Mt. Batulao Traverse Old-New Trail -Back to our Home "The First Year Anniversary of ESKAPO MOUNTAINEERS"

As we celebrate the first year anniversary of ESKAPO MOUNTAINEERS. I decided to held our party in the place where the group started. Mt. Batulao was the first mountain the we hiked with the pioneers of the ESKAPO which has eight members who escaped from the work. We were all stressed out from our job and we wanted to unwind and relax by doing a nature adventure.When I was checking my facebok account I saw a picture of Sir Bryce in the mountain.I asked him where was that picture taken and he said it was in Nasugbu Batangas in Mount Batulao. Since college to be a mountaineer has been my dream but since you are just a student and you dont extra budget for this sports I told myself that after i graduate from college I will really pursue the mountaineering sports. A chance came along the way with no second thought I embraced it.!

ESKAPO MOUNTAINEERS at Mt. Batulao 3rd time ^_^

Mt. Batulao is the  favorite mountain of the group. The ESKAPO were here on  November 2012- the first visit, July 2013- the second visit and the FUNCLIMB of the group and now since we were celebrating our first year Anniversary the best place to celebrate the group existence is on our mother mountain. -The Batulao

Tagaytay Olivarez (Traffic)

That day was a day of "delay". I  started to be pissed off when one of the member who said and committed that he would be carrying all the supplies was not responding on any of my text and I even tried to call him but his two cellphones were "off". On all of my itineraries its usual that there are some instances that the time table will be adjusted but supplies and other important things for climb must always be secured. And because of him we were problematic because we dont have supplies like food,camping things,etc and knowing that in Evercrest(major jump off) there's no market or even convenience store there where we can buy like butane. But when we came to EVERCREST i got a call from him and he said that he will be doing a night trek to give us the supplies. I just convinced my self to be patient and understanding that time. I am just concerned on the survival aspect of the group on this climb and yet this is a climb for our Anniversary and no reason to be upset. But after the event I talked to him and apologized but explain why things that he did were not tolerable.

Mt. Maculot Cuenca Batangas

I have been into different places in Batangas and I always see this mountain. It can be seen anywhere in Batangas. If only my classmates back in College accompanied me to climb Mt. Maculot this would be my first serious climb and first Mountain.

When I was in Taal Volcano I got  amazed with the view of Mt. Maculot. If I am not mistaken this is the highest peak in Batangas. 

For the 8th Mountain of ESKAPO MOUNTAINEERS after the long and tiring trek in Makiling we had set Mt. Maculot as the next mountain to climb. During this time Mt. Maculot was very famous because of what had happened to our co-mountaineer Sir Vinson Ayson who fell from the  Rockies of Maculot during the Holy Week. Rest in Peace Sir!

Mt. Maculot is Located in  Cuenca Batangas. This is one of the prominent mountain in Batangas because it offers an enticing view of Taal Volcano and the Taal Lake from the Rockies side of Mt. Maculot which most mountaineers claimed to be their favorite spot.   

"TEAM MACULOT" For me this is the best line-up of my group. Halimaw!!!!

The day that we climb Maculot was totally raining. We were blessed because we waited for the rain to stop and fortunately when we reached the Jump Off the rain stopped but the trail was so wet and muddy which affected our group pacing.

Mt. Makiling Traverse "MAKTRAV" via Sipit Trail. From Sto. Tomas Jump off to UPLB.

Mt. Makiling is one of the famous mountains in the Philippines. Since elementary days we have been hearing the name of this mountain because of the story of " Mariang Makiling". Its considered one of the mystical mountains of the Philippines because of hearsays about the elements in this mountain.

Mt. Makiling View from Turbina.

Makiling has two main "Jump Off", one is at University of the Philippines Los Baños College of Forestry and the Jump Off from the other side of Makiling at Barangay San Felix-Sitio Jordan (Basurahan) Santo Tomas Batangas. The "MAKTRAV" or Makiling Traverse is one of the favorite trekking path of many hardcore mountaineers. From Santo Tomas Batangas there are two trails that you can take, one is the Sipit Trail and the other one is the Palanggana Trail. Officially the "Palanggana Trail was closed already because its now part f the UPLB protected area. The Los Banos Trail was closed in 2007 because of the damaged it had during a strong typhoon that hit the Southern Luzon. There was an incident happened back in December 2012. There were two students of UPLB who died in "Flat Rocks" a water catch basin of Makiling near UPLB where you can swim.  After the said incident the UPLB trail was closed again for mountaineers. This really made us to take the "MAKTRAV" July 2013.

