Nature Lover: ORIENTATION CLIMB: MT. TALAMITAM, NASUGBU BATANGAS

October 15-16, 2006

When my friend, Janee, read my blog about the UP-PGH Mountaineering Club, she told me, "Jac, I can't believe that among us, you'll be the one who'll join a mountaineering club. You're so girly for that!"

Yeah, a lot of people think I'm girly, and nobody believes that I'm boyish. Maybe because I love the color pink, but deep inside I love guy's stuffs. I even wanted to become a guy when I was young, maybe because of my brother, and most of my cousins are guys.

I really don't know how it started, but during my college years, I already wanted to become a mountaineer. I love the idea of surpassing all the challenges of different trails, and bringing out all your energy just to reach the summit. It's so COOL!

I was so excited about the orientation climb, and I bet Ate Joji, my roommate, already got used to hearing about it everyday. I even practiced carrying my backpack in front of her! She was laughing her heart out, and she doubts if I could carry it upto the summit. Imagine, 3 liters of water on your back plus your clothes and other personal stuffs, it was damn HEAVY, but that's part of the challenge.

Aside from experiencing the adventure of climbing different mountains and enjoying the beauty of mother nature, I also want to gain new friends. I met the other members of the club at the bus station, and they seem to be nice and friendly. We all came from different departments of PGH, and I only knew some of them.

The bus ride going to Nasugbu, Batangas was fine. We passed along Tagaytay, and we had an overlooking view of the Taal Volcano. We reached Brgy. Bayabasan at 12:00nn, which is two hours later than our expected time of arrival. So instead of going to the center of the community, we immediately headed to the start of the trail.

We had our lunch at the Kaydaw River, which is at the foot of the mountain. After lunch, we continued the climb. God blessed us with a cloudy weather, so we didn't have to bear the heat of the sun.

Along the trail, I felt closer and closer to mother nature. I love the cool breeze touching my face, the smell of the dried leaves along the way, and the chirping of the birds in the air. There's a lot of beautiful sceneries, and we couldn't stop taking pictures.

Some of the trail was difficult, but most of it was easy, since it's considered a minor climb.

My favorite command from the Team Leader (TL) was "take five", which means five minutes rest, and I like it better if it's "take 15"... hehehe...

On the other hand, my hatest word is "backtrack", which means we have to go back. =(

When we were about to reach the summit, we lost track of the right trail. We've followed a trail which lead us to a kamatisan and into a forest.

Some of the members doubted that it was the right trail going to the summit, so we have to backtrack twice. We rested at the 'saddle', while figuring out which trail are we going to follow.

Nawawala kami... =(

Good thing we encountered another group of mountaineers who dared to follow the trail going into the forest, and it turned out that it was really the right trail, so we followed them.

The trail was full of talahib, which had grown taller than us, and it should have been called Mt. Talahib instead of Mt. Talamitam. :D There were slopes that's almost 80 degrees, so we have to hold on to the grass for support. They called it four-wheeled drive, because were almost crawling.

Before reaching the summit, we were informed that another group have already encamped there. Since we're expecting another group of mountaineers who'll join our camp, we have to set up our camp just below the summit to prevent crowding.

After setting up the camp, we cooked our dinner and then we had our socials.

We formed a big circle and had some chit chat. All the new members were asked if we'll continue on to the Basic Mountaineering Course (BMC), and all of us answered 'yes'. The old members were overwhelmed when i answered, "I've waited for more than a year for your club to open for membership, so why should I hold back?". Some of the members were so kulit, so we had some good laugh.

I find it weird waking up on top of the mountain, because it's my first time, but it was so refreshing.

Though I missed the sunrise, I enjoyed the over-looking view. It was so great!

After breakfast, we continued the climb, and it was no more than 15 minutes before we reached the summit. It was very fulfilling, and I felt proud of myself!