The BACKPACKERS:
Return to the Mountains
(Unang Hirit sa Tag-Ulan)
It has been
seven (7) months since TheBackpackers had their official climb and it was the
induction climb at Mt. Damas last January 2014. From February to July, we have
visited different provinces not to climb but to explore their well-known
beaches. However, we all know that despite those beautiful beaches and relaxing
experiences, we will still go back to our first love and that is the pain of ascending,
the slippery and muddy trails, small crawling inserts, leg breaking descents…in
short, we miss body pains! (Unang Hirit sa Tag-Ulan)
But on a
serious note, we will always go back because of the experiences, the
breath-taking views, the different stories shared, meeting new people and most
importantly, the people within TheBackpackers. This is our home, this is where
it all started and this is where our family will always go back.
For the
month of August, the new set of BP officers had their event at one of the
province of Rizal’s pride, Mt. Daraitan and Quezon province’s Tinipak River. Four
(4) BPs and nine (9) guests participated in this event and they are:
TheBACKPACKERS:
Heinz Lopez
Ivan Ignacio
Liz Honrade
Nickson Garcia
TheGUEST
Officemates:
Jeng Emeriz
Melva Barba
Chi Cruz
Officemates:
Ramon Obmerga
Jima Maret
Climb buddies/Officemates:
Allen Santos
Alner Fernandez
Fraternity brothers
Red Abjar
Daryl
The group (except for me) met in StarMall at around 10:00am and rode an FX bound to Tanay. Upon reaching Tanay (specifically on Tanay Market), the group decided to have their lunch at Chowking and last minute grocery while waiting for yours truly. As soon as I arrived, tricycle drivers came rushing and offered me transportation to Daraitan which I humbly declined.
At Chowking, we met Mr. Willy. He was the head of tour guide association in Brgy. Daraitan and was our contact person in providing us transporation (phone number located below) from Tanay Market to Brgy. Daraitan. He offers rented jeepney from StarMall to Brgy. Daraitan for a price of P6,500.oo or from Tanay Market to Brgy. Daraitan for a price of P3,000.00, we chose the latter. Their jeepney fits around ten (10) to thirteen (13) persons at least and top load is possible.
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| The Guest |
Once completed, the group continued in their journey to Brgy. Daraitan. During the trip, rain suddenly fell which signifies that our climb will be wet and slippery. Obviously, we are on a rainy season therefore we are expecting a rainy climb. But as BP traditions dictates, we should have a montly event (climb) except when there is a possible danger or typhoon/s on the scheduled date of event.
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| Top load |
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| Kuya Willie |
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| River crossing via Balsa |
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| Tricycle ride |
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| Trail map of Mt. Daraitan |
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| Prayer circle |
Located at Brgy. Daraitan in Tanay Rizal, Mt. Daraitan is well-known for its sea-of-clouds and the magnificent Tinipak River (although within the boundary of General Nakar, Quezon province). From the jump-off, we can see clouds forming below the summit of Mt. Daraitan which made us more excited for the sunrise the next day.
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| Clouds forming in the summit of Mt. Daraitan |
The whole climb was an "all assault trail". I think it is similar to the assault trails of Pico De Loro (on my personal experience). Coming in from my four (4) months of climbing absence, I had a hard time ascending the trails of this mountain but I have my mind set that If I conquered one of the toughest mountains in the Philippines than I can conquer this as well. After three (3) hours of climbing, we arrived at the campsite.
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| BP Heinz |
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| BP Liz and Jima |
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| Assault trail |
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| Assault trail |
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| Assault trail |
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| Take 5 |
The social(s) was a little different this time since, the usual heads of social were absent and almost everyone felt uncomfortable having socials in the rain. However, we need to continue with it for us to get to know a little bit about everyone. In the socials, it was found our that almost every set of guest are either officemates or friends. We disclosed some personal details on almost everyone (one guest wasn't able to join the socials). One funny thing that BP admitted was that we thought all through-out the climb that the one who was with us in the sweeper group is named "Melva" (and we've been calling her as such) it turned out that her name was "Jima" which we even thought was a "Visayan accent" of Gemma but it was short for Jimmalyn. Also a truth was discovered by Jeng, who was previously our guest at Minalungao adventure last March 2014, on what really happens in BP social circle. He was surprised to know that the crazy things that happened in Minalungao did not occur at this event.
Our Day 2 started as early as 5:30am. Based on blogs that where previously written, a sea-of-clouds can be seen at the summit. Fog surrounded our campsite that early morning. No one had prepared any breakfast for we were eager to assault right to the summit to experience sea-of-clouds. However, BPs Heinz and Ivan were still sleeping so we went ahead without them.
At the
summit, we were greeted by a view of utterly white background. As guest Jeng said,
it was a perfect white background for a 2x2 ID picture. Even thought the first
group hadn’t seen a view, we managed to keep our summit experience memorable by
throwing some humor and funny stories with each other. It goes to show that a
summit experience can still be achieved even without a great view.
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| Summit pictures of the first batch |
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| Summit picture |
As soon as we arrived back at the campsite, the weather suddenly changed and became sunny. From there, we had our breakfast. BP’s Heinz and Ivan woke up while the rest prepared for our descent.
