Mt. Gulugod-Baboy
I don’t always join hiking trips, so everytime I get invited to one, I make sure to go with people that I’m sure are fun to be with. It always makes the hike/trek easier. Most of the time though, when my closest friends plan a trip, they leave me with no choice but to go. Just like last weekend when we went hiking in Mt. Gulugod-Baboy in Batangas. I thought it’s just one of those climb I’ll regret going to, but it turned out to be the second best trip I’ve had so far this year (first being the La Union trip last month).
We were supposed to climb Mt. Maculot (also in Batangas), but because there was mountaineer gone missing in the area (whose body has only been found the day after our Gulugod-Baboy climb), I requested Mara to consider other options. I didn’t want to go climbing on the same place where rescuers are still ongoing with their operations. It seems very insensitive. Few days before the climb, the hiking was set to be at Mt. Gulugod-Baboy instead.
Day 1
Mara has never been to the place so she asked a friend to drive and guide us all throughout the trip. (The convenience of having your own transportation when you go out of town.) Mara’s initial research said the trek would take us 2 hours (we overprepared). Apparently, it will only take 30 minutes to 1 hour to go up to the summit. We left Tagaytay for Batangas a little before lunch so Dave, our guide, suggested we’d just climb in the afternoon to catch the sunset up in the mountain.
The jump-off is at Philpan Dive Resort, that’s where we parked and had lunch before heading to the mountains. At 2pm, the sun, which was scorching hot, was the main challenge. The climb could be brisk if you do it early in the morning. Despite the heat, I enjoyed the climb because I didn’t have anything heavy with me, I mean, I was only carrying a small backpack containing a liter of water and some trail food. I felt active most of the hike and everytime I felt tired, I tried to fool myself by thinking that my crush is up there at the peak, waiting for me. Haha! It’s effective. Also, listening to music helped. Everytime we arrive at a pit stop, I refused to sit whatsoever. (Rest if for the weak. There’s no rest for the wicked.) The sun was still up when we arrived at the summit, we just lay down there on the grass and waited for the sun to set.
Climb Gulugod-Baboy because:
We stayed at Philpan for the night, rented a cottage (fan room for P1500 for 4 persons). We’re tired but once we saw some kids swimming in the beach in front of the cottages, we dived in to the chilly water, too. The next morning, after spending some time in the water, we drove to bring something Dave’s friend’s ID that he accidentally left the night before. Also, because Dave told us of his friend’s cottage where its’ nice to just hang. We only wanted a late breakfast, but we had lunch and merienda there. They’re so hospitable, it felt like they didn’t want to let us go. lol
Once in Tagaytay, we dined at Bag of Beans as requested by
moi (I’ve never eaten there) and went back to the city, with lots of
fun stuff stored in my memory. :)
We were supposed to climb Mt. Maculot (also in Batangas), but because there was mountaineer gone missing in the area (whose body has only been found the day after our Gulugod-Baboy climb), I requested Mara to consider other options. I didn’t want to go climbing on the same place where rescuers are still ongoing with their operations. It seems very insensitive. Few days before the climb, the hiking was set to be at Mt. Gulugod-Baboy instead.
Day 1
Mara has never been to the place so she asked a friend to drive and guide us all throughout the trip. (The convenience of having your own transportation when you go out of town.) Mara’s initial research said the trek would take us 2 hours (we overprepared). Apparently, it will only take 30 minutes to 1 hour to go up to the summit. We left Tagaytay for Batangas a little before lunch so Dave, our guide, suggested we’d just climb in the afternoon to catch the sunset up in the mountain.
The jump-off is at Philpan Dive Resort, that’s where we parked and had lunch before heading to the mountains. At 2pm, the sun, which was scorching hot, was the main challenge. The climb could be brisk if you do it early in the morning. Despite the heat, I enjoyed the climb because I didn’t have anything heavy with me, I mean, I was only carrying a small backpack containing a liter of water and some trail food. I felt active most of the hike and everytime I felt tired, I tried to fool myself by thinking that my crush is up there at the peak, waiting for me. Haha! It’s effective. Also, listening to music helped. Everytime we arrive at a pit stop, I refused to sit whatsoever. (Rest if for the weak. There’s no rest for the wicked.) The sun was still up when we arrived at the summit, we just lay down there on the grass and waited for the sun to set.
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| Bulalo! |
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| Tinola! |
Climb Gulugod-Baboy because:
- it’s practically a short climb. For those who aren’t heavy on hiking or for the groups (barkada) who just want a short, fun day-hike, Gulugod-Baboy is perfect. You won’t go all-haggard because the trek is easy.
- you get a great view of the sea while hiking.
- there’s a lot of pit-stops. (Even before starting with the trek, we stopped for Halo-Halo, which only made my tummy heavier.)
- there’s a lot of place to pitch your tent.
- you get 360 degrees view of the surroundings (Batangas Bay and Balayan Bay).
We stayed at Philpan for the night, rented a cottage (fan room for P1500 for 4 persons). We’re tired but once we saw some kids swimming in the beach in front of the cottages, we dived in to the chilly water, too. The next morning, after spending some time in the water, we drove to bring something Dave’s friend’s ID that he accidentally left the night before. Also, because Dave told us of his friend’s cottage where its’ nice to just hang. We only wanted a late breakfast, but we had lunch and merienda there. They’re so hospitable, it felt like they didn’t want to let us go. lol
