Mt. Natib

Mt. Natib

by Jade Mendoza, Probationary
Brgy. Tala, Orani Bataan
February 25-26, 2012

UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST MOUNTAINEERS held its 1^st semi-major climb for academic year 2011-2012 along with guest Sir Renan Toledo, Laurel Nemezo, Ishy Samaniego, Adrian Abenes and Sir Florence Fajardo.

The preparation for this climb was the same, although this climb was a new one, because none of us had ever climbed this mountain before, and the fact that the mountain was said to be inhabited by military insurgents put our climb in jeopardy.  But still upon UEM Vice President Sir Jojemar Banag’s sources of information, gave the go signal and the climb was good to go.

First, I started packing my stuff a day before the climb.  Transportation was a consistent problem to me everytime I start a climb, because my house is too far away from the bus terminal and the call time was too early for jeeps to start their day; so the solution for me was to join my batchmates Jepoy and Edison and together we slept at Sir Banag’s appartment. We woke up early, but the sluggish movement of everyone got us late for the call time and left the appartment at exactly 4:30am. We’ve reached the Five Star Cubao Bus Teminal at around 4:45am, 15 mins late from the call time and we were the only ones late, post climb lol! The first trip to Orani was 5:30, way beyond of what was scheduled on our ITs, so we decided to take the Genesis buses; we left the terminal at arround 5:00am and arrived at Orani Bataan at exactly 6:50 am,  we unloaded our bags; at 7:15am we took a tricycle going to Brgy. Tala and registered then head off to the DENR Station which is the jump off point to Mt. Natib.

We started our trek at exactly 7:45am. We trekked for an hour for us to reach the Pinagbutasan.

 At first we where confused if we took the right trail because there was a gate but there were no gates mentioned on the blogs we’ve read and then there was a carving on the concrete that divides Tarlac from Bataan; though the view from there was very beautiful plus there was a miniature version of Mt. Batulao which was kinda cute, haha! Still we continued and eventually we knew that we where on the right track soon as we found our first and last water source, the Kubo. We resumed trek at around 10:30.

We met a porter uphill while we were taking a break; he said there were others who would be climbing mt. Natib, so we hurried up so we can pick the best spot for pitching tents. And then the first limatik encounter of my life, I’ve never seen a limatik before, so I was very much amazed as to how these little worm-like creatures would latch its suckers at everything including to your shoes. Till we arrived at the grass lands; there were no trees to give shade and it was a sunny. It was not long till we’ve reached the foot of the mountain, and my god the first step on it was a warning to those who would dare climb this mountain; the first step was so high it required me to hold on to a tree just to get me up. The trail to the summit was very steep, and eventually we felt tired and halfway through we got our selves and early lunch and a sound nap, one of my batch mate Yankee had her first limatik encounter and I could only laugh at her face as I saw her reaction. Then as I was lying down on the groundsheet having my powernap, one of us farted and damn, it smelled like hell, PHEW!! We resumed trek at arround 12:45nn, passing through arched vines covered with thorns called “teka-teka”. We got up to two rope segments. The pacing was slow, because my batch mate Shiela was afraid and did not know where to land his steps in between the very steep rocks; then came the second rope segment, this is where she cried, I don’t know why, could be her tears of joy, hahaha.

This is me on the first rope segment, wearing combat boots, lol! Post climb!

 Anyway we’ve reached the summit at around 2:00pm, the summit was very hot and there where no trees to give shade and the ground were uneven that finding a flat spot to pitch your tent would be hard. I took a nap with others amidst the searing heat of the sun and that’s where we were called the “solar boys”. Limatiks were still present on the camp site. And then came one of the main events, the Sunset. And everything was... WAAAAAAAAAAW…

Sunset at Camp Site

It was so beautiful, the sky was all but gold and blue, the suns glare blending in with the horizon, it was just an ecstatic moment to see Haring Araw calls its day and slowly and mesmerizing did he disappeared, leaving to us that awesome moment of sun a very beautiful sunset.  And then came dinner and socials. The socials were a bit of a short coming because the team only brought two litters of Empi Lights. I quitted drinking, it was my new year’s resolution, but the temperature was so cold that drinking became a necessity, too bad. Our voices filled the air; there was nothing to hear but our laughter and joy; the sky was but stars and the Moon, not to mention Venus and Mars were present that night. This was the feeling I was searching for, the serenity atop every mountains, away from the cacophony of the metropolis and that feeling you get upon seeing the bright lights of the city. Morning, the sunrise, and man, it was AWESOME.

Rise and Shine 

ALAS! It’s good to see Haring Araw’s glorious rays cutting through the horizon. We didn’t waste time; we took pictures as much as we can, for we know this would only last for a moment until we prepared breakfast. Nothing beats coffee for me every morning, especially when I got up from a very cold sleep shaking up my cold hands and waking my soul again for another day. We broke camp around 8:00am and started packing thins up, sweeping the camp site for any litters or traces which we could leave behind;we are responsible mountaineers, we never leave traces. We started our descend at around 8:45am, going down was fast, and deadly; one slip could mean your end. The rocks were covered with moss so they were very slippery, plus the steep steps and ridges gave me goose bumps. Soon after we got down safely, sir Aiko, me and Jepoy where left behind, we were the tail of the group then Edison joined us at a certain part of the trail. We insisted to be left behind, we took a long break at the Pinagbutasan, and everything was so serene it felt like I don’t want to go on anymore.

 

A tree serves as a spot to stay; from it, Mount Natib can be seen from a far

Then we resumed to our way down when halfway through we can’t stand our toes anymore, the shoes that I was wearing were too sturdy, so I changed to sandals and continued till we got off to our jump site. Till we part ways carrying with us the memories to cherish from the majestical mt. Natib.