First-time camping, my brand-new tent, and Batulosong’s breathtaking views made for an unforgettable adventure. Curious how it all went? Read my blog!

Disclaimer: All views expressed on this blog are my own based on my own experiences and do not represent of any entity with which I have been, are now or will be affiliated

October 17, 2022
Lipa, Batangas

Date of Camp – October 15-16
Mt. Batolusong

Even though I’ve done a lot of mountain hiking, I’ve never been camping in the mountains. My friends and I decided to do a practice ascent of Mt. Batolusong before my big hike of the year.

Mt. Batolusong or Mapatag Plateau is located in Tanay, Rizal, part of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. It is 2 hours away from Manila. It’s proximity to Manila makes it a go to mountain of most hikers, especially it can only be hiked in 3-4 hours in a day.

Budget

My friend from Jessiclimb, Jes, organized this trip for 1920PHP inclusive of food and transportation. She’s my go to organizer when it comes to mountains.

Day 1 October 15 (Sat)

The rendezvous time was changed because Jes awoke later than expected. I met the group in Greenfield Mandaluyong at 10 a.m. Manila time, and we drove to Tanay, Rizal. I fell asleep on the way, so when I awoke, we were already at the jump off point at Brgy. San Andres. Jes registered our group first, then met with two guides and a porter who will carry our stuff. I didn’t use the porter since I wanted to see how heavy my bag was on the ascent. I strongly advise arriving early for lunch because there are no close restaurants or eateries, and to bring cash because there are no ATMs.

Following registration, we proceeded to the ascent; I was carrying a 34L bag containing simply my tent and sleeping bags, which I had recently purchased. My bag was already packed for one night, and I needed more items for our three nights camping in Mt. Apo.

The ascent was difficult but manageable; if we truly needed to train, we should definitely climb this peak twice. We arrived at the campsite at 5:30 p.m. and observed the sunset, which was breathtaking. Of course, I was overjoyed and thoroughly loved setting up my tent.

We had dinner in a camp which was a great experience, we had sinigang (pork soup) a good food for a windy weather.
I opted to sleep early in preparation for the morning trek the next day at the peak, and because my hip was really hurting, I had to move my legs to alleviate the discomfort. The entire night was really windy, and I was terrified since I could hear and feel the tremendous wind blowing and my tent flapping. I am a heavy sleeper, so I rarely wake up to a noise, so that night I knew it was a particularly loud whistling wind and all I needed to do was make sure my tent stayed intact the entire night. Fortunately, my tent was correctly pitched, and there was no moisture inside! I liked my Mongar 2 from Naturehike, so it was a great buy, and the reviews were phenomenal! I highly recommend it.
Day 2 – October 16 (Sunday)

We started our ascent at 7:00 in the morning, and it took us an hour in the cold, windy fog to reach the peak. We used a rappel to get to the top, but there was nothing to see; we missed the sunrise. After 20 minutes of rest and photo-taking, we headed back down to the camp for breakfast. At 10:30 in the morning, we packed up camp and headed down. I was relieved that the descent was not steep or dangerously slick..

We reached the jump off around 3:30pm and had our late lunch in a mall – Ayala Feliz. I tried Katsu Sora one of the food spots in the mall.

Katsu Sora
Price – Php400-700
“Katsu” is an abbreviation for tonkatsu, a breaded and deep-fried Japanese pork cutlet. The word “Sora” means “sky.” The restaurant aims to provide a wide range of premium tonkatsu. They provide an infinite supply of salad, soup, and rice. They also serve four other kinds of pork: Iberico, kurobuta, shimofuri, and sakura. Iberico is a heavily marbled, juicy, and sweet meat. Finely marbled, juicy, and delicious kurobuta with a delicate meat texture. Shimofuri is more marbled, flavorful, and moist than regular pork. Sakura is leaner with some marbling, making it ideal for health-conscious consumers. This pork comes from Canada, where it was subjected to the strictest food hygiene and safety standards in the world. I requested tonkatsu with kurobuta beef. It was marbled and wet. The meat was succulent and tasty. I loved it; it’s not my usual tonkatsu set, but I’ll definitely recommend it to friends if they happen to be around Ayala Feliz lol! I forgot to take shots of my food, so I’ll post one from their website. Click here for the menu.

I never imagined I’d enjoy camping, but it was a lot of fun! I’m not sure if I’d like it after three nights at Mt. Apo with no shower, fuck that! Nonetheless, I am quite thrilled for my major hike and cannot wait to talk about it.

Love,
Maria, sometimes,Niskie