Next Stop: At the Top (Part 1)

 

Hiking is a bit addicting - Part 1

        Hey, guys! As promised, in my previous post, I will now feature the photos of my hiking experiences (from the list below) and I will also give you a gist of what these mountains have to offer.

• Mt. Batulao (done, on my first blog)
• Mt. Talamitam
• Mt. Pamitinan & Mt. Hapunang Banoi
• Mt. Apayang & Mt. Talamitam

        First stop, after Batulao, was Mount Talamitam. My colleagues and I hiked this mountain on February 2017. With a difficulty level of 3 out of 9, this is indeed recommended for beginners. It is also located at Nasugbu, Batangas and its jump-off point is at Sitio Bayabasan, Brgy. Aga, Nasugbu KM 83. The LLA, or latitude, longitude, altitude is 14.1158° N, 120.7577° N with a total height of 630 meters above sea level (MASL). To reach the summit, it will only take you around 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on your pace. And here are some of my photos:

        Then on August 2017, I became a member of the TUCLAS (TaskUs' CLimbers ASsociation) organization, a mountaineering club from my previous employer. My first twin hike with this group was at Mount Pamitinan and Mount Hapunang Banoi located in Brgy. Wawa, Rodriguez, Rizal. Same with Talamitam, the former's difficulty level is 3 out of 9, and will take around 1.5 to 2.5 hours to reach its peak, while the latter is 4 out of 9, and the hours required to reach the summit is 2-3.5 hours. Both of their trails offer rough and almost sharpened stone edges, a reason why wearing of gloves is recommended (though I didn't wear any during my hike). 

        Here are a few photos from Mount Pamitinan. I wasn't able to capture some on Hapunang Banoi because sadly I left my phone inside my bag on the junction where other members of our team stayed. Disclaimer: the pictures below are a bit "buwis-buhay" (a daredevil type of adventure).

        Lastly, for part 1, another twin hike was organized by TUCLAS at Mount Talamitam and Mount Apayang in Batangas a month after (September 2017). Since this is my second hike on Talamitam, I only took photos on Apayang. As compared to Talamitam, Apayang's trail is not barren. There's a part of its forest wherein we should really be quiet so as not to disturb birds and other creatures thriving in it. Apayang's height, by the way, is 662 masl. Here are my snapshots:

        Thanks for reading! Watch out for the second part. 😊