Nasugbu Trilogy Dayhike

Pico de Loro Traverse/Reverse (664+ masl), Talamitam (630+ masl), Batulao Traverse (811+ masl)

Some of you may probably heard about climbing two or more mountains in just one day. For those who may wonder, yes it is possible! This multi-peak dayhike climb has already caught the curiosity of many inclined-to-climbing individuals as they seek for more adventure and challenge.

So just a few hours away from Metro Manila lie three of the famous hiking destinations in Batangas. The pioneer of this climb trio called it Nasugbu Trilogy dayhike and  this includes Pico de Loro, Talamitam and Batulao. Let's call it NT dayhike, and of course they are all located in Nasugbu. Nasugbu is a town not just a home to many beautiful beaches and resorts but as you may see, it is also a sanctuary of scenic mountains.  For those who are familiar with these mountains, you are right, they are all minor climbs but try to roll it into one dayhike event and it becomes a major one. It is a dayhike with an exciting twist and extra challenge of completing all the three hikes. Otherwise, you cannot claim it as a trilogy.

the first ever Nasugbu mountains trilogy by Outdoor Pilipinas

Nasugbo Trilogy Map

More than having it as an extended nature experience, some try it primarily with an intention to do a training climb as NT dayhike is a really a good practice/warm up prior to a relatively major climb. They are those who are aspiring an even more difficult trek. When I tried it in 2011 as part of my training for our Mt. Pulag via Ambaguio-Akiki trails, I was doubting myself at first and yet I was able to finish it. It's just a matter of perspective -- I've viewed it as one high mountain comprised of many peaks.

The advantage?

For a damage to your pocket of only P500-600, you can already accomplish and explore three mountains in a single day and you can already have your desired training climb. Being near to Manila is also an advantage as it is only 2-3 hour drive to the Batangas province.


Records

The first ever NT dayhike was made possible by Sir Benj Magkalas, founder of Outdoor Pilipinas and one who has already established a good name in mountaineering community. According to him, he was looking then for a hike to train himself for their upcoming Luzon 3-2-1 climb, it is climbing the top 3 highest mountain in Luzon, thus, calling such event (as you might have noticed, NT climb is just a baby step to do an even more major trio climb, thus it's really worth trying). What they did was a Pico de Loro-Talamitam-Batulao dayhike. The second one, was organized by my climbing buddy and his climb buddy then, Sir Ed Bedural with the same sequence of the trek but adding one notch to the level of difficulty of the Pico de Loro climb to a seemingly insane traverse-reverse trek. Still they owe the itinerary credit to sir Benj. Apparently, there are many variations, so long it suits your satisfaction on how you will complete the trek.

I joined a NT dayhike invitational climb by Dennis Hisanan in August 2011 which happened to be his 3rd time to do it, Imagine the rainy trek that we faced since it was a wet season already. But more than a wilderness experience is the creation of new friendships and an opportunity to meet more mountain fellows who share the same enthusiasm in doing this kind of outdoor. By the way, it is best to do this multi-peak dayhike with a group. Not just for  budget reasons but it is best to experience and create remarkable moments  with fellows. However slots are still suggested to be  limited to 15 participants. There is a limit because strict compliance to the itinerary is advisable. Remember that it is a dayhike and thus you should finish the trek within 24 hours. Time is everything to this trek and pace is a high consideration.

Regrouping: "happy us" at the summit of Mt. Talamitam

The Mountains

First and foremost, a chartered jeepney is required in this event as this would transport the participants from one mountain to another. All the 3 mountains are not next to each other and they are situated in different locations in Nasugbu.

1. Pico de Loro

pico de loro (mt. palay-palay)

Pico de Loro 's jump off point might be in Ternate, Cavite yet for the NT setting, you'll be doing a traverse having an end point on the other side which is already in Nasugbu. By the way. Pico de loro hike (at 664 MASL) is actually good for first timers, hence the mountain is relatively easy to trek. Actually, we do our invitational climbs especially organized climb for the first timers usually in this mountain). The mountain's highlight is the monolith or parrot's beak, which  is just across the summit. Who could deny the picturesque and breathtaking views of Batangas' mountains and seacapes. However, initializing the traverse through a descent from the summit point marks the beginning of a steep and long trek. Poison ivy or "teka-teka" is also rampant and the forest that one would be facing is some kind of messy. In such end point of the traverse, the chartered jeepney would be waiting  and would eventually transfer the group to the next mountain at around 45 mins.

