Hiking in the Phils

[katie23]

View at Station 4 - there are 12 stations total


View at Station 6 - you can start to see Taal lake from this station

[katie23]

More trail up


At some part, we met another hiking group who did a "traverse" - they were a group from Manila.

[katie23]

At another part, we saw the Phivolcs monitoring station for Taal Volcano. Phivolcs stands for Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology - PI is in the Pacific Ring of Fire, so we experience minor earthquakes all the time (Magnitude 4 or 5 quakes are nothing to write home about, lol).

Taal Volcano is an active volcano - the last exciting activity was in 2011, according to Wiki. Taal Volcano is a "volcano within a volcano" - the lake is part of the old caldera which collapsed, filled with water through time, and another smaller volcano rose up. Taal Volcano is easily seen from the city of Tagaytay, a city with cooler climes and is ~1.5h away from Manila, so it's good for a day trip. This is the 2nd Phivolcs station that I've seen. First one was in the island of Camiguin down south, the monitoring station for Mt. Hibok-hibok, another active volcano.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taal_Volcano

[katie23]

View of Maculot Rockies... you have to go down the slope of the mountain, then ascend the rocks. There are ppl at the peak, if you look closely.


Descending through the "corridor" to reach the Rockies

[katie23]

Ascending the Mt Maculot Rockies


that's one of the guides helping hikers to ascend the rocks

[katie23]

Saw other hikers on their way down from the peak


View of Taal Lake from the peak

[katie23]

This is one of our guides. He stood at a rock where you can get a really nice pic - I wasn't brave/crazy enough to venture down there. I said I was content to take his pic and stay at my location.


View of Taal Lake and Volcano.

[katie23]

After some rest and photo ops, we decided to descend since we saw the fog coming in - there was forecast of rain in the afternoon.


There was a store and a resting station near the peak... we had our lunch there (packed lunch).

[katie23]

After lunch, it was time to descend the mountain. We were worried that it might rain and make the trail muddy/ slippery.


Near the jump-off point, there were some tarps left by other hiking groups

[katie23]

Near the jump-off point, there are places where you can shower and clean up. Usually the shower fee is Php 20.



That's it for the Mt. Maculot hike. It's maybe 1.5 hours away from Manila, if you take the Star Tollway, so it can easily be done in a day hike. For those who want a different view of Taal Lake and Volcano and want the more challenging route, then you can hike this mountain. It's easy to reach via public transport (bus to Lemery, Batangas) or via your own car. Pics of other hikes to come when I've more time and my net allows it. Cheers all!

[Luigi]

Very nice K-Pop. You're motivating me to start doing more hiking.

[NamPikToot]

Katie, thanks again. Could I ask, in your opinion do these trails feel over-touristed and therefore you feel like you are part of a procession just next in line. I ask because during my time in Nepal i worked through the period they overthrew the King and there was the Maoist insurgency, the so what being that tourist numbers fell dramatically and thus when hiking/trekking (although dangerous) we were fortunate to see very few others. Toward the end of my time tourism had begun to return and it was noticeably more crowded and thus less enjoyable, which given i was a tourist in effect was a bit hypocritical of me. Just wonder if you feel less people would be nicer?

[katie23]

@Luigi - yes, you could do more hiking - perhaps with Ms. CM?

@Toot - yes, for the past 2 weekend climbs that I did last October (7th & 27th), the mountains had lots of hikers/tourists. It does feel a bit like we're ants on a procession. At some parts, when my group rested, we had to make way for other groups to pass/overtake us. Then when we reached the peak, our groups had to queue for the touristy rock/summit/vantage point, to be able to get that picture perfect pose (which most ppl post on social media). If you're the first group to reach the peak, then it's not a problem. But if you're the 3rd or 4th group, then you have to wait. On one side, it's also nice to wait a bit so that you can rest, catch your breath, etc. But then if 15 ppl in your group has his/her own solo shot(s) on that rock, then the waiting time increases. Then there's the regular "group pic" with the tarpaulin of your hiking tour group. I don't mind the tarpaulin pics, as I know that it's for promotion purposes of the tour group. But if there's another destination in the itinerary (like a waterfalls or river down the mountain), then the waiting time increases and you have less time to enjoy the waterfalls or river. It's either that or you get home later at night instead of arriving late afternoon or evening - since you have to wait for everyone in the group to return to the jump-off point or van, and wait for them to wash up, etc. The for the Mt. Maculot hike, it wasn't too bad, since we did it on a Monday and most people were at work - there were less hikers in the mountain. According to the guides, Mt. Maculot was chock full of hikers that past weekend - so to schedule a Monday hike was a good idea.

