Mt. Talamitam-Mt. Batulao Hike

Recently I heard news about guides being required in Mt. Talamitam and Mt. Batulao in Batangas. Though I'm not sure if it's true because posts about that are also not certain if it's already mandated. Anyway, talking about it, I missed sharing in this blog our Mt. Talamitam-Batulao hike earlier this year. (I missed a lot of posts I know, I'm working through it!)

Invited by my friend Nhykie, I prepared my things and joined another group of hikers. New faces, new people, new friends. It is an overnight stay in Batulao but we hiked Mt. Talamitam first.

Meetup is at McDonalds, Pasay at 4AM. We rode the Nasugbu, Batangas bound buses and alight at Brgy. Bayabasan which is along the highway. It took us 3hours from Manila. We left our bags in the jump off since we'll be back by lunch. It as a 1-2hrs trek in a long and open field of grass. Trail is visible and easy to follow. Often you'll see animals like cows and horses in a wide stretch of green bumps. Some say it looks like Teletubby Land (now I'm confused which is the so called Teletubby land, Mt. Talamitam or Mt. Gulugod-Baboy?). As it is open, expect lots of exposure to the sun.

Photo c/o Marco

Photo c/o Marco

With my friend Nhykie

Mt. Talamitam is good for beginners, there's not much of difficult trails, most of the time it is just walking. The assault is a bit hard because you'll have to hike big boulders of rocks and it's steep. There's a much easier trail going up but it is longer. Of course we chose the harder one for adventure.

Reaching the summit is breathtaking! There's a 360 degree view of Batangas showing the other mountains in Batangas - Mt. Batulao, Mt. Pico de Loro, Mt. Marami. Fortune Island and the Taal Lake is also visible from the top.  (Sorry I don't have pictures of it)

Going down we took another trail which is longer but easier. Our hunger made us trek so fast that we're back to the highway in time for lunch. On our way back, there are chicken vendors where you can buy a whole and have it chopped. We bought one for our dinner in Batulao.

Mt. Batulao

Mt. Batulao is a popular mountain for its beginner perfect and trail run perfect grounds. Some say it's an easy hike but the guides say it's a difficult one due to the number of peaks it has (It has 12 peaks). Going there, we took a bus going back to Manila and drop off at Evercrest. Tricycles are available to take you to the registration office. It costs 100 for one ride. Some start walking from Evercrest but it's a LONG walk I tell you - about 2 hours.

There's no fee in the registration office but guides are there if you want to hire one (Php400 for one guide). Our group did not hire one since my friends have been there many times. We took the OLD trail.

Now I have to trek with my heavy bag on my shoulders, everything is much harder now. Mind you, I still don't have a tent in my bag yet I feel like lifting the world. I may have packed too much clothes. We passed by the long, up and down, easy and difficult trails of the OLD trail. There are trail runners overtaking and I was like "WOW" everytime because they managed to run in this kind of area. Anyway, it's just logical because they don't have any bags with them while doing so. Just a bottle of water. The weather is just fine that day, the soil is dry so it's a little slippery because it's dusty. The old trail is also not that exposed to the sun because most of the time there are trees and mountains covering the sun.

Team Titiwangwang

View from our campsite.

We stayed at Camp 6 in the Old trail where there's a nipa hut selling halo-halo and soft drinks. Owners of the land in the mountain do business at day (selling food) and leave at night. The owners of the nipa hut leave at night so we prepared and ate dinner in their kubo (they're very generous to let us use their kubo).

Socials night

I love socials during hiking because it is a very genuine talk of knowing each other, just some shots of regular beers (or gin) and chicharon and you'll feel like a probinsyano having the party of the night under the bed of stars. We even played a minus-one music video from youtube because my friends want some videoke and yes, network signal is incredibly strong in the peaks of Batulao.

By morning we went to the summit. It is a foggy morning but in hope it will clear up just in time that we reached the summit, we pushed through. I have no bags on my back so it's lighter now, but the steep trails and big steps upward still got me pumping.

There's a part of the OLD trail where you have to do rappelling on an 80-90 degrees rock. I hate rappelling and I still can't get the hang of it. I even bump into the rock on my way up while casting shitty words. With the help of my friends (and I'm sorry for them), I was able to pass. I bet the people next to me celebrated at the same time. There's traffic even in mountains.

Reaching the summit is a scene of white sheets with no clear vision of the mountain. The fog didn't go out. There are rain showers from time to time but the cold weather didn't stopped us from trying the famous halo-halo by the summit. Yeah, it’s my constant reminder that there's refreshment on top, this keeps me going. Buko juice is also a must.

Here's a picture of our group. We didn't saw the 360 degree view but it's alright, at least we still have something to try when we get back.

Here's my list of what to bring during Mt. Talamitam-Batulao hike:

• Tent
• Clothes (2 pairs)
• Water (about 2 liters)
• Food for dinner and breakfast
• Trail food (jelly ace, chocolate)
• Money (money for registration fee, lunch, halo-halo, mt. dew, guide, transpo)
• Camera (cellphone is enough, monopod if you want)
• Toiletries
• Wet wipes
• Weather breaker (jacket, sarong)
• What to wear: Trekking shoes or sandals, leggings (if u don’t want surprise wounds and insect bites), cap, comfortable shirt, arm sleeves, sunscreen

Happy hiking!

Glen :)