Here is a guide map courtesy of Sir Benj Magkalas, creator of Outdoor Pilipinas:

2. Mt. Talamitam

mt. talamitam

Standing at 630 MASL is Mt. Talamitam - the second leg of the trilogy is fairly easy trek to a seemingly bald grassland. In a matter of just one hour you should be reaching a summit of 360-degree view including the jagged silhouette of Mt. Batulao, the next and last destination. Beginning February 2013, the jump off point in Brgy Aga imposed a required guideship on the mountain for Php350 0r 400 per day. I happened to climb this mountain twice in separate events in 2011 and the only fee imposed  ( which is Php25) that time was the registration fee at the barangay.

3. Mt. Batulao

Highest of the trio, is  Mt. Batulao perched at 811MASL , this mountain in its bald and jagged grassland feature gives a very scenic view. It may be considered a minor climb yet its high cliff and knife edged trail still depict a risky trek. From Talamitam to Batulao jump off point is approximately 15 mins drive.

mt. batulao

Our actual NT climb in August 2011 was a group of 18 climbers and only nine of us completed the trilogy. Some were injured and already tired after the first two legs of the climb. Others just intended to join the Pico traverse or a twin dayhike which is up to Talamitam.

Due to fork encounters by some of us in Pico Traverse and Talamitam, we just arrived in Batulao jump off point at around 7pm and only after some refreshments did we able to start the Batulao traverse. The traverse from old trail to new trail lasted from 9pm to 3am. Yes, that long hours of night trek was consumed. Oh well, obviously this was due to a rainy and muddy trek. Crazy act it may be but all we wanted was to finish strong and complete the trilogy. According to Dennis, the NT dayhike they made in January 2012 (originally, it was Sha Bedural's climb event but handed down to him because she was already preggy to baby Maktrav that time), given no fork encounters and a start of the first leg in Pico as early as 4am, they were able to finish by 8pm. Well this is fairly convincing, it's just like doing a regular pacing in Makiling traverse. 

early lunch after Pico traverse

Itinerary

I am concluding this post by sharing with you the itinerary of NT dayhike:

NASUGBO TRILOGY I

12:00am Meet-up JOLLIBEE ALABANG
1:00am ETD to Pico de Loro

Start Trek Pico de Loro Traverse
4:00am Start Trek to Mang Rey's Kubo at Pico Basecamp
4:20am ETA Pico Basecamp Mang Rey's Kubo - Get Water and pay regisatration P20, Eat Breakfast
4:45am ETD to Alibangbang from Basecamp. Will by-pass falls
5:30am ETA Alibangbang Commence Summit Assault
6:30am ETA Pico Summit Camp - Get Water for traverse if available
6:15am ETA Pico Summit Pictures - Breakfast Snacks
6:45am ETA Pico Tower (will by-pass tower assault) - Commence Traverse to Nasugbu
7:45am ETA Level Trek Rolling Terrain Nasugbu Trail
8:00am Exit Point Brgy. Hamilo, Nasugbu - Brunch
8:30am ETD to Mt. Talamitam - Lunch on Jeep

Start Trek Talamitam Traverse
10:30am Mt. Talamitam Jumpoff, pay registration, Start Trek
10:45am ETA Talamitam River Last water source, get trail water 2L Minimum
11:30pm ETA Talamitam 4WD Assault via Western Trail
12:00nn ETA Talamitam Summit
01:15pm Commence Talamitam Descent Via Eastern Trail
01:45pm ETA Talamitam Jumpoff, Ride jeep to Mt. Batulao

Start Trek Batulao Traverse
3:15pm ETD Mt. Batulao Evercrest Get Water, Merienda, Buy Packed Dinner
4:45pm Start Trek to Mt. Batulao Camp 1 Old Trail
5:45pm ETA Camp 1 - Commence Summit Assault Prepare headlamp
6:45pm ETA Mt. Batulao Summit, Sunset Pictures, Merienda
7:15pm Commence Mt. Batulao Summit Descent via New Trail Night Trek
8:00pm ETA Batulao Jump off - rest and clean up

