Sounds familiar?  Yep I also never thought I’d revisit this mountain after high school.  This was where we had our Bivouac eons ago so technically it is not my first time at Mt. Batulao. That bivouac trip, I remember was so much fun (at least for me) and it might have ignited my love for the outdoors.  BUT because it was such a long time ago and my memory of it’s pretty hazy, I will consider this my first time.  Besides, we took the new trail, which only opened early this year so technically it is my first, but who cares!

It was a nice day for a trek and in most part; the weather cooperated except for a brief rain shower over lunch prompting us to start our descent. The trail had beautiful views of the Batangas landscape passing grasslands and rolling hills.  It was well maintained and best of all, the slopes were not very steep, although I did had to catch a breath or two ascending to either peak 3 or 4 (I blocked that out!).  And to think that our 9 year old guide, Melvin and his sister were just hopping away.  Haha! Need to increase my cardio to more than 15 minutes… um that is whenever I get myself to the gym.

Although ideal for day hikes, we encountered different groups of mountaineers carrying full packs with the intention of staying the night. There were even those who had already set up camp.  For occasional trekkers like me (if given a choice) there is nothing like a delicious dinner to cap a day hike and a comfy bed to rest our aching bodies. I believe that good dinner, great hideaways (and a massage if I’m lucky) are the exclamation point to a great outdoor activity, be it hiking, rafting or diving.  More on that on my next post.

Half way down, we passed Melvin’s house, which he shares with his parents and 6 siblings.  They sell cold soft drinks, the freshest and the sweetest buko juice (coconut juice) I’ve ever tasted, banana-cues and at that time, they had suha (pomelo).  Melvin started to guide at age 5 following in the footsteps of his older brothers.  This is their playground; they go up and down effortlessly, sometimes even more than once a day.

Sshhhh… I’ll let you in on a secret: we didn’t reach the summit because we were… err I was dead tired and it started to rain and it was already so beautiful where we were (about 30mins from the summit) and everyone agreed hahaha!  We were happy running and playing with the kids (our guides).  It was a good cardio workout but maybe we SHOULD strive for the summit next time eh?

Getting there:

From Evercrest Golf Course, Nasugbu, you either walk or take a tricycle (which charged us P100 one-way) to the jump off point (we walked back to our car which was parked outside the gate of Evercrest).  If you decide to not to take the tric, walk pass the road that leads to Caleruega.  A few minutes later, you will come to a fork, take the dirt road on the right; you will pass a village where you can hire guides although it is a pretty straightforward trail.  At the first camp or peak 1, you will have to pay a P20 registration fee.