TREKKING IN MT. DAGULDOL, SAN JUAN BATANGAS

People who are too lazy and don’t want to get sweaty… wouldn’t think that mountain trekking is fun.

 

This is my first time to trek and it is all because of my PE 2-Orienteering. For your information, it’s the same with camping. To the UP students, for those of you who still lack PE I would recommend you to take Camping or Orienteering as your PE! It’s really fun!

We stayed at Alta Mira Resort, San Juan, Batangas. Getting there took 4 hours from Manila, then 15 minutes jeepney ride to get to Alta Mira Resort.

The place is really nice and ecologically friendly. The view from the resort is a rocky, yet beautiful beach!

Laiya beach

Before trekking in Mt. Daguldol, we had our lunch at the karinderya beside the resort. You could choose from their assortment of different dishes, all of which are worth 60 pesos.

Karinderya

After eating lunch, we prepared for our mountain hike. We are required to wear rubber shoes because the mountain is really steep, and the counselors didn’t want us to get wounds or to get hurt. Also, wearing jeans should be avoided; we need comfortable bottoms to get through the path. Bringing a small bag is also recommended for our valuables and bottled water.

And then… the adventure starts!

Mt. Daguldol

My buddy and I

 Mt. Daguldol is an ecological friendly mountain. You wouldn’t see any garbage. You would see some goats that live there, and also the water flowing in the mountain is really crystal clear!

Mt. Daguldol

 And then we reached station 1!

Station 1

We were 10 in the group and we were complete when we reached this station,

But as we reached station 2…

Station 2- with our counselor, Mr. Romeo Lee

There were only 7 of us left! That was how hard and tiring trekking was! It will really make you lose weight!

There are 3 stations to the summit. Going to stations 1-3 is really steep, we had time to rest for as long as we want to in any place and start trekking again.

As we reached station 3, there is a stand that sells halo-halo for 25 pesos and fresh buko! These are really helpful for campers and mountaineers to have some refreshment before continuing to the summit.

halo-halo for P25

fresh buko

These people living in the Mt. Daguldol were really nice, and those people who climb up and down the mountain everyday from their work, greeted us with a smile.

We also saw a group of campers who would stay overnight at the summit. So if you want to experience camping at the top of the mountain, you can do so! I’m sure it would be really exciting.

We have finished our refreshments,

But... our laziness finally caught up to us…

Our 3 counselors, my buddy and I got too lazy to continue our journey to the summit because we had too much talk and rest in station 3, so we just decided to go down the mountain for 40 minutes. Yeah, I didn’t reach the summit. But if I were you… continue the journey to have some pancakes near station 3. And you better prepare for another 2 hours of trekking to reach the summit!

After a long journey going down the mountain, we had some delicious Lomi at the karinderya with our counselors! Their Lomi is really good and really tasty. You should try it when you get there.

Experience the beautiful view, the clouds and the very cool air!

Summit
Credits to Vince Rosete

The view on top of Mt. Daguldol
Credits to Vince Rosete

This is the view from the summit! The fogs you see are the clouds! I heard the summit is really nice as you could see in the pictures. My groupmates stayed here for 30 minutes. When I saw these pictures, I really envied them.

I admit that when I heard the word “trek”, I felt like I wouldn’t find it fun at all. But, when I tried it, it turned out to be an adventure that I won’t ever forget. An adventure that taught me to try new things that I think I will never do at all. An adventure that also taught me how fun trekking is! Even though I didn’t reach the summit, I could still try to reach it again next time.

Bonus.

The fun isn’t over yet, we had our tents prepared at the resort.

Alta Mira Resort

As day 1 passed, day 2 was also full of activities… you could go jetty jumping, snorkeling and kayaking at the beach just right in front of the resort! Never miss all the activities and the first times that you could have in San Juan Batangas!

By: Jasmine Habulan