Apr 17 : We had our morning coffee at 3 AM and started to prepare for the hike. We were advised not to bring our things since most of the trail is assault. We have so much trust to the mountaineering community so we did not hesitated to leave our belongings unattended. At exactly 3:30 AM, with only our headlights, water jugs and valuable items we started our trek to the summit of Mt. Daraitan.
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| See AllTrails for more details. |
It is advisable to hike early in the morning. The breeze of cold air will help you not to get tired easily. The trail to the summit was well established and there were bamboo handrails that help us a lot on pulling ourselves up on steep trails. After an hour, we were greeted by heavy traffic of mountain enthusiast on the ascent to the summit. The trail was a continuous assault but it did not bother us since we had a lot of time to rest. The challenging part was the difficulty in seeing certain parts of the trail. Good thing we had an amazing guide that was very much knowledgeable in navigating the mountain trail. He tells us where to set our foot, where to hold or what to do going up steep trail.
After 2 hours, we arrived at the halfway rest stop and rested for a couple of minutes.
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| First groupie of the day! Good Morning! |
As per our guide, we need 1 more hour to reach the summit. One hour more to feed our hungry stomach! Lol! As we ascent the mountain we were amazed by children about 10-12 years old with baskets selling refreshments.
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| Take 10! :) |
After four hours, we finally reached the summit of Daraitan. Yey!
We then proceed to the rock formations on the summit and still hoped for sea of clouds but instead we were surprised by the sea of CROWD! Although a bit disappointed, we still enjoyed the panoramic view from the summit. The guide then saved us a slot for picture taking because the time was limited to 20-30 minutes only to accommodate all guests.
View from the summit:
While waiting for our turn, I managed to find a spot for my well-deserved selfie!
After a couple of minutes, finally it's our turn to the limestone and rock formation,
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| Pang-malakasang groupie! |
We stayed at the summit to commune with nature and it's not everyday we are blessed with this kind of picturesque view. We spend the next hours just looking at the majestic view of Sierra Madre and Daraitan River.
Being alone in the summit will always be my favorite part of every climb, moment of silence, moment of peace. That genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes my heart happy. :)
We started our descent at around 10 AM. We grab a quick snack along the way on a store near the campsite. Yes! It is possible to stay overnight near the summit though there are only limited spaces to pitch tents.
The weather was nice and the trail was perfect. It took us approximately 1 and 1/2 hour to reach a resting stop.
We then proceed to trek our way to the camping ground. It was an easy descent since the trail was a continuous downhill. After a 2 hour trek we reached the campsite. We rested for a while, had our lunch, tidied up and then prepped our things to go home. We have a lot of unconsumed goods and just decided to give it to our guide.
We trek for almost an hour to reached the Barangay Hall. We thanked our guide and gave him an additional tip for his remarkable service. We said our goodbyes and rode a tricycle to the drop off point to meet our van service.
We trek for almost an hour to reached the Barangay Hall. We thanked our guide and gave him an additional tip for his remarkable service. We said our goodbyes and rode a tricycle to the drop off point to meet our van service.
The climb was extraordinary, we've got to experience the river, the cave and the mountain. If I were to rate this experience it's probably 9/10. I will give it a perfect score if we experience the sea of clouds. :)
ITINERARY
DAY 1
0700 Assembly at Starmall Alabang
0800 ETD Muntinlupa
0945 ETA Tanay Rizal, (Take tricycle to Barangay Hall of Daraitan)
1000 ETA Registration Area
1005 Orientation
1010 Start trek to Camping Ground
1200 ETA Camping Ground
1300 Lunch
1400 Start trek to Tinipak River
1430 ETA Tinipak River
1500 Swimming, Free Time
1600 Caving
1700 Dinner
DAY 2
0300 Breakfast
0330 Start trek up Mt. Daraitan
0530 Halfway rest stop
0630 2nd rest stop
0730 ETA Summit
0800 Photo Ops
0900 Free Time
1000 Start descent to camping ground
1000 Start descent to camping ground
1015 Snack
1145 Rest stop
1400 ETA Campsite
1430 Tidy up and Prepped things
1500 Start trek to Brgy. Daraitan via riverside trail
1545 Back at Barangay Hall
1600 Head back to drop off via tricycle
1800 ETA Muntinlupa
Note: For this trip we rented a van to Tanay Rizal. If you want a detailed itinerary with commute option click here Pinoy Mountaineer.
BUDGET
THINGS TO BRING
2L- 3L 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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