We were again divided into two (2) groups. The first one started to descend to Tinapak River while BP’s Heinz and Ivan went to the summit to experience the clear view of the summit. Below are their pictures:
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| BP Ivan and Heinz at the summit |
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| BP Heinz at the summit rock |
After over
two (2) hours of descending, the whole group (including BPs Heinz and Ivan) safely
reached the Tinipak River. But before plunging our dirty selves in the river,
we ate our lunch.
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| BPs Heinz, Nick and Liz |
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| Guest Chi |
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| Guest Melva and Jeng |
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Tinipak River
is located within of General Nakar, Quezon Province but before reaching the
main river of Tinipak, one must endure different challenges like ladder
climbing and rocks balancing. Surrounded by limestone, it can be considered similar
Nueva Ecija’s Minalungao (of course it depends on what place you've been first
which will be your comparison). Just like Minalungao, the group enjoyed the
clear waters and the scenery. A little caution should be exercised when crossing
the other side of the river. The water current was strong and a help of a rope
tied in one of the rocks served as aid in crossing the river.
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| Signage of Tinipak |
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| Wooden ladders going to Tinipak River |
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| (Yeah boy) BP Ivan |
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| Hey its Matapang @ Tinipak River |
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| Signature pose of BP Nick |
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| Chi @ the rocks of Tinipak River |
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| BP Heinz |
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| BP Ivan |
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| TINIPAK RIVER! |
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| A scenery to remember |
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| The Guest (L-R) Jeng, Melva, Red, Chi, Daryl, Ramon, Jima, Allen and Alner |
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| The four (4) Backpackers (Nickson, Heinz, Liz and Ivan) |
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| Group shot at Tinipak River |
ACTUAL ITINERARY
Activity
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Time
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DAY1
|
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Meet up at StarMall
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10:00am
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Departure to Tanay Market
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10:30am
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Arrival at Tanay Market
|
12:00pm
|
Lunch/Grocery
|
12:01pm
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Departure to Brgy. Daraitan
|
01:30pm
|
Arrival at Brgy. Hall of Daraitan/ Final
Preparation
|
03:15pm
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Start Trek
|
03:45pm
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Arrival at Camp Site
|
06:45pm
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Dinner/Socials/Lights Off
|
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DAY2
|
|
Wake up
|
06:00am
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Trek to Summit
|
06:15am
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Arrival at Summit/Bonding/Picture taking
|
06:30am
|
Trek back to Camp Site
|
08:01am
|
Arrival to Campsite/Breakfast
|
08:16am
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Breakcamp
|
09:30am
|
Start Trek
to Tinipak River
|
10:00am
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Arrival at Camp Site near Tinipak River
|
12:00pm
|
Lunch
|
12:01pm
|
Swimming at Tinipak River
|
02:30pm
|
Trek back to Brgy. Hall of Daraitan
|
04:00pm
|
Arrival at Brgy. Hall of Daraitan/ Clean up
|
05:00pm
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Departure back to StarMall
|
07:00pm
|
Arrival at StarMall
|
09:00pm
|
HOW TO GET THERE
From Shaw
Boulevard:
At StarMall,
ride an FX bound to Tanay and alight at Tanay Market. Travel time would be an
hour and half (depending on traffic) From Tanay Market, ride either a tricycle
or jeepney bound to Brgy. Daraitan and would also take about an hour and half
(depending on traffic).
Remarks: Usually the transportation from Tanay Market
to Brgy. Daraitan would lead you straight to the Barangay Hall. However, due to
weather constraints (being rainy season), they have removed the bridge
connecting the mainland Tanay to Brgy. Daraitan and uses a “balsa” for small
vehicles (e.g. Tricycle) and residents/tourist to cross the river. After
crossing the river, you may choose either to walk or to ride a tricycle going
to Barangay Hall of Daraitan.
EXPENSES
Activity
|
Expenses
(PhP)
|
Remarks
|
FX ride (StarMall to Tanay Market)
|
70.00
|
|
Rented – Jeepney (Tanay Market to Brgy.
Daraitan)
|
(3,000/
13) = 231.00
|
Back and forth
|
“Balsa” during river crossing
|
5.00
|
|
Tricycle (River to Brgy Hall of Daraitan)
|
10.00
|
|
Tour Guide
|
2,500 (2
guides)/ 13= 192.00
|
One guide is worth P1,250.00 is good for 10
people and once you exceed that number you are compelled to hire another
guide. For dayhike, it would cost P850.00/guide. You may try to bargain for a
lower cost.
|
Tricycle (River to Brgy Hall of Daraitan)
|
10.00
|
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“Balsa” during river crossing
|
5.00
|
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FX ride (Tanay Market to StarMall)
|
70.00
|
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Other expenses (Foods and utensils)*
|
300.00
|
Price depends on your needs.
|
TOTAL
|
893.00
|
OTHER NOTES
1. Mr. Willy number is 09069533470 (globe);
2.
If you have
a contact of a specific guide, it doesn’t mean that he will be the assigned
guide for your climb. The Brgy. Hall is equally distributing the tour guide for
each group of climbers.
3.
There are no
water sources in the summit
4. There are strong cellphone signals for SMART,
SUN and GLOBE at the summit.
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