Having started the year with a climb, the drive to do more kicked in. Those who have the passion for hiking would relate to this: once you climb a mountain and loved it, there’s no escaping from it. You would want to do more.

Though we were not able to finish the Wawa Trilogy as it was supposed to be finished, that was a good start. Somehow, we were able to gauge our fitness to do more, and more, we would do.

We went back to the province of Rizal for our next mountain adventure, as Rizal is really famous for a lot of mountains to climb. Our next destination was in the town of Tanay, and this time, we won’t be doing a trilogy but a twin hike with a twist: We will take two mountains, but the second one features three peaks. In other words, we would do four peaks in one day!

Days leading to our trip, I managed to get our guide, Reynilyn, through the internet. She advised that for us to be able to finish our climb, we ought to be in the jump-off point in Tanay at 03:30 AM. Needless to say, our adventure started with another midnight drive. We managed to arrive early though, and as such, utilized a few more minutes to get some sleep in the car.

When Reynilyn showed up, we started our preparations while she went to the environmental office to pay the necessary fees. For this climb, we only shelled out a total of PHP 1,200.00: PHP 500.00 per mountain for the guide and PHP 100.00 per head for the environmental fee.

Our initial hike and ascent was not easy, and I am not exaggerating. It was raining, and it was raining hard, hence the trail was muddy. At around 04:00 in the morning, it was still pitch-dark. Combine the rain, mud and darkness and you will get a perfect recipe for a challenging assault. The slopes were very slippery, so much so that I slipped and would have fallen off the overhang were it not for a bamboo that I was able to grab. There were also rocky rivers that we had to wade in the dark and the rocks were very slippery too.

Almost two hours in the trail and the dawn hasn’t broken yet. Oddly, at 06:00 in the morning, the sun has not shown any signs of shining yet. The weather was gloomy, and though the rain did stop from time to time, the thick, dark clouds remained hovering above our heads. When the surroundings brightened-up somehow, we got some opportunity to see a scenic view for the first time.

At around 06:20 in the morning, we finally reached the summit of Mt. Mataripis. Standing at 720 MASL, it got its name from taripis, a local name for river shrimp. Since there were only the three of us in the climb, that’s the two of us plus our guide, it was a rather fast one, as getting to the summit of Mataripis usually takes around three hours. Still, it wasn’t in anyway an easy one. Just like in any mountain though, the rewards are with the beauty to behold at the top.

We rested for while in the summit and took some of our trail food. We then proceeded to taking photos, of course.

Of course, goofing in front of the camera has already become mandatory by now. I call these ones the goof shots.

Reynilyn was just patiently waiting for us under a hut, and when we were done taking our photos, she led the way to our next destination: Mt. Batolusong.

Mt. Batolusong features three peaks, but since we were already at the summit of Mt. Mataripis, the most convenient way for us was to take the peaks in reverse, that is, we take on the summit first, then the lesser peaks as we descend. The surroundings were already bright, hence treading on the pathway is somehow easier already, save for the heavy greenery that blocked our way.

Usually when trekking, nauuna si Ran. For some reasons, pinauna n’ya ako. Noong unti-unti na akong nasasaktan dahil sa kapit ng matatalim na damo at pitik ng matitinik na sanga, I realized why he let me go first: taga-hawan ng daan!

When we managed to get out of the thick forest, there was a sudden change of landscape. The trees and spiky shrubs were replaced by tall grass swaying to the force of the strong winds.

Our ultimate test to the first peak of Mt. Batolusong has begun.

Yes, we have just begun.