Mt. Tagapo Dayhike

December 2012 - Mt. Tagapo, Talim Island, Rizal

We started our commute at 6 am from Shaw Blvd. and it took 2 hours for us to reach Binangonan, Rizal. At the port, we waited another 30 minutes for the boat to sail on the way to Brgy. Janosa of Talim island. It was an hour ride to the island. The day started with a sunny weather and we were so optimistic to trek.

Talim Island!

After registering as "Team Mang" hehe, we started trekking at almost 10 am with our guide, Armen, Kuya Archie's son, the ninja kid, as we call him.

Ninja kid

The trail started with rocks, rocks and more rocks!  Upon reaching the mango tree, we rested for a while and took pictures. As we resumed our trek, dark clouds suddenly covered the sky and it drizzled. We were praying for the rain to stop but it rained harder! Pfffffffft!

Slippery trail

The trail got wet then muddy and slippery as it got harder to climb *sigh* Thanks to some hikers we met along the way who helped us to climb uphill using bamboo poles and the aid of talahib. Hahahay! Finally, we reached the campsite! Exhausted, we had our early lunch because we were so hungry already and then we rested for a while.

Hello muddy feet!

We stayed at the campsite for a few minutes to do photo ops and made the assault to the peak after we gained enough confidence to trek the slippery trail, LOL!

The company l-r: Daine, me and Dan

At the peak, it suddenly rained.. HARD.. very HARD. It was foggy and the wind was so strong, almost scary. There was zero visibility and we just waited for the the rain to calm down a bit and got the chance to descent.

Foggy view at the summit

As it rained harder we found some taro leaves along the way and made it as our payong, for me I used it as bag cover. Ooops, I did not bring any waterproofing. At least I learned my lesson today, lol.

Taro Leaf as a bag cover

We made it back to the jump-off at around 3:30 pm. After cleaning up, we took the ferry back to Binangonan Port and had our dinner there before taking a ride back to Manila.