Bicycle Republic: December 2012

I was finally able to climb Mt. Makiling after dreaming about it and pestering my friends to go with me up the mountain. This is my first hike that is higher than 1,000 MASL and I'm so glad I went through with it even if I had to do it alone since my buddies did a climb a week earlier. My brother-in-law lives in Calamba and I was able to commute from his place to UPLB via the jeep terminal in the market near Calamba crossing. What does this have to do with bikes? Well, I also thought about riding my bike from Calamba to the jump off but thought twice since climbing a mountain is strenuous by itself and I would be doing it alone.

I started my hike up the mountain at 7:35 AM and paid 10 pesos at the gate. (Super cheap!) Can you bike up Mt. Makiling? I saw and chatted with mountain bikers up until Agila Base (around midway point of the 1,090 MASL mountain) and the trail going up there would be around 4kms from the jump off point at the UPLB Forestry gate. The trail is a wide dirt road that keeps narrowing down to an almost single track road. There's even a fallen tree trunk just before the Agila Base site. After Agila Base, I don't recommend going up since it's not mountain bike friendly but perfect for hikers.

Hiking up the mountain, there are stores you can get refreshments from like coconut and softdrinks, and you can visit the Flatrocks and the Mudspring but I wasn't able to visit these sites when I went up there. YOU HAVE TO WATCH OUT FOR LEECHES! One bit me and fortunately it wasn't able to get past my socks and I felt it immediately before it got to eat lunch at my expense :P I had a salt shaker in my pocket for exactly this situation and I sprinkled the little guy with salt til it squirmed and i was able to pinch it off with a leaf. This is one of the dangers of the mountain and there's also a plant there that is itchy when you touch it. Like my other hiking trips, I used Pinoymountaineer's entry to guide my trip and you should too :)