ESKAPO MOUNTAINEERS "TEAM MAKTRAV"

Pico De Loro at Mt. Palay-Palay, Ternate Cavite

Pico De Loro in Mt. Palay Palay in Ternate Cavite is one of my favorite mountaineer.

May 2013,  I have been seeing this mountain on different blogs and heard a lot from the mountaineers that I had encountered through my mountaineering journey. This mountain really caught my interest because no one can deny that this is one of the most thrilling and one of the most fulfilling mountain to climb once you conquered the challenge that this mountain has for the mountaineering community.

The Parrot's Beak May 2013

Tarak Ridge, Mariveles Bataan

Mt. Tarak Ridge- My First Major Climb.

After four minor climbs from Mt. Balagbag Rodriguez Rizal, Mt. Batulao in Nasugbu Batangas, Mt. Gulugud Baboy in Anilao Batangas and the Manabu Peak in Santo Tomas Batangas. I guess this is about time to test myself and apply things that I have learned from my previous climbs and take the real challenge of the mountain.

Tarak Ridge View from Peak

When i was in  Mt. Manabu, I met a group of  freelance mountaineers along the trail. They invited me and my other KA-ESKAPO to join them as they climb the Mt. Tarak Ridge in Mariveles Bataan. I heard a lot about the mountain and one time I saw a picture of this when I was on the web reading some blogs. I also heard about the famous river in the middle of this mountain which called " Papaya River".

When they invited me, I did not have a second thought because this is one of the mountains I want to peak. I asked their contact number for the updates and they said that the climb would be on next weekend.  Since my rest days was Saturday and Sunday  the set day for the climb was not really a big deal for my schedule. I was really excited during that time. A day after our Manabu climb, I invited few of my members who's free on coming weekends. Jackie Vargas, Lea Legazpi ,Jennifer Padrigon, Jayson Padrigon and Carlos Yao. I called the leader of the group but unfortunately because of their work schedules changed they decided to move the climb on the next month. When I heard that I dont know what to say and i just said "Okay po magtext na lang ako kung makakasama kame". Frustrating!

On the same day I got a text message from "unregistered number" said "Sir Chito po ito sa Manabu"

I remember there was another group who asked my number for future invites. And i replied to Sir Chito." Oh Good pm Sir!Musta?!. then he replied.. "Sir baka pwede kayo sumama samin Mt. Tarak on weekends" WHATTHE..... I immediately replied and said "Sure Sir dapat pupunta talaga kame with other group kaso na cancelled eh". I felt i was really destined to climb this mountain because of all the things happened.

Mt. Manabu Traverse, Santo Tomas Batangas

APRIL 2013 CLIMB

Mt. Manabu is located in Sto. Thomas Batangas.  This mountain stands at 760+ MASL which considered as a minor climb. This is the fourth mountain of the ESKAPO MOUNTAINEERS.  We were ten in the group all were new to hiking and no mentor was with us. That's why  i cannot forget this climb because this is the first mountain  that i lead the group.

        From JAC LINER Buendia LRT. With Leah,Me,Lyn,Jen Bel, Janine,Jm, Carlos, Philip and Jackie.

We took a JAC LINER Bus going to Sto Tomas Batangas at 3 o'clock PM. It took almost 2 and a half hours to get to Sto. Tomas Drop off .That was Saturday and there's a huge traffic around Manila and in Turbina Laguna. Along the way we saw the range of Mt. Makiling-. Which is the famous MT. MAKILING TRAVERSE/MAKTRAV starts and ends at LOS BANOS jump off.

Mt. Gulugud Baboy Anilao and The Sumbrero Island, Anilao Batangas

Mt. Gulugud Baboy is located in Anilao Mabini Batangas. This is one the favorite destination of water sports enthusiasts because it offers a great experience for diving and snorkeling.

February 2013

This is the third mountain of  "ESKAPO MOUNTAINEERS".

A workmate of mine Mr. Brian Tonua who is my mentor and used to be a member of "INTEL MOUNTAINEERS" shared a story about his experience in Mt. Gulugud Baboy. He told me about the terrain of this mountain. The beautiful hills of this mountain made this called as " Little Pulag". Since Mt. Pulag is one of my dream mountain to climb, I decided to bring my group in this place.

 Photo by RyeRye Descending from Peak.

We left at GMA Jam liner around 6pm and took a bus going to Batangas City. We asked the "konduktor" to drop us off to Bauan Batangas which is 30 minutes away from  Batangas City proper. From Bauan Batangas we chartered a jeep to bring us directly to the jump off which is the Philpan Resort.