The original plan was Mt. Pundaquit - Anawangin traverse and a side trip to Pundaquit falls but since its summer the trail and falls were dry as hell. Also, we were an hour behind schedule so we just did a quickie hike to, as the locals call it, Mt. Dionisio. It seems to me though that the so called mountain is a part of Mt. Pundaquit. 

If you'll ask me, its more of  a hill than of a mountain but it's high enough to see most of Barangay Pundaquit. What made this hike exciting was the fact that there wasn't a real trail or path to follow. Just go up and onward, don't trip, don't fall.  We came across fallen trees, rocks and dried bushes. Be extra careful with the dried grasses, particularly the piled ones. They may look safe and fluffy but sometimes there are holes and huge rocks hiding underneath. Trust me.  I fell once or twice into a knee-deep hole, lost my balance, threw myself to another pile of dried grass for safety just to realize that its a huge sharp rock. Tadah! Instant bruises!

Anyhooow, like any other mountains, this hill has its own charm, too. Although our guides didn't take us to the summit,  the view from where we reached was just as picturesque. The view was a splash of color. Brown from the rocks and clay, blue from the sky and sea, and a mix of orange and greens from the grasses. Also, we hiked during the golden hour which added a nice warm tone to the view.

Cute little ridge, thought that perhaps this is the younger brother of Tarak Ridge in Mariveles, Bataan. I haven't been there but based on the pictures they somehow resemble each other. Or maybe not? :p

Unleashing the path finders in us, us girls trailed away from the boys as they obediently followed our guides. The others still in sight, we wandered off and looked for higher grounds. We're already by the cliff and piles of dried grasses got trickier and trickier by each step, we found this... 

...this lovely Batanes-like scenery. We were all awestruck. Lovely, just lovely. We took turns in taking pictures, relaxed by the cliff, waving to the boatmen and tourists from time to time. Haha. I bet they felt how triumphant we were.

Sunburn? What sunburn?  We couldn't care less. This was priceless. To be honest. I thought I've seen everything that Pundaquit and the coves can offer . Apparently, I haven't. As much as we want to stay a bit longer, our skins were already starting to hurt as well as our stomachs. They're screaming lunch! So we descended.

With a few beers for the boys, endless pusoy dos and some power naps for the girls , we got by until sunset. Living in a coastal town, sunset is something very familiar to us but it seems that we will never grew old of watching it. As for me, it has a soothing and comforting effect. Sooooo, that's just about it. From the humble morning hike to worth-the-wait sunset. Until next time. Hasta la próxima! 

(Thank you cousin Jenny for my awesome solo pictures and to Aunt Emy for our group pictures.)

A month after our Maculot hike, we found ourselves at the foot of Mt. Romelo located in the depths of Siniloan, Laguna to chase some waterfalls. Mt. Romelo is the home to seven waterfalls. However, due to time constraints we aimed only for two waterfalls: Buruwisan falls and Lanzones falls. 

It has a refreshing contrast to the warm beachy climate we have at our hometown. Gloomy weather, cool breeze, and afternoon drizzles. Somehow reminded me of our fieldwork days in Mt. Makiling and Mt. Cristobal. All those morning hikes, data gatherings and rewarding waterfall jumps. Ahh, nostalgic.

Compared to the mountains that I have dared to conquer, Mt. Romelo thus far has the most confusing trail. There’s just so many diverging paths. Really, the mountain is like a buffet of forks. Ha-ha. Confusing, yes, but advantageous as well. Forks and or alternative trails can be  efficient trail traffic minimizers and time savers. If you know what I mean.  i.e  When we went, more or less a hundred high school students were also off to the falls that day, so as to avoid traffic, we used an alternative trail.

I'm not sure, though, which trail is easier and and or shorter,theirs or ours. Kuya Paul, our climb coordinator, said that we had a good pacing. Could it be that we took a shortcut? I didn't thought of asking our guide. Or perhaps we were just that excited? Ha-ha.

The trail, in general, is muddy beyond belief. If you've read other entries or heard rants about Mt. Romelo being extremely muddy, believe them, they're not exaggerating. I was fascinated how the mud easily built up on my soles. A few steps and  it already felt like I'm on heels. My companions had to stop once in a while and scrape the mud off their soles but personally I could use some additional weight  so I left my soles as muddy as they are.  The mud would eventually come off on their own anyway when it gets too thick. Also, donkeys serve as porters here so just a friendly reminder, watch your steps. Some poops might be camouflaging on the mud. Haha. I didn't know donkeys to be good hikers.

We assumed that the other hikers would root for Buruwisan falls first so we opted to visit its humble neighbor first, Lanzones falls. Its a small waterfall in a corner of a stone wall. This two-storey high waterfall has a small and shallow catch basin. We had the falls to ourselves. It's like having your own personalized waterfall pool. We had our early lunch here as we watched the falls and allowed the gushing waters so soothe our ears.

Next up is the main event --- Buruwisan Falls. Surprisingly, there weren't anyone there but us. We took our time admiring the surroundings and taking pictures. The place is enchanting! We were all in awe and for a moment thought that we're in another realm. Until the others arrived and ruined the silence. They were all shouting and laughing like they own the place and they looked drunk. Good thing they didn't stayed for long. He-he.

The summit wasn't originally part of our itinerary but since we're still way ahead of it, we decided to go for the summit. It doesn't look as elevated as a summit should and there wasn't much to see but overlooking such a lush vegetation was refreshing to the eyes.

Once again, kudos to the Barefoot Travels team for making this day hike possible. This was Kate and I’s second time to join their day hike and also the second time to be in their pioneer team. As expected, another awesome experience with them. I’m looking forward for more awesome trips with Barefoot Travels. Hopefully, next time will be a camping trip. He-he. 

P.S Try the buko ice candy in the mountain store and the halo-halo  by the registration office, they're soo good. Credits to Ms. My and Aisha for the group photos. :)


 xxx

Instead of celebrating my birthday the usual way, I decided to do something worthwhile. I've been in love with the beach ever since I can remember and it's about time that I return the favor. With the help of LGU San Narciso, I was able to participate in the International Coastal Cleanup last September 2014 and I'm very pleased to say that Zambales had the most number of volunteers for ICC 2104. Kudos to all the organizers and volunteers!

Here are a few snapshots of the event, taken by yours truly. 

To know more about ICC and how you can volunteer, click the link below.

International Coastal Cleanup Philippines

Hope to see you all soon in this years ICC. :)