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| Panoramic View of the River |
This is a continuation of our hike in Rizal last September 2015. The initial plan is to trek and have an overnight stay in Mt. Balagbag but due to the guides recommendation we accepted the challenge to try Mt. Maranat. For my Mt Balagbag adventure click here My 2nd Climb : Mt. Balagbag.
We started our descent to the other side of Mt. Balagbag at 1 PM. The challenging part of this climb is the scorching heat of the sun and the long downhill and uphill trek to the campsite of Maranat.
Just to give you a glimpse of where we were heading after Mt Balagbag, Aja!
Mt. Maranat is a complete opposite of Mt. Balagbag. The trail is different from the characteristics of its neighbor mountain and actually not advisable for first-timers. I struggled so much because of the steep and muddy trail, I remember using the bamboo twigs as support going down. I happen to hold on a small patch of bamboo cane with stiff protruding hair-like thing then I immediately remove my hands from the cane thus I went out of balance. I slipped and slide about 2 meters from my original position, good thing Sir Neil and Ma'am Melanie was able to grab my bag. I stood up and saw a cut and nice patch of splinters on my hand, it's so painful that I wanted to cry but I just sucked it up and trekked my way to the campsite.
Halfway through the Maranat trail, we rested and grab a quick snack.
The trail towards the river will take an hour depending on the groups pace. After an approximately 3 and 1/2 hour trek from Mt Balagbag, we made it to Maranat River. The guide then told us that we need to cross the river to get to the campsite. It was almost 5 PM so the guide asked us to hurry because we need to cross the river before the sun set.
Our bags and things were transferred to the other side of the river using the monkey rope bridge and we just walked across the river. We group ourselves into 4, so basically the formation was guide-members of our group-guide. I was on the first batch to cross the river, it was cold and the river flow was so strong. It's kinda scary but that was the most exciting part of the hike. We rested for a couple of minutes while waiting for the other members of the team.
The trail going up the campsite was the hardest since we were already exhausted from the trek and river crossing. After 20 minutes or so, we finally reach the campsite and Tatay Nestor's house where we register before pitching our tents. Tatay Nestor is the accommodating and friendly guide that helps and assists mountaineers in Maranat. As darkness gradually covered the mountain, we pitched our tent and prepared our dinner. We take turns on the available CR. The water was so cold that it eased the pain of my sore body and soul. Haha! I never enjoyed a refreshing bath that much my whole life! Heaven!
We had our dinner and decided to have our socials when the weather didn’t cooperate. It rained! It rained the whole night so we weren't able to sleep soundly. It's freezingly cold and the wind almost knocked our tent twice. About midnight, we were awaken by water gushing through our tent and it soaked almost our belongings.
I prayed so hard asking God to stop the rain and keep all of us safe. When the morning came, the sun shine brightly in our area.
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| Look at the mud around our tent! We also tried to sun dry our clothes. |
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| Breakfast. :) Have you noticed the gasulito? Hahaha Yes we were able to bring that! |
After breakfast, we headed to the falls. Yey! Swimming time!
After an hour of swimming, chit chats and enjoying the cold water of the falls we decided to packed our things and go back. It rained the night before so again we expect the worst also, additional struggle was our things became 2x heavier since most of it are still wet.
The trail going back to the jump off was more challenging, since most of it was covered in mud the difficulty went up by like 10000%.
We headed to the traditional trail which features mini rivers and falls. It was refreshing to soak your sore feet in the water once in a while.
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| Kaya pa girl? |
After an hour, we reached a hut in which we were able to rest and eat some snacks.
We continued for another hour and halfway to the jumpoff we saw the "mini-stop". We grab some refreshments and decided to have our lunch there.
We reached the jump-off at Barangay Balagbag at 2 PM. We rested for a while since we need another 30 minutes walk to the drop-off point where our service was parked. I can’t feel my legs that time. It was so sore dealing with the assaults and steep ascending trails. I prayed that God give me enough strength to walk back to the drop-off point.
It started raining and we hurriedly walked to the drop-off point, about 5 minutes a hauling truck stopped and the driver let us ride. Thanks God! We arrived less than 10 mins, we thanked the driver and hurriedly went inside the van. Luckily, we were already on the van when the rain poured heavily.
Mt Maranat was actually one of the most challenging mountains I have climbed. During the climb, there are times I questioned myself why I had to do this and why I'm doing this. I got countless cuts and bruises. sore muscles and joints and pain were all over my body. Then I realized that yes it was an extremely tiresome journey but it taught me a lot. This climb gave lessons from the mountains that gives me a sense of achievement comparable to none.
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| My FB post that pretty sums up my experience. :) |
SAMPLE ITINERARY
DAY 1 continuation...
1300 Head to Mt. Maranat
1400 Rest, Snack
1500 Rest, Snack
1600 ETA Maranat River
1630 River Crossing
1700 ETA Campsite
1800 Prepare Dinner
1900 Dinner/ Socials
DAY 2
0700 Breakfast
0800 ETD Maranat Falls
0815 ETA Maranat Falls
0930 Swimming/ Free Time
1000 Pack up
1030 ETD Jumpoff
1100 River Crossing
1200 Rest, Snack
1300 Rest, Snack
1400 ETA Jumpoff
1430 ETD Alabang
1700 ETA Alabang
BUDGET
Van Rent - Php 200.00
Registration Fee 1 - Php 20.00
Registration Fee 2 - Php 20.00
Food - Php 200.00
Guide Fee - Php 100.00
Total - Php 540.00
THINGS TO BRING
2L Water
1 Bottle Gatorade
Trail Snacks (Jelly, Chocolate or Nuts)
Toiletries
First Aid Kit
Extra Clothes
Garbage Bag
That's all for now. See you around!
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