Mt Daguldol Trek Report

Overdue post. This has been in my drafts folder for quite some time.

Mt. Daguldol Trek Report!!

Whoever said Mt. Daguldol is an easy climb must be nuts. Hehe! Ok, I enjoyed naman the trek. In fairness, it was a good one naman. I lost a conservative 5 pounds in the process and saw some old buddies.

How did the day begin? Early, i have to say. Well, 13 of the 17 trekkers met up at 1:00 AM in MCDO Ortigas where our rented van was waiting for us. We picked up the remaining 4 bunch at Star Toll Way in Batangas.

From there, we started our long journey to San Juan Batangas. I was still in a happy mood and excited at this time. I read about Mt. Daguldol from a couple of blogs in the net and from these sites, I concluded that the trek would be an easy one. Boy, was I so wrong! For me it was 20x more difficult than the Pinatubo trek. Ok exaj, mga 5x more difficult lang! Basta napaka steep kasi. Yun!

We had a smooth ride going to Barrio Hugom, San Juan Batangas at around 6:00 AM. But of course we had to ask some people along the way to make sure we were heading to the right direction. At the guide's HQ, some took an early breakfast, some just had coffee while I, continued sleeping. I was trying to conserve my energy for the long day. After a few minutes, we paid the appropriate fees at the administrative center at Barrio Hugom and took a mandatory guide. The guide at Mt. Daguldol was actually not necessary, in fact we could have managed without him for there was only one trail and if you were just paying attention, you would never lose your way. Anyway, the guide just simply led the way and did nothing more than walk. He was so unlike the guides of Mt. Pinatubo who would really risk their life and limb just to ensure tourist's safety. Kudos to the people of Tarlac. We are really like that, we go out of our way to make people comfortable. We are smart enough to know that. People of Hugom Batangas, booooo! Really!

So at 6:30 am, when everyone was ready, we started our hike. It was awesome to begin our hike along the shorelines of various resorts. Of course, no need to compare the sand to Boracay's or even Bohol’s ‘cause Batangas would surely pale in comparison. Anything that is compared to Boracay and Bohol would surely be in the losing end.

Beach!

Like what I said, maganda naman dito, wag lang ikumpara sa Boracay lol

Ang langit ay nangungusap!

It was supposed to be, as several blogs claim, a minor climb with level one difficulty. But as for me, 1/4 through the trek, I felt I had already reached my quota for exhaustion and fatigue. In my head, I was already thinking that this one would be my last climb ever, as in ever. The comment-- "What have I gotten into?"-- was not at all uncommon. You could hear some people ask whether Mt. Daguldol was really for beginners because it surely didn't look and feel like one. The trail was upward steep.

Di pa steep yan!

May gusto ng umiyak jan. Ako!!! Haha!!

I guess 1/3 thru the trek we found a halo halo stall, it wasn't from the famous Mang Lizardo but owned by one of his neighbors. The halo halo was a welcome break for most of us who were already struggling that early. Someone didn't like the halo halo, well, me too! It was bland, in my opinion. Another booboo! But I bought one anyway. Makiuso at makisabay lang ba!! Hehehe.

The group with a german girl (in orange), forgot the name! Sinong kulang?

Ako pala.

 Halo Halo sa Bundok. You will be amazed sa pagiging negosyante ng pinoy! Biruin mo, bundok na ito pero may nag titinda ng halo halo!!! WOW!

 

After the halo halo break, I thought we were halfway through the climb already, but boy the summit was still very, very, as in very far from there. After that, there were still a lot of stopover and I welcome the opportunity to rest. I admit, I struggled and so as the rest of the 'slow group'. But after 4.5 hours, we finally reached the summit. There we rested for awhile then we ate our packed lunch. The group took pictures and rested for awhile, others slept. We interviewed a german tourist who braved Mt. Daguldol with no one but a pathetic guide!

Then it was time to descend at around 2 PM. The route going down the summit proved to be more challenging to me because the trail was slippery. But thank God nothing bad happened while we were on our way down. We deliberately slowed down while the fast group were going down fast as if chasing the finish line in a marathon. Mali yata ang nasalihan. Dapat sumali sila sa Earth Run, dun may 21 K. Hehe. Talk about ‘team work’ and ‘team spirit’- they didn’t have that, nobody in the ‘fast group’ showed they could actually become a leader. Too bad!

Since our group was the last one to arrive at Brgy. Hugom, we decided to eat dinner without inviting the others who arrived first. Paganti! Hehe! After eating, most of the people decided to swim while I begged off because I was kindda feverish. I just slept.

Although the trek was tiring—and not just in a usual way, happy na rin because of the bonding. Now I can say-- I’ve conquered Mt. Daguldol though I was close to making ‘hagulgol’.

So far, hindi pa nasundan ang trek, either busy or napagod or nawalan lang ng gana. Anyways, good thing is, were already planning for the next. Mt. Maculot or Mt. Batulao seems like a nice option. Pero pag di na umuulan.

PS:

When you are with a German, never ask him/her about Nazi’s or Adolf Hitler. They’d take offense. I had that unfortunate mistake, my bad. Forgive me for my ignorance.