Mt. Batulao (Old - New Trail)

view of Mt. Batulao from a stop over 

“peaks are the mini achievements of ones climb, the more the peak the more you achieve, however, reaching the summit is far better than the mini peaks, it’s the purpose of every climb”

Specs:

Pinoy Mountaineer 

Statistics : Minor Climb (811+ MASL), Difficulty 4/9, Trail class 3 with 60-70 degrees assault

Days Required: 1-2 days, possible day hike

Mt. Batulao is one of the favorite climb destination of most Manila based climbers, aside from its accessibility from the Metro it offers a lot of adventures and lessons. Situated just outside Tagaytay. Mt. Batulao is famous for having two trails and lots of peaks. A friend of mine always tells me “ito ba yung bundok na may peak, tapos peak na naman tapos walang hanggang peak?”(is this the mountain with a peak, then a peak and never ending peak?) whenever I asked her to hike Mt. Batulao.

Starting 2012 was a little hard for our group, it is a lot harder to gather our regular climbers, however with passion and drive, few are still up in search of ecstasy the mountains are giving us, and Mt. Batulao was just the right mountain to pump up a climbing year. As a living proof, let me just share that it was the best sunrise to start a climb year.

view of sunrise from Camp 7

Mt. Batulao aside from its famous peaks and accessibility also offers an easy to medium trail. Like any commercial mountains there are few stores along the trail and there are even soda being sold along the trail. Inexpensive as they say, a climb to Mt. Batulao requires you to pay along the trail. Registration at Evercrest entrance is free, however a P20.00 fee is collected when you choose to pass through the old trail and a P30.00 on the new trail (P20.00 if not camping). The fare from Pasay is budget friendly for anyone who wants to climb and a walk from Evercrest to Jump off is a good warm up which will save you P50.00 for a tricycle ride. Plenty of campsites to choose from but during weekends, there are lots of climbers, so its better to be early to find a good spot.

a statue od the Blessed Mary is present at Batulao's peak

camp 7

soda sold at P30.00/bottle

assault to the peak from camp 7

Mt. Batulao, is a good mountain to start a year of climb and meet new friends. After tidying up at the tricycle terminal, which costs P15.00, Bulalo at Tagaytay market refilled our drained energy.

NOTES:

During rainy season, one might need to cross a river through the old trail. During the dry season Mt. Batulao’s trail can be so hot and shades on few camps are not present, protection from the sun will help a lot.  Possible day hike destination.

ITINERARY

Day 1

06:00 AM            Meet up at Pasay Bus station

06:30                   ETD bus bound to Nasugbu

09:00                   ETA Evercrest golf course/Register

10:00                   Start Trek

12:00 NN            ETA Camp 2/register/rest/refill water/lunch

02:00 PM            ETA camp 7/set camp/rest

05:00                   Prepare Dinner/Dinner

07:00                   Socials

Day 2

06:00 AM            Wake up call/Sunrise

06:30                    Prepare Breakfast/Break camp

08:00                    Ascent Peak

08:30                    Peak

09:30                    Prepare for descent

11:00                    ETA New trail camp

01:00 PM             ETA fork to new and old trail

02:30                    ETA jump off/rest

03:00                   Tidy up/Side trip to Tagaytay

My Review:

a 70 degrees assault to peak from camp 7

trail view from new trail

Aside from the 60-70 degrees assault, Mt. Batulao is a very easy mountain to hike. First timer can hike the said mountain. Water source is scarce but one can ask the one collecting fee on both trail for sometimes they sell clean water.