First of all, I never intended to do a twin hike nor a solo hike, ever! But it just amazingly happened. 🙂
I actually invited some of my friends to climb a mountain, a week before I was planning to do so. Unfortunately, they were all busy and no one can accompany me. Since I’m really decided to push with the plan, I finalized everything by doing it solo, targeting two mountains, ALONE. haha!
Since this is the very first climb for me this 2014, it excites me so much that I didn’t get enough sleep prior to the day of my climb. (Crazy, isn’t it?) haha 😀 Bust as crazy as I can be, I did push with it praying for my safety and success. 🙂
January 11, 2014 (Saturday)
The mountain is situated in Nasugbu, Batangas and stands at 630+Masl according to Pinoy Mountaineer Website. This mountain is also well known for beginners in the mountaineering community.
How to get there?
I arrived at DLTB Bus Station at Gil Puyat at 6:00am. I was actually late for the actual itinerary I set for myself due to unpleasant incidents prior to reaching the place. (Ok! Ill not go into details haha) I was fortunate enough to get a bust right away that was about to go. So I took a bus going to Nasugbu and I told to the bus conductor to drop me to Sitio Sampaloc or commonly known as Bayabasan.
It only took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach Bayabasan. I walked towards to Baranggay Hall for registration. There were few people from the place who were doing their jog that morning. Some of them even asked me if Ill climb the mountain alone or if I am with anyone. Of course, I told them that I’ll be hiking alone this time (it’s only me version 2.0). Going back :p, It will only take 10-15 minutes to reach the baranggay hall. You’ll be needing to pay P20.00 for the registration too. As I have mentioned, the real plan was to do it alone but i’ve just come to know that it is compulsory to get a guide. With a heavy heart at first, I agreed and haggle for the guide fee since it wasn’t planned and not part of my budget as well.
The Climb 🙂
I had Ate Glo and her young son to accompany me. They were really nice and friendly anyways.
We started trekking at exactly 8am on my watch. The sun is up and I was really excited then. I’m just a bit nervous because I don’t want to be dried due to the heat of the sun. So I was like setting myself for a fast trekking so I can go down before 12pm.
As I started and worried of the sun to burn me, I was surprised not to feel any heat due to the wind. The cold wind helped me to enjoy the walk Thank God!
The first part of the trail was grassy and forestry but after that, you’ll be taking a very long plains.
This was the middle part of the trail of Mt. Talamitam. Super Windy! You can already see from here the overlooking of almost the whole place of Batangas. Very nice view! 🙂
This is the second part of the plains where there were cows.
After 30 minutes of battling with the wind, we finally reached the summit!
Summit of Mt. Talamitam at 9:30am. 🙂
Sorry for the cliche mountain shot. :p
View from the summit of Mt. Talamitam – That is Mt. Batulao (I’m heading there next! :p)
I just stayed at the peak for only like 15 or 20 minutes because it’s really cold. I never expected it that cold that day because the sun is really up. Descending was easier but it almost drained my energy because of the long walk and the weather. (Since I was like battling with the wind all the time) There were a lot of times where we need to stop because the wind is too strong and like pushing us sideways from the trail.
Overall, the experience was awesome. This is my very first mountain hike for 2014!
Pat to my shoulder*
Here’s the breakdown of my expenses:
Gil Puyat Manila – Bayabasan – P125.00
Registration Fee – P20.00
Guide – P200.00
Souvenir Shirt – P250.00
Itinerary that I followed:
6:00am DLTB Bus Station Nasugbu
7:45am Arrival at Bayabasan
8:00am Registration at Baranggay Hall
8:05am Start Trek
9:15am End of Long Trail
9:30am Summit of Mt. Talamitam, Photoops, Rest
10:00am Start Descending
11:30am Jump off Point, Baranggay Hall, Souvenir Shirts
12:00pm Lunch, Heading to Mt. Batulao
For the Mt. Batulao Hike, please check my next post. Thanks!
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Joey in Wanderland 