from what i could recall this happened seven months month ago. I'm with my friends who are also my co-officers in our organization during my college days. They were all accountants in the public sector and hence experienced hell season like I did. So I decided to asked them to join me in my nature trip and gladly i received a yes from them. We joined a group of hikers organized by Travel Adventours and that cost us Php 1,400 per person. As first timers, we decided to join an organized tour just to be sure that we could go back home safe and sound haha but you could go to Mt. Pico de Loro at a much lower costs. We arrived at the meeting place (Mcdo at the back of SM Megamall) about 5 in the morning and ate our breakfast. Afterwards, we started our almost 1 hr journey by rented van to Mt. Pico de Loro situated at Nasugbu Batangas. I woke up very early so I took a quick nap and after I opened my eyes we were already at the park station.
Just a brief information on the mountain, Mt. Pico de Loro is 664 Meters Above Sea Level and will take you about 2-5 hours to reach the summit. It is a minor climb with a difficulty level of 3/9 and a trail class of 1-3 (credits to PinoyMountaineer.com). This mountain offers a unique tower of stone at the summit, verdant and green forest, and a 360 degrees magnificent view at the summit. This opened my interest to explore more mountains in the future and might turn a city-boy into a nature-lover boy. Recommended to beginners by most climbers however based on my experienced it was hard haha but definitely worth your every sweat.
This is the signage in front of the park station. There is a parking lot inside, a small eatery, shower rooms, and a registration area. As soon as I stepped out of the van, the cool breeze started to wake up my inner sense of adventure. I left some of my belongings inside the van and just took my dslr camera, 2 liters of water, lunch, and some trail foods. From the park station, you have to walk a few hundred meters to the real jump-off point and from there you'll mostly walk your way up.
And we started to walk in the muddy land because it rained slighlty while we are on our way to Batangas. It is a good thing that it did not last long enough but still the muddy surface made our journey a little bit annoying. Everytime I stepped on my foot, mud just stuck on my shoes' sole, felt like i am dragging a chain while walking.
Right above is a small portion of that thick muddy part of the trail.
And after about 45 minutes of ascending trail, it is time to go down carefully. As you can see on the picture above those roots are slippery and of course I do not want my white shirt to drench in mud.
I really thought that it will just be a walk in the park unfortunately I was wrong haha. From this point, it's just a 10-15 mins until the first base camp. Well as for me i drank a lot of water as I'm just very exhausted and my legs started to hurt but it is still bearable. We took a couple of shots as shown below and rested well as the trail ahead will be more challenging and difficult. Upon arriving here, there's a registration sheet btw don't forget to log the name of your group on the . here is also a sari sari store where you could by refreshments and some souvenirs.
And off we go to the deeper part of the forest. The sun started to peek between the clouds that made the weather a lot hotter.
It is a good thing that the trail we are walking is a forested part and as you can see there are a lot of bamboos along the way and sometimes you have to ducked
And we took our 2nd stop over for a quicm 15mins rest. Well im just really tired at this point and i continued to ask where the hell is the summit haha.
After the quick rest, the trail continue to move upwards with some steep parts and some large boulder of rocks along the way haha as shown below but after that the 2nd base camp is just a not so long walk.
And then you will reach the magnificent view awaiting at the second base camp. The feeling was just so great that i could not feel my legs aching and my body numbing. You will see a very good view of the scenery as shown on my picture below and you really have a lot of places to have your new facebook profile picture and cover photo.
I felt I was in a very calm place with no problems to think of, no stress from work, I felt like I have no worries to think of just by staring at the view above.
Im on top of the world!! :)) Just kidding :P
And hell yes this is my most favorite spot, i tried to stand up on that stone unfortunately I got scared haha a little mistake will make you fall a hundred meters below.
Here you could see the summit already. A 20-30 minute of life threatening ascent because that slope is about 60-70 degrees with no ropes, you just have to rely on your self and the tall grass and pray you dont plummet downwards. well i really prayed haha because my legs got cramps while ascending that part and it was just so scary i thought i would fall probably because my shoes just gave up on this point.
I have survived and conquered the summit of Mt. Pico De Loro. That american guy beside me helped me carry my bag because he noticed that i was not moving from my place when we assaulted tbe summit. Many thanks to him and to our guide who helped me reaching the summit because i really cant the pain on my both legs were just unbearable. As usual we took a group photo and there it is. While i was busy catching my breath my friends did the jumpshots below i didn't even tried to do it haha probably because of my condition.
Look above, that is the famous rock which i haven't climbed awwww haha if my legs were just in good condition that time i might have been on the top of that big boulder of stone too. Well probably it just meant that i should be back again to this very wonderful place.
Congrats to me and my friends :) haha the picture above doesn't show how damn tired we are :p
The view at the summit was just too good i really dont want to go down again haha. Refreshing wind, very nice scenery, I felt very at ease and proud of our group's accomplishment. I'll be back here again i promise :) Lastly, leave no trace of your garbage ok? and have a safe trip going up and down to this mountain.
