Mt. Batolusong | Kay-Ibon Falls

A week after my climb at Mt. Batulao, I joined the climb for Mt. Batolusong organized by GEO Club (Go Explore the Outdoors) last November 22-23. It was a climb for a cause as the group is currently raising funds to help one of their friends who is fighting against cancer.

I've never heard of Mt. Batolusong before so I did a quick research about it. Mt. Batolusong, located in Tanay, Rizal, is one of the best day-hike destinations because of its proximity to Metro Manila. We assembled at Cubao then rode a jeepney going to Cogeo and from there we rode another jeepney straight to the jump-off at Brgy. San Andres where we rested for a while, fixed our things, and did some stretching before trekking. GEO Club also gave us free shirts and paracords.

(C) Robin de Guzman

(C) Jose Mario Victor Mandia

From the Ynares Multi-purpose Hall, we started to trekk to Sangab Cave where we had our lunch and quite a long rest, giving us more than enough time to explore the area and play with the water.

Sangab Cave

This is Migs, having a footspa

We resumed trekking after resting in Sangab Cave. The trail is a bit narrow so we had to stop every now and then to give way to others and to wait for the first batch to pass.

Sir Godo, Migs, and Ginno's back (lol)

The happiest climber of Happy Climbers, Ms. Jiggs.

The trail has really tall grasses which made it hard for us to pass as we had to push the grasses away from our faces. The trek from Sangab Cave to Duhatan Ridge was quite long but it was fun because I'm with Happy Climbers who never runs out of things to say and laugh about (lol). We took a rest when we reached the Duhatan Ridge.

(C) Godofredo Corpin

Duhatan Ridge

It took us another couple of minutes until we reached the campsite. We rested for a while and then pitched our tents and settled down to relax.

Our very lovely "5 Billion Stars Hotel"

It was nearly sunset when we reached the campsite, so after pitching our tents, we enjoyed the very beautiful view from the campsite while waiting for the sunset.

Waiting for the sunset

The Sunset

We stayed in our tents to change our clothes and clean ourselves then got out when dinner was ready. As usual, Sir Godo cooked the dinner. After dinner, we had a drinking session by ourselves then had a couple rounds with GEO during socials. We introduced ourselves one by one, told what we do in our lives, and answered the question "If you were a food, what will you be and why?". I answered "chocolate" because it is sweet and gives you energy and apparently because I can't think of any other food (lol). After the socials with GEO, we went back to our area and finished our session then went to sleep.

I had a really good sleep that night because the floor was very comfortable, I almost felt like sleeping in a bed. We woke up at around 6am and had our breakfast and coffee then after that, we fixed our things and tents then we prepared to trek down and go to Kay-Ibon Falls. But of course, we prayed first before we left the campsite.

While having our breakfast

(C) Miguel Samala

We were supposed to go to the Susong-Dalaga Peak but for some reason we didn't but it's okay. It gave us more time for the falls.

Susong-Dalaga, viewed from the campsite

The trek going down the Kay-Ibon Falls was quite shorter. It was always easier going down than up. It took us at least an hour (or less) until we reached the falls.

On our way to the falls. This is Ms. April, btw.

We had our lunch before we went swimming. As for me, I can't swim so I just played in the shallow part of the falls. We stayed there for quite long so I had the time to wash-up and fixed my stuff then I slept a bit to kill time.

The very awesome teachers of Assumption. Ms. Jiggs, Ms. Maricel, and Ms. April.

We left the falls and started to trek to Marcos Highway where we waited for jeepney going to Antipolo.

We rode another jeep going to Cubao and parted our ways there. As for our group, we stayed in Gateway mall to have some snacks and went home after.

It was a really memorable experience for all of us because we participated in helping someone with her fight against cancer. It made me happy that in our own little ways, we were able to help. It may seem like a small help but GEO made us feel otherwise. It is good to know that there are still people who will appreciate your small efforts. I commend GEO Club for this and how they treat each other as family. I look forward in joining them again, if time will allow. Good job on this GEO, I hope you inspire more people to climb mountains and help others.

#mountaineering #mtbatolusong #travel #philippines #tanayrizal #daniellecuaresma #niellecuaresma