Mt. Batulao "the back-up plan"

February 1, 2013, i'm all packed and ready to go when I received a text from my group mate that our malipunyo-manabu traverse is cancelled to due lack of participants to cover the guide fee, Good thing I already thought this might happen so I have prepared an IT for a Batulao dayhike the night before. So back-up plan becomes the plan. 

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It was a little past 4 am of February 2, 2013 when we arrived at Pasay to catch a bus bound for Nasugbu. Thinking we can take our time, we let the first bus past since it was too crowded and waited for the next one that arrived at 430 am which departed at 5 am. It was a smooth 1.5 hours ride to tagaytay then 30 minutes later we were at Evercrest Golf Club. The bus fare is just 106 pesos and this is going to comprise the whole "travel to fare" for our destination. There is an optional tricyle ride from Evercrest, P100/ trike but we opted to just walk since we have the luxury of time. We ate a quick breakfast of nilaga in one of the wash up store before proceeding with the trek. Expenses check so far, 150 pesos including the breakfast.

20 minute walk to jump off

The trails of Batulao is relatively easy and guides are not really necessarily  but since there are only two of us (nenya and me), we opted to hire one which serves more of a companion rather than a guide, a polite kid named wilson which took most of our pictures. Guide fee was 300 pesos.

25 pesos for a fresh buko, not bad

Let the mountain change you

You will reach the 1st kubo from evercreast after a moderate pace of walking for an hour. I saw at least 3 kubos that offers food and drinks before the fork which splits into 3. The far right , which is used by locals. The right, somewhat middle trail that leads to the New trail (open trail that traversed the peaks from 1-10). And the left downward, which is the Old trail that leads to a forested area. We choose the latter for it offers a bit of shade from the tourching sun which was a good sign for a fine weather.

We arrived at Camp 1 of the old trail at 9:30 am where we found a group taking their early lunch and generously offered some to us. This is what one of the best behaviors of mountaineers. Greeting, helping, and sharing even for strangers you meet on the trail, something you rarely see in the city. Anyway, Camp 1 serves as the registration site (20 pesos) for the old trail. The old trail is divided by 10 camps or stations, camp 10 being the summit. One of the characteristics of the Batulao trails is you can actually see the summit and most of the trail even for afar. Open slopes and landscapes will be with you all through out the climb. One con though is because of this the sun sometimes is too hot and very little shade is offered by some trees from time to time. Bringing an umbrella is not such a bad idea for a dayhike climb in Batulao. Shades or sun glasses is also recommended because you don't want to get dust in your eye while climbing. I imagine climbing here during summer is really gonna tan you up.

nakalimutan ko anong camp to

peaks of Batulao are seen through out the trail

The trails are very easy to follow, being lost is not gonna be your main problem. You can actually see some mountaineers way behind you and those who took the other trail.

it's easier than it looks

At 1020 were at Camp 8. From here on the trail is a bit steep so you have to be very cautious and mind some lose rocks that you put your feet into. A possibility of slipping is high on this leg, you don't want to inflict damage to your self as well as others that is behind you.

We reached the summit at almost 1100 am and the view was magnificent. You can see the trail that you used  and the other trail that you can opt to use for descent which by the way would require another registration fee of 20 pesos which I think is not bad considering these people is responsible for making the campsites safe and clean. You can see T;al lake and volcano from the summit. Also Mt. Talamitam and Mt. Maculot. Fresh Buko are also sold in the summit for only 30 pesos. (an added 5 pesos from the kubo price, considering they had to carry it to the top is a fair price, no need to alert DTI hehe).

hindi nakuntento umakyat ng bundok, umakyat pa sa puno

mah man wilson the guide

At around 11 am we started our descent. we took the new trail this time that offers passing the peaks of Batulao. From peak 10 to peak 1. Peak 7 being the most popular with it's wide campsite. Of course peak 8 is also popular due to the tragic accident of Diana Fajardo losing her life in this peak. It was a really sad story and you can imagine how it happened just by looking at the trail. Wilson explained how she lost her balance on peak 8. 

People, even the News, says that she lost her balance while taking pictures but no camera was found. being in that position makes me think that vertigo is a great possibility on this area. Mountaineering has it's dangers and should never be underestimated, but accidents do happen sometimes even with proper precaution. Hoplefully with mountaineering being popular nowadays, safety will never be overlooked.

view of campsite from peak 8

The new trail a much quicker way in summiting Batulao, but since it's very open you may get sunburned without even noticing because of the cool weather in this mountain. A sunblock is also a great addition for this climb. We ate our lunch somewhere in  the middle of the new trail. A fast San Marino Tuna Paella lunch. 

At 12:30 pm we were back at the 1st Kubo. We rested for a bit and had halo-halo before we proceed back to Evercrest, which is roughly an hour walk, where we will have to tidy up a bit and catch a ride home. We decided to sidetrip in Tagaytay though for a rewarding post-climb meal which is the perfect way to end this adventure. Estimated budget for this climb is around 500 pesos including food but without the guide fee.

a panoramic view at the summit