at night we might see nothing, but at the top we’ll see the lights and the beauty brought to us by technology
Mt. Maculot's trail will always be special for me since the first time I climbed it. The picturesque view of Taal Volcano is famous specially on the Rockies. I had been to the place for quite some time and my first was a night trek. Because of schedule and our thirst to climb, we decided to climb the said mountain with some friends we met at Mt. Batulao. The Maculot trail can be hiked by first time climbers as it is an easy trail tagged by Pinoy Mountaineers as 2/9. However the grotto trail is harder to climb. The grotto trail is famous to believers during holy week.
Any Lemery bound bus can take you to Cuenca Batangas which is the jump-off town for Mt. Maculot. In our case we chose Jam Liner in Kamuning because of accessibility. (Jam Liner in Buendia is an option) However one must take note of the time the bus leaves because they have limited trips. The fare for a one way trip from Kamuning is P155.00, if you are coming from Buendia it will be P135.00. Once in Cuenca, a tricycle terminal is situated where you just need to ask the driver to drop you off at Manong Manuel’s house which is also called the “Mountaineer’s Store”. From the town, a fare of P20.00 per head will cost you. The driver will automatically dropped you at the Barangay outpost where you need to pay P10.00 per head for the registration. When you plan to traverse Mt. Maculot to Grotto, it is important that you advise either the Barangay or Mang Manuel.
On our case we have two climbers coming from Cavite and because of the misunderstandings they took the Nasugbu bound bus. They were delayed by the traffic in Tagaytay and unfortunately they missed the last trip to Lipa City. Instead of waiting for the first jeepney trip to Lipa, they haggled a fair of P600.00 for a tricycle ride from Nasugbu bus stop to Cuenca town proper.
The start of the trail is easy rolling up until you reach the dried water stream, where few ascents are present. The trail itself is shady and few stop over or rest areas are refreshing because of the vendors offering fresh Buko juice specially on weekends and summers.
This is our second climb for the year so we decided to make it extra special and as requested by our newly found friend, we had a night trek. It took us two hours and thirty minutes to reach the campsite where the famous 7-11 is present. We pitched our tents, and waited for our friends from Cavite who took the Nasugbu bound bus.
The next morning we all woke up late, so we decided to go to the rockies at noon time after we had our lunch then prepared for our traverse down the grotto. Tall cogon grasses greeted us as we started. After almost an hour we started the ascent towards the forest. The trail is slippery and a bit steep which became a challenge for us. Thorny plants which looks like coconut leaves also made our climb a bit more challenging. We reached the peak after an almost two hour trek where mossy trees and fog greeted us. From there on we prepared for a very steep descent which includes two 15-20 meters rappel down. In contrast with the ascent, the descent trail was dry. We reached the grotto just before sunset, on which we just had a glimpse because a mountain is covering it from our sight. After resting we started our descent to town and made the 13 stations our marker on how far are we from the town proper. We reached Maculot View Resort just before nightfall and a store nearby offered us their bathroom for P30.00 per head to freshen up. |
| the first rope down grotto |
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| second rappel down |
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| mossy stones down |
Our energies refilled after we ate at a local restaurant where the famous Batangas Lomi is served. We headed to Lipa Bus Terminal where we catch the last trip to Manila.
ITINERARY:
Day 1
06:00 PM Meet-up Jam Kamuning
06:30 ETD Manila
09:30 ETA Cuenca Batangas
10:00 Tricycle ride, registration, Manong Manuel’s house
10:30 Start Ascent
12:00 MN ETA campsite/pitch tent/dinner
02:00 AM ETA of climbers from Nasugbu
02:15 AM Socials
04:00 AM Lights out
Day 2
10:00 AM Wake up call/prepare food
11:00 Eat Brunch/pack up
12:00 NN Rockies
01:00 PM Back to Campsite/prepare for traverse
03:00 ETA peak
03:30 Start descent
05:30 Grotto
06:00 Maculot Mountain View Resort/freshen up
07:00 Side trip (Batangas Lomi)
09:00 Bus Station bound to Manila
12:00 MN Home Sweet Home
NOTES: If you are planning a traverse climb, take note that a trek pants and long sleeves are helpful. Trail is sometimes not visible but a keen eye would realize the right track. Note also, that even though the descent trail is dry, some stones are slippery. Gloves are helpful specially on parts where you need to grab tightly on ropes and branches.
Remember to always pray for guidance before the climb and a prayer of thanksgiving after for the successful climb.
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