I was moved to remember my first major climb at Tarak Ridge while reading the book By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept. I related my experience to what Pilar recalls on her trip about the young working people who were up for a holiday adventure. Like me and my colleagues, these young working folks return on Monday to their desks in the office with the feeling of having challenged nature—and won. We may not be the first climbers of the ridge but the feeling of having made our day pass differently is so gratifying. My colleagues who have become climbing enthusiasts organized the event.
Although there are two persons from our group who have been there, with an assumption that the trip will go well in a smooth direction, I also made some blog research on the shared experiences of climbers. With this short investigation, I found that the ridges are fairly visited by mountaineers and well-planned itineraries for a day climb had been well documented by many bloggers. But, there's no such thing as a perfect trip and the itinerary was merely a guide.
Since it's quite difficult to meet up, most of us decided to go straight from the office to the bus station in Pasay (our office is in Taguig). We left at the office Friday past midnight. Then, we had a snack at Jollibee Pasay, then took the bus (at the back of SOGO Hotel-EDSA Taft Ave.) bound for Mariveles, Bataan.
We waited for a few minutes for the bus to leave. The view of the small windows of SOGO Hotel was quite amusing to watch, a chat with my colleague-friend, and an FB post saying "Off to Tarak" made the waiting time short. The bus left at around 2AM. The bus trip was estimated to take 3 hours. We arrived at Alas-asin, Mariveles, Bataan and headed to the Barangay Hall. Then, we left the barangay hall after having paid and registered.
The Tarak Ridge signboard which is visible along the main road made me wonder what "ridge" is. Anyway, the ridge is coined for the geological form of the mountain (I concluded this with the help of my mobile dictionary!). Since this is my first long climb, I wasn't really paying much attention to our trek timeline. Some folks were already in-charge of those things. With the help of my camera's unintended date watermark, I was able to recall and record how our trek went.
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| 6:04AM - At Kurding’s Place |
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7:04 AM - ⛰ The view of mountains and waterfall (not captured by my camera)
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| 09:05 - A different track? 🚩 When I saw this sight, I couldn't stop thinking about Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken". We didn't take this path, but this must be the way (as if!). |
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| 09:10 - A rest at the Papaya River, hmmm, I wasn't wearing mountain climbing shoes! |
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| The Climbers |
From Papaya River, we took a few more ridge climbs. After a few hours of a slightly difficult trek, our guide went back and declared the ribbon trail guides were gone, the direction was dead end. The heavy rain from a few weeks ago might have resulted in the trail marks' disappearance. The trek became steep making it the hardest part of the trail. The result of all our effort was– nada (no summit). But since we are up for the challenge, this became the best part of the climb. We headed back to Papaya River after having our late lunch. On our way back , we got confused a couple of times. The trail marks are more difficult to locate (or was it an overlook with the confidence of having passed the trail).
To add to the tiredness we had the whole morning, going against the gravity made the descent tough. The day was hot and water refill was necessary. Our thirst was quenched thanks to the Papaya River. Yeah, we drank the water from Papaya River. Everyone seems cool with it. I just silently hoped that at that time no one was peeing just ahead of us (very small possibility, but we'll never know). Anyway, the water was delicious– the taste of real mineral water. On our way back, we met other groups of climbers just starting on their climb ascent.
Everyone was friendly as we exchanged happy greetings. The salutations seem to lighten everyone's tiredness. As we continue our descent, darkness has evaded the mountains. Most of the fellas were prepared with flashlights (but oops not me). We made it past 6PM back at Kurding's, then rested for a few minutes.
At 7PM, we had the unending -silog dinner at the Tapsilogan along the main road in Brgy. Alas-asin. The next bus headed to Manila was at midnight (or was it early morning). So, we went back to the Barangay Hall, took a bath and a nap. I say, the locals were really hospitable, the Filipinos here really were. While waiting for the bus, we went again to the Tapsilogan.
All in all, the trip was restless. On early Sunday morning, I arrived at my boarding house in Taguig and slept the whole day, then woke up just to eat dinner then sleep again. On Monday, we shared our experiences with each other. Our laughter and stories were as loud as if we didn't travel together.
Summary of our epic itinerary - Day Hike09:00 pm – Back at the main road, Brgy. Alas-asin, Mariveles
Budget: Less than 1,000 pesos. Note: I think we ate a few -silogs at the Tapsilogan in Bgy. Alas-asin while waiting for the bus bound Manila. This is fairly included in the budget.
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