Trail: Kweba ng Diyos Ama - Summit - Tatlong Tangke
October 24-28 2008
With the help and permit from DENR-PASU. The UE Mountaineers
Alumni Association Inc. (UEMAAI) conducted a cleanup drive and afterward became
an ocular inspection in Mt. Banahaw, the grandest of the Southern Tagalog
Mountains. This climb made possible thru the effort of Sir Eric Pinlac. Permit
allotted 15-20(?) slots only. Therefore, first come first serve basis.
Day 1 October 25
We assemble at San Pablo Public Market in Laguna. We purchased some
foods and had our breakfast. The chartered jeep took us in Barangay Kinabuhayan, Dolores Quezon. After
an hour ride we reached Brgy. Kinabuhayan then we looked for the Barangay captain
for courtesy call. We presented our permit and gave the list of climbers. We secured
our guide and porter before proceeding to climb.
We started our trek before noon
time. During the trek, ma’am Tenten accidentally slip on rock and caused her
lips bleeding but luckily, she’s fine and continued trekking. We reached cristalino
falls and took our lunch there. Some locals were present at cristalino falls (knowing that Mt. Banahaw
is closed mountain). We had our lunch and rest there. From cristalino falls the
trail was steeper. There are stations along the trail. Some believed it is the
New Jerusalem that’s why they called it Holy or Scared Mountain. After a couple
of hours of trekking we reached kweba ng Diyos Ama then we took a long rest.
We climb the 15-20 foot rock wall.
The trail was more challenging and narrow. The sun was setting down and the darkness
loomed. Moonlight was bright. The moss glow when the lights hit toward it. The
wind blew so hard and the coldness feels like breaking you down. But still, we
keep on pushing. We wanted to push through the campsite (durungawan) but it was
getting too late and we felt so tired. We decided to have an emergency camp and
the others pushed. The campsite can only accommodate only 3 tents (1 Dome &
2 Tadpole). We slept after a quick dinner.
Day 2 - October 26
The next day, we woke up with a smile
and took our early breakfast. Steep assault started the day. Few meters away
from the e-camp, we saw the others. They also took an e-camp. It was funny because
they told us they want push up to camp site (durungawan) but they were only
15 minutes away from our e-camp. Then, we headed toward to durungawan. The mountain
has challenging trail to offer. Finally, we reached the campsite near the
summit. We pitched our tent and cooked for our lunch.
We were cheerfully enjoying the beauty of Mt. Banahaw. The summit offers the great view from below and above. The wide crater of Banahaw is dramatic. We celebrated then.
Day 3 October 27
Third day was a full descent (basagan ng tuhod) via tatlong tangke
trail. There was garbage in kapatagan campsite. Someone or a group of people
made a compost pit for garbage so that others would just put their garbage
there instead of bringing down what they bring up.
We headed to tatlong tangke
falls or batya-batya falls and took
our late lunch there. Before the sun hide, we continued trekking.
Unfortunately, darkness loomed and we move faster despite of not having enough
batteries for headlamp. So we used my emergency light stick. These 6 inches
lights stick can last for about 6 or 12 hours or even 24 hours depending on its
light duration. It helped us to keep on the trail until we reached the jump off
- safely and successful.
It was a great and remarkable climb. The challenging trail,
stunning view, good weather and most of all, the moment we had in Mt. Banahaw.
We had dinner and clean up in Ma’am Abby Tita’s house in San Pablo.
