Balagbag Falls

The FALLS 

  After the failed attempt to go to Balagbag falls last month, its inevitable that we will try to go back. Its a good thing the Nov30 holiday fell on a Friday, this was the perfect time to hit the road again. 


  We left early morning to avoid the traffic, since were passing by Rizal and Laguna. We arrived in Real,Quezon after around 4-5 hours of driving, dropping by Real fish port to buy freshly catch fish for our lunch. The jump-off to the falls is around 2-3Km from the main road. The road is rocky but is situated along the beautiful Real Coastline and with the view of the Pacific ocean. Another 10 minute walk is needed to reach the falls. 

   To describe the place, the water comes down from the mountain. Its a two level cascading water fall, the first one is around 60-70 feet, the second one around 20-30 feet. There is abundance of trees on both sides of the falls that makes the view more mesmerizing.  The water is not that clear but is clean and cold. The first level though the higher of the two, has a very shallow pond. This is because the water is spread wide on the rock before it hits the bottom. The second level is where everyone swims, but only the middle part is deep. So if you want to do a jump from the top of the second level, make sure you fall on this portion, else injury will be everywhere. This is actually what makes this jump scary..... but yet fulfilling. 

   Its actually possible to camp near the jump-off since its beside the ocean and covered with coconut trees. There is a natural breakwater along the shore made of of pile of large stone pebbles. When the waves hit this area you can hear the sound of water and rocks rolling back and port. Very relaxing. Though we were tempted  to camp in this area, we just checked-in in a resort. Its my first time to go to Real and we could explore better if we are in a better lodging. 

Real Fish Port

An Eel and a Stingray (isn't this illegal)

The coastline to the falls

Our lunch

"Inner Peace..."

"Inner Peace"  II

Cliff Jump (whew!)

REAL, QUEZON

   The place is situated between mountains and ocean,  reminds me of my hometown when I was still small. Very slow pace lifestyle. Minimal vehicles on the road. Children playing as if the world is they playground. We were even able to make a room reservation without a down payment and there is no definite time for checkout! When you drive at night, its just like you own the road. We tried checking the city proper and life is still simple, locals own the establishments and the tricycle driver are courteous.


   Going back home we decided to go a different way. Its the Laguna-Batangas route. Its nice actually to be able to see the whole other side of Laguna lake. 

Sunrise

So Relaxing

Mt. Irid

   Saturday July 21, 10:00am. I should be doing a dayhike today. But due to severe moonsoon rains here in Manila, (raining for 3 days now) we had to cancel our plans. But as they say, a person always find something to do, so here I am writing a long overdue blog on my hike to Mt. Irid. 
   I am not really fan of 'birthday climbs', I believe that celebrations should be left in the city were the hust and bust of our daily lives resides. Mountains are for places were you want to relax, be with nature. Where we can forget our day to day grinds for a while..... But when a friend invited me, its an invitation I can't refuse. Another plus was  friend (whos is climbing hiatus) was also going.


   Mt. Irid is located in the boundaries of Rizal province. We traveled going to Sta. Inez,Rizal  on a rented jeep very early morning, this includes passing by several rivers and bumpy roads. I think the travel time up  to the jump-off takes around 2 hours (from Cubao). From the jump-off its a flat trek up to the base of the mountain.
 If I counted correctly, we passed by seven rivers. The rivers was not that high though that I managed not to get my feet wet. I recall we made a turn on the 6th river crossing to get to a waterfall. To my surprise the water fall was very pristine. We took a dip before continuing our hike. 
   We reach the mountain basecamp almost mid afternoon. The celebrant cooked the planned birthday feast. We had our sumptous dinner a few drinks then went to bed. 
   The next day was the summit assault. We just brought our assault bag and some rations. As expected the trail and the mountain itself is very pristine. Proof was the trail, can be hardly seen and if your not that experienced, a hiker can easily get lost. There are lots of rocks that look like walls where trees had grown. There were also part that trails ends, and you need to find the connecting part. A hiker sometimes needs to enter cracks on the walls/rocks. The summit was sort of  diffrent. It has large clearing with large chunks of stones. Other mountains can be seen in the area, since I think Mt. Irid is already located on the boundary of the Sierra Madre Mountain range. 
   I really enjoyed this climb, met some long lost (into hiking) friends. Though it rained when we went down, and had a bit of flash flooding (considering there were seven river crossings). My first birthday climb turned out okay. 

The Trail

River Crossing

Mt. Irid

Kinabuan Falls

Leech (take note its not Limatik)

Birthday Feast! (photo c/o MikeB)

Tukdan Banoi view from BaseCamp, and Yes its climbable

A bird on the way to the summit

Giant Pitcher Plants

Summit!

Mountains in the surrounding

Height in MASL c/o Ritchie 

FlashFlood

P.S. Barry, This is my last  backlog entry. I plan to create the Ugu climb next. :D

Mt. Guiting-Guiting (Side Trips)

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After a very challenging yet enjoyable climb, we badly needed some relaxation. So to put additional good use for the time and effort we spent going here, We planned to do a side trip in Carabao island. Carabao island is a part of the Romblon group of islands. Our initial plan is to travel via land and sea going to carabao island. But according to the locals here in sibuyan, it is also possible to do it with just one boatride. It's supposed to be faster and more convenient with the only drawback is that the only boat available is a fishing and not a passenger boat. To make it short, we hire a boat and scheduled a trip very early next morning.
We were scheduled to leave Sibuyan at exactly 7:00am (April 09), with another group that we met here in G2 that is going to Boracay. But due to the other groups undecisiveness(long story to tell), we left one and a half hour late. Being a fishing boat it doesnt have any life vest and we were all cramped to the small space alloted for the boats crew and their fish hauls, adding to the uncomfort is that the trip takes about 5-6 hours. We saw some dolphins and lots of flying fish along the way temporarily cleansing our boredom. Our boat even encountered engine problems with about thirty minutes away from the shore, worst we broke down on a place that is known to be the local version of the "bermuda triangle". I really practiced my prayers here.
Arriving in Carabao island, we were greeted by one my companion's relatives, who are also our host. We set camp at their backyard, this is our home for the next two days. So what did we do on our two days of stay here? Plenty. Ate native chicken dishes and goat meat, drank "Tuba" and buko juice fresh from the cocounut tree, played the local version of pool, ate fresh fish newly netted by fishermen, bum around and of course enjoyed the islands beautiful beaches.
BTW, I guess your now wondering how the island gotten its name. Well according to the locals, during the mid 1900's there were lots of wild carabaos here. A lot, that a trail was created on one of the islands rivers due the carabaos habit of drinking there every afternoon. During those days, the supply of Carabaos on the Visayan region are mostly coming from this place. But during my stay here there is no trace of the islands former carabao glory albeit I saw two domesticated carabaos with cows outnumbering them.
Lazy afternoon








We left the island on Saturday (April 11). Our route was to go by Caticlan then take the RORO (roll-on, roll-off) transportation going back to Manila. But since Caticlan is very much near Boracay (that we even passed by it coming carabao island) half of the group decided to spend an extra night on the island. I guess sometime things doesn't go the way you planned it, at least for the better. =)

Strong man (a passengers baggage)
Club Panoli

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