Mt. Tarak Ridge
ISO 100 36mm f/5.6 1/100s
I was invited again by my high school friends to an overnight hike last July 30, 2016.
Car check up before the road trip
Off we go!
We started our journey around 4am and took a stop over besides Coastal Mall (Paranaque, Manila) because we need to pick-up Tadz and Monica.
From left to right
(Michael , Kidlat, Tadz, Kuya Jof, and Ivan)
Took a break for a moment along side of the road of Bacolor, Pampanga.
To Mariveles, Bataan!!
The Jump-Off Point
Breakfast Time!
We had reached the community of Mariveles, Bataan around 6am and fill up our tummies with a warm delicious breakfast on the local Carenderia (local eatery) there, immediately after we get off our ride.
Monica with the gang
Barangay Hall of Alasasin, Mariveles, Bataan
Kidlat putting our names on the log book
We visited the Barangay Hall of Alasasin to log our names there as the usual routine before we start the hike.
On The Spot Meal Planning
Shop on the nearby Palengke (public market) to stock up some veggies and meat....
Kuya Jof with a big plastic bottle of water and Tadz with 3 bottles of.....
Also some drinks as well like water and errr..... Brandy??
We are all packed up
Go! Go! Go!
Trees & Humans
ISO 1600 18mm f/5.6 1/320s
We started the hike with haste, my friends told me that it will be a long hike since Mt. Tarak Ridge was categorized as a major climb mountain.
Tarpaulin display of mountaineering groups who conquered Mt. Tarak Ridge
Aling Cording enjoying her hot coffee with some hikers
A couple of minutes had passed, we had reached Aling Cording's house which also an outpost and we rest there for a while.
And the hike goes on...
Monica and Michael with Filipino actor Christian Vazquez with his group
While we were hiking the trail of Mt. Tarak Ridge we come across with a familiar face and we were all star-struck of course.
View point from a higher ground along the trail of Mt. Tarak Ridge
A bit tired but still need to go on
Since I'm a first timer at Mt. Tarak Ridge (my first major climb also), I asked my friends where we gonna set our camping tents and they told me beside a river called Papaya River.
Papaya River Stream Part 1
ISO 100 29mm f/5.6 1/5s
Papaya River Stream Part 2
ISO 100 18mm f/14 5s
Camping tents are all set
Kuya Jof with Kidlat preparing the ingredients of Chicken Tinola for our lunch
Group picture while waiting for the Chicken Tinola to be cook
Happy Lunch
After 3 hours of hiking from the jump-off point, we had reached the Papaya River. As soon as we got ourselves into the place, we set up our camping tents and prepare the food ingredients for our lunch. All goes well while we were enjoying the stay beside the river until something inevitable happened..... It rained.
Remember those bottles of brandy on the recent photo above?
Heavy rain fallen up on us while staying beside the river. So we ended up to the decision that we spend our night on the Papaya River and continue the climb tomorrow morning instead.
Morning Hike
Good Morning!!
After we woke up in the morning, we pack ourselves lightly to hike once again Mt. Tarak Ridge but this time Kidlat wasn't with us, he stays on our camp instead.
Almost there...
There it is!!
And we are here but we got a long trail to hike
Tadz and Michael doing a "Buwis-Buhay" (Life-Threatening) Shot
ISO 100 20mm f/5.6 1/100s
Monica doing also a "Buwis-Buhay" Shot
ISO 100 55mm f/5.6 1/100s
Yet again we come across with the familiar face we meet along the trail on the top. I take it as a chance to take a photo with him and when we were going to try to hike more up to far summit we are greeted again by Mother Nature's Gift.... rain.
Strong wind with heavy rain on the top
Sadly we didn't continue to climb up to the summit and go back to our camp instead.
Experiencing the waters of Papaya River (yeah that's me with my notable swimming trunks)
Monica enjoying the cold waters of Papaya River
"If Jesus walked on the water, I sat on it." - Kidlat
Lunch after a quick bath on the river
We came back at our camp like a "basang sisiw" (sopping wet). I decided to take a dip on the river even it was freaking cold (cold like water on the fridge) and the others came to join me in also. We ate our brunch (because we didn't eat anything after we woke up when we hike to the top) after we take a bath on the river and packed are things including our garbages as we go back from where we came from. (Always remember that be a responsible human when you want to climb/hike a mountain, don't leave any garbages)
Supposedly I was going to keep on taking photos along our way back to the outpost but then again the rain keeps on falling as we go back. My camera wasn't that tough to endure the rain so I kept it inside in my bag instead to prevent any malfunctions on it. (It was really a good decision because I got 7 strikes in my butt because the trail became slippery)
And that was it... thank you.
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