Travel Journal 13-003: Mt. Cristobal (Dolores-Tala Traverse)

Finally the most awaited chance to have a major climb has come! It was busy work day when a friend of mine, who's working on Singapore, asked me if I would like to climb Mt. Cristobal upon her visit to the Philippines. I quickly asked her if she would like to make a traverse which I prefer, and she easily agreed. Excitedly, I text, call and PM our friends if they can join us in the said plan even that's two weeks ahead of time. Nobody has an accurate answer except for a friend who declined the invite and indicated that he is getting married, instead he asked me if I can join him at Mt. Batulao that weekend, that I agreed (see Journal 13-001).

The schedule is coming fast, and there are no confirmed attendees yet. Unfortunately, my busy days came. But, what made me more worried is that no guide and transportation deal has been closed yet.

It's only a week before the climb, I'm done with my warm up climb at Mt. Kalisungan (see Journal 13-002), no invites and no deals yet. I'm almost hopeless that the climb won't come into reality. Good thing, a trekking buddy that I'm with from the beginning of my mountaineering life has stated that he will come with the climb. Also, another friend also said that he wanted to join.

The busy days is over but the climb is one day ahead. God is good, all things went okay the night before the climb.Packing my things, I considered the weight so much as I tried to lessen all the burdens worrying that another cramps might attack me.

Morning has come, and I head fast at the meet up point to meet my trekking buddy and his younger brother. And then, we departed for San Pablo where we will meet all others.

At San Pablo, a jeepney driver approached our group saying that he is the driver that we have dealt with to pickup once we got down in Tala on Sunday. He also said that we can hitch with him with a regular fare since he is scheduled to go to Dolores. We decided to market stuffs that we will be needing such as food and drinks, since our balikbayan friend is late along with her elder sister who is a first timer. Then soon, they arrived. We head fast to jumpoff where our guide was waiting.

Upon arriving in the jumpoff, we registered and our guide wasted no time as he lead us to the cemented road. This became a big time warmup for me as the steepness of the road caused me a real challenge. For me, trekking a steep natural trail is lot easier than trekking a steep cemented road. But good thing we reached the Montelibano house in just an hour. We took our lunch, take a short rest before we resumed trekking. The trail now are steeper but more natural. As usual, the happiness of trekking (laughs along the trail) is always present.

The team had already reached the crater when the rain made on dew started to fall. The temperature became colder as we continued to the saddle camp. Within less than half an hour, the saddle camp, and the instinct of setting camp immediately to escape the rain was what we had upon arrival.

The dinner has come after an hour of cooking, so long with the socials. The other group have joined in our socials in our guide's tent since the rain seems to have no plan of stopping. We also approached the other neighboring tent whom have indicated an intention of joining our traverse for the next day.

Time to sleep and the rain still fall as long as the cold breeze of wind. Because of this, moist and flowing water under the tent have penetrated our shelter making us unable to sleep well.

Finally, the rain have stopped, but it is almost time for the wake up call. I stretched up and took my camera to take some pictures while I wait for the other teammates to wake up. Soon, they all got up and made our breakfast ready. We took it fast and fixed our stuff ready for traverse.

The sun is up, but the trees of Mt. Cristobal are too dense to be penetrated by it rays. With the other group, we headed to the summit and meet the view that Devils' mountain boast. It is another miracle, I could say as clearing are just like gifts that are given to us despite of a never ending rain the night before (Well, maybe it is already given since it is a rainforest).

After the picture taking, we started the descend on a continuous steep trail. The trails are dangerous as the slipperiness of it is another factor aside from it's steepness. Fortunately, the group managed to descend without any major incidences nor any injuries.

As we reached the jumpoff, the CR has no water available, giving us a challenge of washing up. The jeep came as we had managed to wash up somehow. Then, we rode the jeep that dropped us at San Pablo City, where we took our meal before heading home.

See Photos in Facebook.

BUDGET CHECK(as of February 2013)

*Fare:
-Transportation from Cubao to San Pablo: Not sure bout the price yet approx Php 150
-Transportation from and to San Pablo can be arranged by dealing with a jeep. ( We took Mang Lucio-09993903350 as our ride from Tala, Rizal to San Pablo as we are fortunate to hitch on his trip to Sitio Langkaan, Sta. Lucia, Dolores for a normal fare rate). No public transportation available from Dolores to Sta. Lucia and Tala, Rizal to San Pablo; This can be shared by group. Php 2500 for a group, meaning Php 200-400 for two way depending on the number of pax.

*Meal: as usual, this can be shared by group for around Php 100-200

*Guide: You may opt to guide, but the trail here are already established and easy to navigate, except to the later part of Tala, Rizal where there are some forks. (We took Christian-Lito's son as our guide. Contact of Christian-09104846315 and Mang Lito-09214647618). Php 1500 for a group, meaning Php 150-200

*Registration: Php 20.00

Total: Php 970.00