Man is never satisfied. He will always find something better, will do something harder, will be someone more. Last Sunday, my fellow Strikers and I climbed another mountain, Mount Maculot.
First, the specifics:
MT. MACULOT
Cuenca, Batangas Major Jumpoff: Mountaineer’s Store, Brgy. 7 “Siete”, Cuenca
Exit point (traverse): Brgy 5 (to Grotto), Cuenca
LLA: 13°55 N; 121°2 E; 706 MASL (Rockies) / 930 MASL (summit) Days required / Hours to Rockies / summit : 1 day / 1-2 hr / 2-4 hr
Specs: Minor, Difficulty 3/9 (Rockies); 4/9 (Traverse) Trail class 1-3.
Features: Scenic views of Taal Lake, rock formations, forests
Posting date: August 9, 2007
Last updated: January 15, 2015
Information courtesy of PinoyMountaineer.com
(not in picture, Adrian and Camille)
It was another climb for the members of StrikingMNL. We met basically there and found that we enjoy outdoors. Last Sunday, February 15 our group met up at McDonald’s Eastwood and went to climb Mt. Maculot. We took Lipa exit from Star Tollway after SLEX and from there reached Cuenca Poblacion.
We started our trek, finding ourselves quite surprised in the first part because of the ascents. It was nice that there is a tent every after ascent so we have time to rest in between. From 5, our group became 12 (Don, Lily, Tin, Ren, Angel, Leeyhan, Emily, Erica, Amjay, Camille, Adrian and I) and most of us were beginners. It was surprising that the demands of the heights (with a guide) did not hinder the group to reach the camp site before going to the Rockies (706 MASL).
You have an option to do the Rockies and go back (that’s P400/5 pax per day) or Rockies and traverse to Grotto trail (P1,000/5 pax per day as of February 2015), and we decided to the latter because we’re hardcore (yeah right!). We reached Rockies and met some of those doing the day hike as well with friendly guides.
Reaching this part felt surreal as this is the 3rd mountain that I went just to see Taal Lake and the Taal volcano, and yet this is another angle that proved how small we are in a very big picture. You can see the edge of where you’re standing and you can only make a small gasp (well that’s what I did) because you’re afraid to fall off the cliff. But still you muster all your guts and brave it to the edge and you can actually see a clearer view of God’s creation.
Sometimes, it’s nice to be with a big group of people and still have time to be alone: communicate with oneself and your Creator. I was the sweeper again, this time it’s hard to keep up with some inside jokes nevertheless, this was a different view from Pico de Loro as the greens are more lush. After the Rockies, we went back to campsite to have our quick lunch.
After an hour, we took off for the unknown traverse to Grotto trail. According to our guide, we will reach the summit (930 MASL) there and then we continue our traverse to Grotto. It felt like you’re in Avatar walking in this traverse trail. Because it rained the night before, we had encountered mud and I kept on slipping, feeling so clumsy, to think I have to be one of those experienced.
We reached the summit and surprised we were surrounded by bugs! They kept on flying and landing on our clothes and faces that we have to leave. So we left after 10 minutes and continued, unbeknownst of what is waiting. Lily and Tin’s shoes gave in, good thing Ren and our guide, Danny had leukoplast tapes to hold the soles to the rest of the shoes. Don got a cut from trying not to slip going down…and it’s already 5:30pm.
We have to rappel twice of about 6-8 feet below and faced our fears. Oh yeah, despite the fear we managed to smile to mask our emotions.
(Amjay where is your picture?)
We reached the grotto already 6:45pm with only 4-5 lights from phones and flashlights, we realized we weren’t really ready about this part of the trail. But we managed to reach the grotto and got back safe.
We got back in Manila at around 10pm. Here is the breakdown of our expenses.
I guess if we have reached the grotto an earlier time, say 5pm we could have enjoyed the last part of the trail. After the exhaustion, slipping here and there, and a bit of rashes we got tired. But, we are proud of ourselves because it was unexpected. The workouts really paid off and the pain after each Crossfit WOD made each of us stronger and helped us endure the rest of the trek.
While the sun was already setting in, I thought of others saying, “You wander aimlessly, you look for adventure? I don’t think so, you’re just looking for trouble.” And I agree on the part, however the physical part would wander aimlessly, but when you come back, you’re a changed person and I can’t explain it to someone who haven’t tried wandering aimlessly (or even running for a very long distance for that matter). But to wonder in wander is a personal experience. Some of us don’t enjoy the silence that it is deafening but the silence is actually a communication from within, trying to figure things personally. And surprisingly, rather than a changed person usually we tend to be worse than our old selves: we spend more time wallowing to self pity, planning to get back to others. But it depends on us, we couldn’t depend on others to pick us from our ‘dirt’.
Till next mountain, to new heights, to new wonders, to better discoveries.
Of Wander and Wonder in Mt. Maculot Man is never satisfied. He will always find something better, will do something harder, will be someone more.