The Mt. Maculot Challenge
The climb to Mt. Maculot was a month in the making, owing to the fact that Lito, a law school friend, and I kept moving it to a later date. Not three days into January, 2010, Lito sent me a text message asking me to plan this year’s escapades. I decided to push through with Mt. Maculot. We made a date for 30 January 2010; cousin tagged along.
We left Manila on-board Jam Liner bound for Lemery at 5 in the morning. The fare is Php155/person. At around 8 o ‘clock, we arrived at Cuenca, and did some last minute shopping at the town’s market. From the arch announcing the town of Cuenca, we took a tricycle to the registration place (fare is Php20.00/person and registration fee is Php10.00/person). We were lectured on the importance of registering as not too long ago, climbers had to be rescued because they got lost.
Registration Officer: Your first time here?
Us: Yes, sir.
Registration Officer: You need a guide?
Us: Nah.
So off we went, Mt Maculot virgins, confident enough to trek a mountain without a guide. The tricycle we rode in dropped us off at the starting point to the Rockies.Along the way, we met a local official who informed us that the Grotto (the place I wanted to see) was at the other side. We made up our minds to start the trek all over again, this time traversing the grotto-summit-rockies route. This was where we met Ka Manuel, owner of The Mountaineer’s Store. He recommended a guide because the path we wanted to take was the road less travelled. With a rate of Php500.00, we agreed.
Our guide’s name is Lerby, so naturally, we didn’t call him by his name. Cousy called him Lardy; I called him Lloydie. Anyway, we started the climb.
Along the way, we saw rest areas which turned out to be Stations of the Cross. Lerby then informed us that during Holy Week, a lot of devotees would climb all the way to the Grotto for their Stations of the Cross. We kidded that we started our Holy Week early. 
We finally reached the Grotto, and the view from that vantage made us mighty proud we were able to climb that high.
Views of and from the Grotto:
A few minutes of rest, and we were on our way to the peak through a forested trail. It’s not a laughing matter, the path we had to take. The climb was steep, and it felt like being at the edge of a cliff…come to think of it, we probably were.
We made it!!!!!
I have a story to tell, don’t tell our mothers though. We have reached the summit, and it was time to descend to the campsite. The trail was covered with all sorts of plants and bushes that even Lerby got confused. There was a fork somewhere, and a noticeable trail to our left. We took that trail…huge mistake. We were at the sloping side of the mountain, the soil was slippery so there wasn’t enough friction for our shoes, and the plants we were hanging on to were full of thorns we ended up with blisters on our hands and legs. It was scary; we kept on slipping and sliding, and we were literally hanging onto those thorny plants for dear life. Lerby had the good sense to think that the path can’t be the right path so we climbed back up the fork. Lerby noticed the trail to the right of the fork, which was covered by bushes , thereby explaining why we didn’t see it in the first place. We decided to have lunch there and then to reinforce our strength and courage. The view gave us some consolation though.
It was time to descend to the campsite.
When Lerby told us that the mountain behind us was where we came from, we couldn’t believe our eyes. We were awed and overwhelmed: We were able to climb that mountain?!?
The path to the campsite is surrounded by cogon grass, and just to give you an idea, here’s a video. A picture from the campsite; no, those weren’t our tents.
From the campsite, we walked a few more minutes to the Rockies’ jump off point, which I call the marker. We rested a bit because it looked like the Rockies was one more steep climb.
Views to and from the Rockies. We had a breathtaking sight of Taal Volcano…
It was time to go. The descent from the Rockies to the start off point was a bit difficult due to steepness. Plus, we had to climb a more vertical path getting back to the marker.
(Thanks for these pics, Lito!)
The descent from the campsite to the start of the trek via the Rockies was considerably easier, but the tired muscles and lack of water were major factors in slowing us down.
Somewhere, on flat land, around five minutes away from the tricycle and the end of our trek, I sprained my ankle. Sheesh.
It took us 9 hours to complete the grotto-summit-rockies route, otherwise known as the Traverse – there were lots of stop-over and picture-taking in between. We tidied up at Ka Manuel’s and he was kind enough to take us at this food stop that served the biggest bowl of pancit lomi I had ever seen.
After dinner, we took a jeep to the Lipa Bus Station for the ride home to Manila. It was one weekender I will never forget.
Things I want to share:
* Wear leggings or long trek pants as the grasses and plants surrounding the trail can give you blisters.
*Bring at least two liters of water, and a change of shirt.
*Hand gloves/trek gloves are advisable.
Until the next journey,
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