I've signed up for 2 more climbs this November: one in Tanay, Rizal and another one in Benguet (up north). For sure, the one in Tanay will have lots of ppl because of its proximity to Metro Manila. For the one in Benguet province, it will be my first time to hike there (and such a long way), so I don't know if the traffic of hikers in the mountain is as much as the mountains near Manila.

But in another viewpoint, it's also good that hiking/mountaineering is becoming popular - it gives jobs to people like the guides, the people selling drinks or fresh snacks (fried bananas or veggie spring rolls, coconut juice, etc). We hikers are advised to bring our own food and drinks (and pack out our trash), but they're mostly packaged food, so having fresh food along the way is nice too. In the last mountain that I've climbed, there were people selling gloves, arm sleeves, flashlights, etc, in case hikers didn't have them. Having gloves was very helpful for the last climb, since it rained a bit when we were up there and the trail down was slippery. We had to hold onto rocks or branches, and parts of the trail were muddy.

I've inquired about a hike in Bataan province, which isn't too popular because of its distance to Manila and its difficulty level. I also didn't see that mountain that often in tour groups' lists of activities. If I get to hike that mountain in Bataan, then I'll report back re: the hiker traffic, difficulty and conditions. It will be a sort of "levelling up" for me, since that mountain is more difficult to hike, based on reports/blogs.

Cheers!

[NamPikToot]

Kaite, thanks.

The tourist numbers i suppose are just a thing we'll all have to live with. Hopefully the trails won't become ruined and that some of the spend finds its way back to maintaining the trails in a manner which is sympathetic to the environment. I noticed the lack of rubbish and your comment about taking it away with you is heartening. Anyway keep it up.

[Luigi]

Ms. CM?

I'm still interviewing.

[SKkin]

I'm still interviewing.

The Ms. Phils position still open?

[Luigi]

You come from Manila and look good in heels. SK?


Sorry to derail, K-Pop. Back to your great hiking thread.

[katie23]

Update to this thread...

Last weekend, I joined a "major hike" to Mount Mariveles in Bataan province. It was 3 hours away from Manila and is on the east side of the country. When you're on the mountains, you can get views of the South China Sea, a.k.a. West Philippine Sea and Champa Sea. In blogs it's classified as a 4/9 difficulty, but I would rate it as 4.5/9 or 5/9. The summit is 1,130 meters above sea level and it took us 7.5 hours to reach the summit, with several little rest stops and a 1 hour breakfast stop around 8 am at Papaya River.

We started hiking at 5 am and ended at 6:30 pm. So far, it's the longest and hardest climb that I've done! It's a major climb, so I feel that I have somehow "levelled up", so kudos to me! LOL.

Most of my climbs have been minor ones, which finish in 4-6 hours, except for Mt Makiling (~1,000 m) which is my home mountain and is considered as a major climb - I've climbed it twice.

For this climb, I wanted to hike a more challenging mountain and yes, I was challenged! It's not advisable for beginners, as was stated in the descriptions. However, it's very rewarding once you've reached the ridge and/or the summit.

Pics to follow in next post.

[katie23]

Start of the hike



Tarps of other groups at Nanay (mother) Cording's house

[katie23]

Mother Cording (Cordelia) was the "caretaker" of the path/ mountain. Hikers usually give a small donation (sort of environmental fee) upon reaching her house. Sometimes she also provides coffee, biscuits, etc. She was very kind, accdg to stories.

One of the reasons that I chose this hike was because it's a "hike for a cause" - the cause was for Mother Cording's cancer treatment. Unfortunately, she passed away last Nov 10 or 11, and we weren't able to meet her. Our group still gave a donation to the family to help their expenses - cancer treatment is costly, esp for those without insurance. Mother C was 78 y.o.

Out of respect, I won't post pics of the funeral/wake, but will post pics of the vicinity instead.

[katie23]

People at the wake, playing cards





thanks to anyone who will repost

[katie23]

Walk on ...

[SKkin]

......

Start of the hike



Tarps of other groups at Nanay (mother) Cording's house

[SKkin]

...

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those two are broke katie...

People at the wake, playing cards





thanks to anyone who will repost

[SKkin]

and these two as well...

Walk on ...