To Manila
9:00pm ETD Manila
11:00pm ETA Manila


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NASUGBO TRILOGY II

12:00mn Meet-up Jollibee Alabang
01:00am ETD to PICO(Please don’t be late)

Start Trek Pico de Loro Traverse-Reverse
04:00am Start Trek to Mang Rey's Kubo at Pico Basecamp
04:20am ETA Pico Basecamp Mang Rey's Kubo - Get Water and pay registration P20, Eat Breakfast
04:45am ETD to Alibangbang from Basecamp. Will by-pass falls
05:30am ETA Alibangbang Commence Summit Assault
06:30am ETA Pico Summit Camp - Get Water for traverse if available
06:15am ETA Pico Summit Pictures - Breakfast Snacks
06:45am ETA Pico Tower (will by-pass tower assault) - Commence Traverse to Nasugbu
07:45am ETA Level Trek Rolling Terrain Nasugbu Trail
08:00am Exit Point Brgy. Hamilo, Nasugbu - Brunch
08:15am Start Reverse Trek
08:45am ETA Level Trek Rolling Terrain Nasugbu Trail
09:45am ETA Pico Tower (will by-pass tower assault) - Commence Reverse to Ternate
11:00am Pico Jumpoff
12:00 NN ETD to Mt. Talamitam - Lunch on Jeep

Start Trek Talamitam Traverse
12:30pm Mt. Talamitam Jumpoff, pay registration, Start Trek
12:45pm ETA Talamitam River Last water source, get trail water 2L Minimum
1:30pm ETA Talamitam 4WD Assault via Western Trail
02:00pm ETA Talamitam Summit
02:15pm Commence Talamitam Descent Via Eastern Trail
02:45pm ETA Talamitam Jumpoff, Ride jeep to Mt. Batulao

Start Trek Batulao Traverse
03:15pm ETD Mt. Batulao Evercrest Get Water, Merienda, Buy Packed Dinner
03:45pm Start Trek to Mt. Batulao Camp 1 Old Trail
04:45pm ETA Camp 1 - Commence Summit Assault Prepare headlamp
05:45pm ETA Mt. Batulao Summit, Sunset Pictures, Merienda
06:15pm Commence Mt. Batulao Summit Descent via New Trail Night Trek
08:00pm ETA Batulao Jump off - rest and clean up

Contact number for the chartered jeepney:  Kuya Rey (0939 816 7785)

Aiming for more difficult climb requires enough preparation, so if you want to experience more and witness more in mountaineering, you gotta prepare enough and expect for the worse. The important thing is to build stamina and get your feet used to walking in the trails at a more improved pace since many of the major climbs are strictly following the itinerary for safety purposes.  If you are preparing for an undeniably high resistance-required major climb but still looking for a much friendly-to-the pocket climb, NT dayhike may be of good help to you.

I'm telling you, when you've reach the point of finishing the first two legs, it's so tempting not to proceed with the last one. and that's the challenge! You might be convincing yourself that you've done so far with the first two. But let's see how long would you be able to sustain? Besides, if you won't do it, how much more awaits if you finally do a much more difficult mountain?

If anyone have already done this, well, kudos to him for not giving up and completing it all.  But for those who would be doing this being a first timer to all the 3 mountains, I would like to hype you up as exciting adventure and surprises truly await in this single event. It's not your ordinary weekend dayhike, not even an easy trek yet it's definitely a fulfilling one.

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First Timer in Mt. Batulao

Location: Nasugbu, Batangas

Jump-off Point: Evercrest Golf Course, Nasugbu

811 Meters Above Sea Level

Difficulty: Minor Climb, 4/9

 November 6-7, 2010

Mt. Batulao was my first “serious” climb. Funny, but I called it as such, not because the mountain is very difficult to climb, it’s actually a minor one, but this was my first time to join a real climb---- with group of climbers, with itinerary and with climbing gears. I had already some hiking experiences way way back including Mt.Pinatubo in April 2010 but it wasn’t like this. In addition, since Batulao climb, I have started to rekindle my passion to climb. Joining a number of climbing events followed after this, particularly in the mid 2011. Before, I thought getting myself with a single climbing adventure would cost me so much but I have realized that it is absolutely not, particularly if you join a group. What may cost a lot is investing in climbing and camping gears but it still depends on your gear/brand preferences. And of course, if you opt a frequent climbing getaway, that would apparently cost you more.

