Hiking is one of my favorite activity. One of the beginner-friendly mountain I climbed this year is Mt. Batolusong, which is located in Tanay, Rizal. This is my second time. The first one is when we tried the major climb in Bataan a few years ago in college. This year I tried Mt. Batolusong, because it's near from Manila. We traveled a few hours before we arrived at Brgy. San Andres for registration at exactly 5AM.
We had two mountaineers for our group. It's a minor climb but I find it difficult maybe because there a lot of ascending steps at the beginning of the trail. There are also a few ropes that you can hold on to, but the trail is too steep and unfortunately I didn't wear my hiking shoes and go for a sandals instead. (Imagine what I had to go through) I thought the trail was too easy because it's a minor climb and I assumed it's just full of grassland slope but first, you have to endure the steep path going to what they called Duhatan Ridge. There are few knee-deep rivulets and some trail are muddy. We rested before we reached the summit. I saw a source of water spring and I refilled my bottle, washed my face and it was cold, It's so refreshing. when we reached the first summit, there are beautiful rock formations and an amazing sea of clouds! I just fell in love with the scenery. We rested for a while and took pictures and hydrate ourselves before we continued. After an hour, we reached the Mapatag plateau, which is my favorite part of the hike where I can feel the wind in my hair in a vast grassland where the sky is grey and cloudy. We decided to rest in a near cottage and ate some snacks. At exactly 10AM, we reached the summit. I was too tired but deep inside it was fulfilling and the captivating view on the top of the mountain makes me happy even more. I just saw all the trail that we overcome as we went up there. The funny thing is that my friend asked if there's a shortcut or easiest way on how can we descend, because all of us seems too tired. Someone jokingly said: "you can just jump, that's the easiest." But I remembered I'm wearing a sandals and I don't have socks so, I felt so proud that I really survived it. After our hiking trip, we ate lunch at the nearest cottage and rest before we went for a cold swim in Sangab cave. The water is too cold. I would definitely recommend this hike for beginners out there. One of the tips I'd like to share with you as you go for hiking is that: Rule # 1: Wear the right shoes and socks!