It is only a week long when I planned a second climb, right after my Mt. Pico de Loro close encounter. While Pico was an amazing experience, I descended the trail feeling like there’s something missing because I wasn’t able to reach the summit. The frustration lasted for several days; which prompted me to organize another climb this time with my close college friends. Within a week, I was fortunately able to provide an itinerary for this hike.
Our group is composed of three boys and two girls; with Kuya Randy as our guide. The night before the scheduled climb, we all agreed to check in a cheap hotel so that we can get there as early as possible. The ride going to its jump off is easy. Along Aguinaldo Highway in Cavite, just ride a bus going to Nasugbu and tell the bus conductor to drop you off in Sitio Bayabasan, KM 83. An alternative would be a cutting trip. You may ride from the same highway a bus going to Olivares, Tagaytay then from there; ride a bus or a jeepney going to the jump off. A one-way ride will cost you around 200 pesos or less if you’re coming from Bacoor.
Boasting of its 630 MASL, Mt. Talamitam was named as such because the mountain used to grow talamitam trees. Today, it is a bald mountain but according to some, efforts are already being made to restore its lush vegetation.
My net searches suggests that it normally takes 2-3 hours all the way up the summit; but our group made it in four hours due to the sun’s striking heat which made the whole climb a little harder. This serves as a lesson that it’s better to check the weather first before planning a climb. I believe the best time would still be in summer–in the late afternoon for the ascent and early morning the next day for the descent. The trail is actually easy despite some steep slopes especially near the summit. Be sure to wear your sunblock as the heat will really be a stepback.
As seen above, you will encounter two bridges along the trail. The first is a cemented bridge along the river and second is a bamboo bridge. Real hike starts after you pass the bamboo bridge. Since we are all beginners, we asked our tour guide to lead us to an easier trail.
Along the trail, you will from time to time meet vendors who sell buko juice and ice cream pinipig. We chose the buko juice instead because ice cream is not actually advisable for it contains calories which can even produce more body heat. The buko juice costs around P25.00 and they sell it both in the middle of the trail and in the summit.
I’m thankful that I was given a chance to reach the summit of a mountain. My close encounters with the nature enables me to develop an advocacy for the environment. For the record, I am proud of this group for being responsible hikers for we all made sure that we follow the leave-no-trace principle and we don’t litter in the entire trail. I hope I can climb more mountains in the future only for the sake of appreciation to God’s beautiful work of art!
Our guide, Sir Randy. 🙂
#calabarzoned 