A Beginner's Experience of Mt. 387

View at the summit of Mt. 387, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija

To (sort of) celebrate my 25th birthday, I went on a joiners tour to climb Mt. 387, or Mt. Batong-Amat, in Brgy. Puncan, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija last October 28. As this was my first ever mountain hike, I had a lot of questions in mind -- How difficult would it be? Would I be able to go back in one piece? What should I expect? I even made a research about some basic mountaineering terms before I decided to go.

Road trip groufie

Pre-hike orientation

The road trip to Nueva Ecija was quite long. We left Batangas at 9:20 PM of October 27 and had some videoke session (YES! The van has one!) on the way to Metro Manila where we'd pick up some joiners. We reached the jump-off point in Brgy. Puncan at around 4:00 AM the next day.

Before starting the traverse, we had breakfast at the store at the jump-off point then we proceeded with the pre-hike orientation. We were told of the brief history of why the mountain is called Mt. 387 or Mt. Batong-Amat. Apparently, Batong-Amat is the name of the rocks at the summit. The mountain, covering 387.9 hectares of land, is protected by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. At certain times of the year, hikers can bring with them tree seedlings to plant on their way to the summit, but since we went at a time when the lands are quite dry, we were only encouraged to bring water bottles to water the little trees on the way.

Halfway there!

The traverse to the top was quite challenging. My friend said it's only 2/9 difficulty, but I felt like it was more than that. (It's my first time so I have nothing to compare it with.) I had a lot of stops before I reach the summit, and I even had to make use of a makeshift cane to have extra support while hiking.

It was still dark when we started trekking. Halfway to the summit, we already saw the view that Mt. 387 was known for. We saw wide rice fields and several other mountains in Carranglan. At the summit, the view was even more breathtaking because we saw Nueva Ecija's Chocolate Hills. We had a small picture-taking session there as we were traveling with three photography enthusiasts.

Stopped for a rest. (Dex Macalelong)

Majestic sunrise

The rest of Carranglan (I think?)

Here's to my 25th!

Photo-op at the Batong-Amat rocks.

Looking like my knees aren't shaking.

Lovers' tree campsite. (Dex Macalelong)

Group picture at the Lovers' tree. (Dex Macalelong)

Traverse to Aloha Falls. (Dex Macalelong)

Our little adventure didn't stop there. We had to go to Aloha Falls and to get there, we had to do a traverse. (The difficulty is 4/9.) The trail was so steep that the tour guides advised us to wear gloves so that we wouldn't cut ourselves on the spiky stems of the plants that we'd hold onto. Some of us decided to just sit and slide down our butts just to be safe. (And poor me got nauseous and had leg cramps on the way to the falls!) The way down took me longer than expected. Eventually, I decided not to go to the falls because I was already tired and I was nursing my poor leg.

Even though I got injured, I enjoyed my first ever hike and I was very grateful I decided to go. I was able to think about and learn a lot of things. (Watch out for my post about those learnings. *wink wink*) And most importantly, I was able to conquer one of my greatest doubts about myself.

Our small group. (Dex Macalelong)

A couple of people to be thankful for this trip...
To my friends, Dexter, Noriel, Tune, and Joan, for coercing asking me to join them on this trip. I quite regretted joining them at first, but I'm very thankful now. (Where are the rest of our pictures?)
To my fellow joiners on the tour, for the laughter and for the great experience.
To our tour coordinator, Ms. Daisyree Catad, for being very patient and for waiting on me while I nurse my poor leg.
To our tour organizer, Mr. Jhay Desamparado of Byahe Ni JhayRick, for a very well organized tour. Hassle-free!
To our van driver, Kuya Walter, for keeping us safe throughout our road trip and for dropping me off two blocks away from my dorm.
To our tour guides, Kuya Jordan and Kuya Isagani, for helping me in that steep trail going to Aloha Falls.
To my fellow hikers that day, for lending some help while I was resting on the trail. Some of them gave me Jelly Ace, a pinch of salt (to help with the cramps), and sincere words of encouragement.
And to God, for the great experience, for allowing me to go back to the city in one piece, and for letting me be at work the following day.

I just love this view! (Dex Macalelong)

Now, that was an experience!