The summit of Mt. Makulot

Four months have passed since my climb to Mt. Makulot and here I am making plans to climb again, this time to camp at the shoulder and make for the peak.  Aside from Jandy, also traveling with us are Ms.  Glorain “Rainy Canillas” and Ms. Marge Yu, former SPED (Special Education) teachers of Jandy; and Warner Bros. executive Ms. Lourdes “Lulu” Seguinza and Ms. Rosevie Sevilla, both friends of Rainy and me.  All, except Rainy (who made it up the campsite a few years back), were first timers up the mountain.         

A World War II Japanese tunnel

Laden with backpacks, tents, sleeping bags and provisions for an overnight camping stay, we left Manila at 6 AM, Friday, February 25, 2000 (Edsa Revolution anniversary and a non-working holiday), passing through the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) up to the Calamba Exit, then entering Batangas to Sto. Tomas, Tanauan, Malvar and Lipa City before turning right to Cuenca, arriving there at 9 AM.  At the barangay hall of Brgy.  7, we all registered and paid the required PhP5 fee .  Here, I secured the services of 3 porters to carry the bulk of our equipment.  We parked our car at the Mountaineer’s Stopover Store and began our climb from here.

Another tunnel

My first climb to the campsite was a breeze compared to the climb we were doing now.  During my first visit the skies were overcast, the weather was cool and the ground along the trail, slightly wet due to rain the day before, was nevertheless compact, making it easier to climb.  Today, the sun was shining intensely bright and the weather was humid. There wasn’t a gust of wind.  We were in boisterous spirits when we initially started out over the gentle, moderate grade gravel trail, chatting and laughing as we went along.  As the porters were carrying our equipment, we only carried our bottles of water.  Pretty soon, the chatting died down as our tongues were beginning to hang out due to thirst and heat stroke.  Even as our load was beginning to lightened (we were drinking our water at an alarming rate), we frequently had to stop to recover our breath and replenish our system with water.

The mountain spring

After about 30 minutes, the trail became steeper as we entered the light forest.  As the ground was very dry, we frequently slipped and literally had to crawl our way up.  There were many refreshment stations along the way selling fresh buko juice (good for rehydration), a welcome relief.  Things changed as the forest gave way to an even narrower, dusty and more slippery path through tall, sharp cogon grass, virtually unprotected from the intense heat of the sun.  And worse, there were no more refreshment stations along the way. The pace was beginning to tell on us especially Lulu who was a little bit under the weather.   She practically lost her voice and had to be assisted.  Our once compact group was now splintered as the others were beginning to lag behind and we had to wait for them.  Other hikers, all seemingly fit and able, occasionally passed as by.  We all arrived at the campsite after about 2 hrs.; hungry, thirsty, drenched with perspiration and bedraggled.  Again, it seemed like an eternity getting there.

Being a long 3-day holiday, there were many campers and tents were sprouting like mushrooms all around us. By the end of the day, there would be 250 names registered in the barangay hall logbook.  Mang Ed, together with his wife, was there to welcome us.  Both were minding their store and doing brisk business, selling canned goods, snacks, soft drinks in cans, bottled water and buko juice from which we quenched our thirst.  Their son, Ramon, showed us a suitable place to pitch our tents. The spot we chose, at the edge of the clearing, had a good worm’s eye view of the now cloud-free (it was cloud-shrouded during my first visit) main summit.  Further off, we also had an impressive view of Taal Lake, Lipa Point, Volcano Island, the nearby towns and beyond it, Laguna de Bay and the sea. We pitched our 3 tents beside each other.  It took me some time to figure out how to set up our tent, a 6.5-ft. by 4.75-ft.Bobcat dome tent with ultra-light aluminized coating.  After about 30 mins., our tents were set up and we settled down to a late lunch, dining on provisions that we brought along: packed rice, pork and beans and sausages.  Being very hot and tired indeed, we decided to postpone our final trek to the main summit for the next day.

On top of the Rockies

Instead, we decided to visit the Japanese World War II caves (there are 5 on the mountain) and the bukal (spring) located about 100 m. down the campsite.  The trail was also well-marked and we passed (but did not explore) 3 caves, a group of campers and a cluster of tents along the way to the spring.  The spring, the mountain’s only water supply, was actually a constantly dripping aquifer by the side of a cliff.  The only way to get to it was by clambering down the huge, exposed roots of a tree beside it.  I was the only who attempted this and the others just contented themselves with the view and the sound of the spring.  Upon reaching the spring, I rewarded myself with a refill of my water bottle.  On the way back we had a photo session by a huge dangling aerial root of a huge tree.

Sunset at Mt. Makulot

After about an hour, we returned to the campsite as we didn’t want to miss the beautiful sunset.  We proceeded along a small trail through the cogon grass to the Philippine Air Force marker. Beyond it was the knife’s edge leading to the 700-m. rocky drop-off of the “Rockies”.  Its peak was beginning to fill with people waiting for the sunset.  Rainy, Marge and I decided to join them.  The way up wasn’t easy as we had to negotiate the narrow, but well-marked, knife’s edge and then clamber up the cliff.  Sometimes, we had to stop to give way for others going down.  After about 10 mins. we reached the top.  The 360 degree view here was even more spectacular.  This is as close to God and Heaven as I have ever been and I was not the only one who felt that way.  Nearby was a religious group of young people singing their high praises to the Lord above.  After admiring the spectacular sunset, I descended the way I came in.  

Campsite at the shoulder

It was getting dark and we made arrangements with Mang Ed for a hot supper.  It was also getting very icy cold and windy and we arrived at Mang Ed’s store wrapped up in our warm sweaters, jackets and caps.  The night was very cold and windy.  We soon had our fill of the hot supper prepared for us and prepared to retire to bed literally with the night sky and stars as our blanket.  Too bad we can’t start a bonfire (it is prohibited) to keep warm. Dead tired, we decided to retire early to our sleeping bags.  However, sleep for me was an impossibility since the spot I chose to build my tent was quite lumpy and uncomfortable.  I envied Jandy who was sleeping soundly. While still dark, I mustered the courage to get out of my tent, wrapped as warmly as possible, to have hot coffee and a chat with Mang Ed.