Climb #9: Mt. Daguldol Climbapalooza 2011

Acknowledgement: Love of Brotherhood and Outdoors (L.O.B.O. Mountaineers);  FIMOinc for organizing this event
L.O.B.O mountaineers decided to take part of the FIMOinc., organized Climbpalooza 2011 to commemorate the gift of love, for and of mountains. Once the list of target destinations was out, the decision needs to be made.

Among the listed mountains was Mt. Daguldol, a popular weekend trekking destination in San Juan, Batangas which offers:

• a fun and a bit challenging climb 
• beach relaxation post climb
• Budget climb.

Done deal.

 The Meeting Place:

The group gathered at the usual meeting place at Wendy’s Buendia (Taft), the store that has been a significant place to mountaineers and other outdoor enthusiast serving as a safe meeting place most specially for wee hours call time.

Going there:

Off to see the summit

From Wendy’s Buendia, we rode a bus to Lipa City and got off at Big Ben (apparently a well known landmark). We were united with the other participants who prefer to meet up in Lipa. We then arranged for a jeepney ride to drive us to the jump off at Brgy. Hugom where we registered and paid the entrance fee and arranged for a guide.

Trekking we go:

Waiting for the Halo Halo

The first 20-30 minutes of the trail is via beach front. We started the trek a little after lunch hour which was why we needed to endure the scorching heat of the sand before taking a turn leading to the feet of the mountain but the rest of the trail is pretty shady. There’s a good population of coconut trees and goats that stays under a make shift cage of big boulders. The group decided to take their lunch at Naambon Falls with our guide and his loyal dog before continuing the trek. At about 3pm, we came across a house there that sells halo-halo (Filipino cold dessert). Tempted (who wouldn’t?) some of us ordered a glass of this treat  while some had a bottle of soda instead.

View at the summit

Around 5pm, we were able to reach the vast camp area shared with a few grazing cows (don’t worry, their tied to a rope). The summit’s breezy atmosphere offered a relaxing feeling that you’d just want to lie on the grass and sleep after the climb, but we have to pitch our tents and cook dinner before we can do that. After dinner and socials, we kept our camp stuff under our tent’s vestibule, abiding by our guide’s reminder that dogs usually roams at night eating camper’s leftovers.

The Next Day:

The designated morning cooks were awakened by the cool 6am breeze and their cell phone alarms. After stretching our muscles they started making preparations for breakfast, only to find out that our rice pot was dragged a few meters away from our camp site emptied of the left over sinigang, the plastic covering was shredded. It was a funny morning and some of us stared with disbelief not able to comprehend how a “dog” manages to pull out that rice pot under our vestibules without leaving any trace or no one even hearing a thing.

After breakfast, break camp, lots of picture taking and the fog starting to cover the camp area, we decided to head back to the beach, a suitable way to end a "hard" day climb.

Climb Notes:

1. Classified as minor climb, one can do a day hike or opt for overnight stay at the summit. Bring 2-3 litters of water for hydration, sunblock and swim wear! It's also nice if you can have additional food for the guide should you want to have lunch in Naambon River.

2. Naambon River - aptly named since the water from this falls is quite weak. Could be attributed to the lack of rain during our climb month which was February 2011.

Itinerary of the group:

Trail up

Day 1

0300 Assembly at Wendy's Buendia Cor Taft Ave.

0600 ETD from Mla to Big Ben, Lipa City Batangas

0800 ETA Big Ben Lipa Batangas

0830 ETD from Big Ben to Brgy Hugom (jump Off)

1000 ETA Brgy Hugom, register and breakfast

1030 Start Trek (via Beach Front)
1100 1st Waiting Shed
1230 Naambon Falls Lunch Area

1:30 ETD Naambon Falls
2:30 PM ETA 2nd Bahay Kubo (Water Source)

Jelly Fish! ^_^

3:30 ETA 2nd Waiting Shed
5:00 ETA Anahawan Campsite
8:30 Socials

Day 2
06:00 Wake up call, breakfast, break camp
08:00 Start of trek
12:00 ETA Brgy. End of trek (wash up and swimming)
05:00 PM ETD Brgy Hugom to Mla
09:00 ETA Manila