I’d like to tell what convinced me to join a climb for the first time. Back in September 2010, a friend and dorm mate of mine named Jera, kept on inviting me to join their group in a climb. I always declined since I would have a conflict of schedule then; I had a weekend commitment, an activity of Lingkod Community (a charismatic community I belong). Come November, the series of that activity was about to finish and I got a chance to join in this Batulao event especially when I learned that Ate Elaine, one of our dorm mates was also joining. That was November 2010. I met BUSOG mountaineers, most of them are from HP just like Jera. It was really fun. 

Jera, Lauren and me when we started the trek from Evercrest Golf Course

Taking the bus near MRT Taft going to Nasugbu, three hours of trip and we were dropped off at the jump off point, Evercrest Golf Course. It was already late afternoon when we started the trek, we took the new trail which they said is easier than the old one. I enjoyed the first part of the trail, picture-taking as we hike and then we went ascending and descending on a series of up-down, up-down slopes. Because I was a first-timer, everytime it was an ascent, I was so regretful that I joined the climb and in every descent or any slope that is going down, I rejoiced, enjoyed the trail and thankful that I joined, hehe. 

The sun was already down and darkness already covered the mountain when we reached the campsite. We were like babies, maybe because we’re guests. Tents were pitched for us and somebody (I think Rose Garbi) volunteered to cook including others who helped. As for us, we just stayed lying inside the tent. It rained a bit on that night. We’re so thankful that it did not continue to pour more. We were just called when it was time for dinner and socials. After the delicious chopsuey dinner, we’re up for socials. It was a fun kwentuhan. We, the guests, first introduced ourselves and stated the reasons why we joined the climb. New friends in the air! Yeah! I met Lauren Ramos, Rose Garbi, Rizchell Sarmiento, Riz Ruan, Leween Agriflor, Charlie delos Santos, Arnel Madrid and the rest of the gang. I shared to the group a quote on my airtime—“don’t settle for the slope, go for the summit!” I heard it from one of the talks I attended. I just found it appropriate and timely to share with others.

We woke up early the next day for the sunrise at the summit. It’s around 20-minute trek from the campsite (on my pacing). And wow! upon reaching the summit, I felt so fulfilled and proud. It was my first summit! I was in awe at the 360 degree-views. Slope-full structure of Batulao was really amazing. We had fun-filled group pics and jump shots.

Group pic at the summit of Mt. Batulao

Now I can completely understand why it is right to start the trek in the afternoon. Batulao is an open mountain, uncovered with trees. One can really be burned with too much direct exposure on sun’s heat.. Night trek is also great in scaling this mountain.

View of Mt. Batulao’s slopes.. Taken from the summit, from there, we could view our tents where we camped

We went back to the campsite for breakfast, had our respective “tent downs” and went back to the jump-off via  new trail again. I sooo like the buko juice idea where we stopped and take rest on a small nipa hut where buko juice is being sold. Refreshingly good!

I must also add that on these particular dates, there were many groups who climbed. That’s the first time I knew that in the mountaineering world, climbers call each other by “Ma’am & Sir”.. and every time they met along the trail, they greet as if they know each other. Nice one! And of course, we learned the basic of mountaineering, the LNT rule (Leave No Trace).

This event was originally a combo climb, Batulao-Talamitam  but due to time constraints, when we reached the jump off point of Talamitam, we decided not to push through, we just stayed at the river there as our sidetrip. We had a lot of kwentuhan and piktyuran. The group really gave us a warm welcome even we were only newbies.

A rewarding meal awaited us at Mahogany in Tagaytay City, an hour drive from Nasugbu. Batulao or Talamitam climb would never be complete without a bulalo reward after the climb. But as for me who is not a fan of beef, Charlie, the IT guy of Busog mountaineers, recommended the Tawilis, small fish found only in Taal Lake, it comes as either grilled or fried and then dipped in soy sauce and calamansi.. i liked it! it was really good.

Tired yet full of good memories as we head back to our respective places in Manila.

 

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