On September 10, 2011, my officemates, Brian, Mark and Delbert, and I with our newly-founded mountaineering group, climbed Mt. Batulao in Batangas.
It was in many infinite ways, a very good learning experience, and an enjoyable, if not kinda scary too.
We followed an itinerary loosely based on the New Trail, which is the easier and the faster one compared to the Old Trail.
A summary itinerary of what happened yesterday:
0645 Meetup at Taft MRT, eat breakfast at Chowking
0745 Rode bus to Evercrest. We rode another bus other than the one bound for Nasugbu. I forgot. Argh.
1015 ETA Evercrest; Start trek
… we got lost, and had our guides took us the shortcut..
around 1300 – Arrival at Summit, lunch, socials, photo-ops, rest
around 1400 – Start descent
1800 – Arrival at Evercrest; ride bus to Pasay
2100 – ETA Pasay
It was a very late itinerary. The intention was to depart by around 7am. But the Nasugbu bus just left, and we were left finding another bus bound for Nasugbu. By 0740, I grew frustrated. Watched around, and saw another BSC bus with its text that states it’s bound for Nasugbu. So I asked the conductor, whether it will actually go for Nasugbu, even if the label was actually different. Then in a last resort question out of frustration, we asked if this bus will pass Evercrest, and thankfully, it did. We rode the bus as it was about to leave.
In Evercrest, out of a thrift spree, we were at first adamant of actually getting a guide. Pinoy Mountaineers recommended a P300 guide fee. We were four, which translates to P75 each. Barely just setting foot on the land from the bus, child guides came flocking all the way. We were like.. No, no, we don’t need one.
Logging in Evercrest, we walked, and tried to follow the directions. The guard says that it was ‘Left’,’Right’,’Right’. The last Right should not be an asphalted road.
We actually missed the last Right and went all the way to the asphalted road. Luckily, came about to two children aged around 11 passing by us, saying that we were already wrong. We were still adamant, but eventually gave in. So really, we didn’t need one guide, but two. =)) But each are priced P150, so it still sums up to P300. One was Daniel, the other one starts with a J, I think, but I kinda forgot.
From further down Batulao road, the kids took us through a shortcut to go back to the trail. It was scary, but nothing like what we would eventually encounter later.
The first part of the trek is through the village. It’s a muddy one where horses cross. So imagine all the green horse manure you see lying on the road amidst the mud. Imagine if you slid through mud, and came in contact with them. Haha. 
You won’t notice much if it’s already mixed 
, but you get to smell it, the compost.
Along the trek, you can see many stopovers that sell coconut or Mountain Dew. This was the first time I tried drinking juice from a buko, then asking the lady to crack open the fruit and eat the meat inside. It was all new to me. =)) The buko’s reasonable too at P20, and it’s a LOT of juice that I wasn’t expecting. I literally got quite full with it, and I managed to survive having energy until we got back, without having lunch. I reckon you guys know about this though XD. Haha.
Moving along muddy terrain, the last stopover for buko-softdrink sellers is in the fork between the New Train and the Old Trail. A wooden post marks the entrance of the New Trail.
In this trail, there are ten peaks to be conquered before reaching the summit. Most of the time, as expected, each peak gets higher, as you course through ups and downs.
As you walk through most slopes and peaks, the views get more breathtaking. They become more dramatic.
The path before Peak 7 and Peak 8 is where the campsites are. There are two campsites. You know Peak 7 when you see the post, as well as a house that the Americans built after buying a parcel of land. Made of wood. We didn’t take pictures of it to respect their privacy lol. They’re still on the process of building the house anyway. Just by the end of Peak 7 is a campsite with a good view, with one mountain being distinctive – Mt. Maculot on the other side of the Taal Lake. The registration is also in here, where people pay P20, aside from shirts and drinks. They also have Red Horse there… Figures. XD We met many mountaineers too. Socials and the like.
Between Peak 10 and the summit, as far as I can remember, we entered into a dense forested area, the only forested part of our trek. It reminded me of the sidetrips in Mt. Makiling. Our guides brought us to a different route, a more challenging route of the forest than the one we used going back. In this alternate route, there was one really small part, around a foot, worth of land that I think went down through landslide, and this experience is probably the closest to a ‘kiss the wall’ experience, where we only relied to the grass for hold, and just hopping to the other side. It’s kinda funny when you come to think about it… like, come on, a foot!? You can just leap! But no, it’s not. When in there, all you think about is getting to the summit and coming out alive to live another day, and safety is more important than anything else like acting cool or whatever, especially being newbies and all.
Just after exiting the forested area, we came into a group of mountaineers, just alighting from the summit. They were the first group that we encountered, another group was coming down from the summit. We were almost there. The last stretch – a long stairway. It was with relative ease compared to the rest of the trail, much like the hero’s reward, I guess. And in little time, we were at the summit – a much welcoming experience, and rest.
In the summit, we met with 24/7 employees. I reckon 24/7 is a call center. They are based in Makati, and they took the old trail. It was notable that they have their own mountaineering shirt, as bright as the Brooks one. Maybe someday AzMountaineers will also have their own shirt. Hehe 
We decided to go down when the surrounding was beginning to get bad. It was still sunny at the summit, but somewhere in the vicinity is the rain coming nearer. Just as we went down through the stairway, the rains caught up. Strong rains. As we went back, we took the other forested trail, which was… well… more forestey lol, if even such a term exists, than the other one. Sometimes, a view outside is permitted, and we see clouds as well as the slopes of the mountain.
We also went slower and took more rests as Delbert starts to feel the consequence of finishing 2L of water just on the first half of the trek, and as Mark encounters cramps, which we were all unaware of how to fully heal.
The surroundings became foggy during the entire descent.
Back in the muddy trail, it is now muddier than ever. But then we were already wet, so wth. Just step on the mud, lol. My once-white shoelace is now brown, my black shoelace is black-brown. You see, my Zoo York pair came with white shoelaces by default but with extra blacks. When the dog ate one of the shoes’ shoelaces away, I replaced the one’s with black. Intentionally leaving the other white. It might look corny, but wth. XD The other shoelace is still too precious to be eaten away, lol.
It’s a good pair, for the record.
We went back down safe, tired, and hungry. But there are no food sources in Evercrest and outside. Especially that I only ate breakfast, I was really hungry in the bus home, buying junk foods and nuts from vendors who came in the buses. I really like the ketchup fries. XD
I wonder how we would have went without any guides though, lol. I reckon I wouldn’t be here writing about these kinds of stuff.
–Side comment–
I actually expected it to be easier, seeing how the old trail seemingly is 4/9. But then, I guess hiking is never really a joke anyway. You have to be in good shape to climb safely. You must also have the stamina to go on.
–Summary–
The trip was fun, albeit a bit late. The summit was very rewarding, and the fact that we conquered the mountain and being my 2nd time is quite a fulfillment of its own. This is also my first conquered summit.
Batulao is definitely worth coming back, and someday, we’ll tackle the old trail as well. Train first though. I wouldn’t mind going back with the new trail too.
Guides are really helpful too!
–Lessons learned–
1. Never bring 2L of water when there’s sources available.
2. Never drink a good amount of water going up.
3. Umbrellas force you off-balance as force shifts elsewhere, and focus is divided into protecting yourself from the sun, and the trail.
4. Leave early because it is in the afternoon that rains the most.
Last and the most important…
5. Guides are well worth it!!
‘till next time,
Jeck / 091111
So then it was decided. 
