I love Tarak Ridges

January 31, 2012 December 18, 2012 Mc Pol

Taking advantage of the long the weekend, that’s how MIT-MC roll whenever there’s an opportunity to climb a mountain. This time we climb Tarak, Ridges or Mt. Mariveles, Bataan. The mountain is now at the top of my favorite-mountains-list. See for yourself why.

So from the recent long weekend, because of the Chinise New Year, we visited and seen the beauty of Tarak Ridges in Mariveles, Bataan. We immediately took the opportunity to climb this mountain during the vacation because we’re all busy and bombarded by school works.

Day 0: 10PM, we were at the Genesis terminal in Cubao. Too early for the first trip to Mariveles, Bataan because the bus’ 1st trip is 1AM. haha! Good thing I’m with my friends so I spend 3hrs talking to them, tapos kunting idlip din.

Day 1: 1:30AM, the bus arrived at the terminal. After 2 hours we reached Mariveles, Bataan and got off the bus in front of Mt. View Village. We stopped at our friend’s house, drink coffee, took breakfast and before the sun rise we prep up for the trek. Before we start the trek we registered our group at the Alas-asin barangay hall, it is 10 mins from the village by riding “air continuation bus”. The registration fee is 45PHP.

GOODLUCK POSE in front of the Tarak signage.

7:30AM, we started the trek. After some minutes of trekking you’ll see the DENR house/office, register your group again. The trail is dry and the weather is good so we enjoyed the trail. There are logs blocking the trail that made it more challenging but not hard though. Lunchtime, we reached the Papaya river. Students are there (field trip ata) and other group of mountaineers so we hadn’t had a good spot where we can sit, rest and have our lunch. Since, we hadn’t comply to the requirement which is to bring packed lunch, we have to cook lunch which ate a lot of time. The water is very cold and clear so we used it as drinking water. After we had our lunch we took advantage to take photos in the river while they are sleeping.

Parang maisan lang. GANDA!

NINJA sa Papaya River!

Trail Marks: Warning (3 stones), Right way (2 stones)

Then we realized that we’re late in the itinerary, so we packed up and prep up for the trek. We started the 2nd half of the trek by crossing the dry riverbeds. Stones are everywhere. Ako naman to nadapa. haha! But after a minute or 2, I started to assault. Steeps are high. The trail is same as in Mt. Maculot and the steepness of it is same as in Mt. Amuyao.

Between 4PM and 5PM, we reached the ridgeline of Tarak Ridge. Buti sa taas ko na nafeel ung paa kong sumakit. haha! Pitch a tent, prepare dinner, socials then rest:) As usual it’s very cold because I didn’t bring a blanket again!

Good Morning!

Day 2: 6AM, we woke up and had our breakfast. Then we explore the ridge line. It was cold but the sun rays is hot so it’ s bitter sweet for me. Since my foot is not in good condition, I hadn’t had the chance to explore more so I just go back to the camp and eat more for breakfast. After that, we packed up and went back to Papaya River for lunch. It was very easy to go down and good thing the pain is gone. After lunch in Papaya River we then took some rest then go down the mountain. Petiks pababa syempre! Try to play Adele songs on background while trekking. It very relaxing. Try running through the trails while going down, mas madali kesa mabagal. When we reached the bottom we signed out in the DENR office then took a bath in a house. 20PHP per person when you’re going to use the shower area, there’s also a comfort room available in the place. After the bathe we had our post climb there then dinner at an eatery right beside the main road of Brgy. Alas-asin.

8PM is the last trip of buses from Mariveles, so we have to drive all the way to Dinalupihan to ride a bus going to Manila. Fortunately, after 15 minutes of waiting the bus (Victory Bus) arrived. After 2 hours we reached Cubao.

These are the photos taken in the river.

The experience in Bataan was great. The trail is good, new to me and challenging. That’s what I like in this mountain. Next time, pitch the tent beside the Papaya River so that exploring the ridge line would be easier because you can just bring your trail food and water in going there, unlike what we did, we stayed at the ridge line, it is also beside the water source which is very good! I’ll be going back to this mountain, definitely! My favorite trail so far:)

Budget: 700

Bus going to Mariveles (Genesis): 284PHP – 200PHP (student)

Bus going back to Cubao (Victory): 162PHP – 122PHP (student)

Tarak Ridges: 1,006 MASL (ridge), 1,130(peak)