Intimacy With Taal Volcano
If there is one site that I will always brag of having trekked for so many times, it will be Taal Volcano Island. The latest count was 14.
Many tourists would only see the island from the safety of Tagaytay Ridge. For the adventurer, they may use the Daang Kastila trail and get to see the famed “island within a lake within a volcano within an island,” or the main crater which was created by a 1911 eruption. Some would get up close to the Crater Lake via the Alas-as Trail, while much fewer could walk around the twin craters via the Tabaro Trail. Still, some unlucky ones would never get to land on the island as they are conned by some boat operators who claim that they can only go around the island - quick money, indeed.
Not for me. I took all the routes and got lost a lot of times. I took a dip at the sulfuric Crater Lake and camped somewhere on the island.
It’s easy to get lost in the volcano island. The cogon grasses are more than six feet high and there are many trails leading to nowhere. There are many deep gullies where one can easily fall down. And those lava deposits - man, their huge, smoldering, unstable and razor-sharp. Forget your brand new trekking shoes, they’ll be minced once you get lost in the middle of a lava deposit.
Another character of the volcano island is the intense heat. Say you’re proud to have a wide-brimmed hat or even an umbrella; but you will walk in the middle of a desert-like topography which reflects the heat towards your face. Call it a double-whammy. Forget Taal if you hate the idea of being cooked by the sun and the sand. Besides, the island is not for (roasted) chickens, he he he....
As we settled for the night, we reconstructed the day’s events. When it came to the topic of the man with a dog on a ridge, we could not imagine how someone could be in that kind of place and at that time. Then somebody said that there is a saint with a dog. Under those circumstances, it would be easy to call that man by the name of that saint with a dog.
We had a nice sleep that night but we were still worried that we were still lost somewhere in the island.
To continue the miracle, I mean, the story, just as we were having breakfast, a man suddenly appeared in our campsite. No, he was not the saint but a local coal maker. It was a very welcome surprise for us; he agreed to guide us to Tabaro. Later, he told us that he was quite shocked and afraid to hear voices (ours – he thought we were lamang lupa or forest spirits) and see our tents in the middle of nowhere.
When we reached Tabaro, we thanked him profusely. And instead of giving him money (he might get insulted - remember, he helped us), we gave him some clothes.
In another trip I found out from some of the locals that the guy was very thankful for our “gifts.” It was a very small token from us. But for him, it was more than enough to provide his family with one year supply of fresh (actually, used) clothing. Up to now, I still wonder what would have happened to us if he and the other guy with the dog did not show up.
Many tourists would only see the island from the safety of Tagaytay Ridge. For the adventurer, they may use the Daang Kastila trail and get to see the famed “island within a lake within a volcano within an island,” or the main crater which was created by a 1911 eruption. Some would get up close to the Crater Lake via the Alas-as Trail, while much fewer could walk around the twin craters via the Tabaro Trail. Still, some unlucky ones would never get to land on the island as they are conned by some boat operators who claim that they can only go around the island - quick money, indeed.
Not for me. I took all the routes and got lost a lot of times. I took a dip at the sulfuric Crater Lake and camped somewhere on the island.
It’s easy to get lost in the volcano island. The cogon grasses are more than six feet high and there are many trails leading to nowhere. There are many deep gullies where one can easily fall down. And those lava deposits - man, their huge, smoldering, unstable and razor-sharp. Forget your brand new trekking shoes, they’ll be minced once you get lost in the middle of a lava deposit.
Another character of the volcano island is the intense heat. Say you’re proud to have a wide-brimmed hat or even an umbrella; but you will walk in the middle of a desert-like topography which reflects the heat towards your face. Call it a double-whammy. Forget Taal if you hate the idea of being cooked by the sun and the sand. Besides, the island is not for (roasted) chickens, he he he....Here’s one legendary trip on the island.
Would you call this celestial prophecy or just plain good luck? I led my mountaineering club (DOT-ASCENT) for an overnight trip to the volcano island. It was an adventure club so we had to do some hiking. Fine, our itinerary was a trek through the Daang Kastila for a bird’s eye view of the Crater Lake, then hike down towards the sulfuric water and then camp near Tabaro. The next day was going to be a trek around the twin craters. Easy.
We got two local guides (children - a very wrong decision). The first part was that - very easy. I had been through the trails a couple of times. We reached the edge where we can see the Crater Lake. Admired the sight and had lunch. Then it was time to go down. After a few minutes, I sensed something was wrong. There was no trail! We had to wade through six feet high cogon and leaned on them to make ourselves visible to the trekkers behind us. We had with us an American friend and I asked him about this hike. He replied, “I’ve never been in a jungle.” I had to tell him that we were not in a jungle but a cogon country.
From Tagaytay City, you would think that the island is very small and should be easy to walk around in. We thought so, too. We were very, very wrong.
In the middle of the day, the guides (kids!) said that they had to go back and that we can reach Tabaro as we could already see it in the horizon. We paid them and let them leave (another wrong decision!).
We knew we made that grave mistake to let our guides leave but we also realized that they were only kids. Besides, we also had our mountaineer’s pride to contend with. As we suspected, that horizon called Tabaro can only be reached by somebody who knows the island. After one hour of seemingly walking in circles (no trails), we knew that we were desperately lost. From cogon grasses, the vegetation changed to knee-high hard plants that were quite difficult to walk on. Two guys had to act like tractors to level the plants and create a trail. A couple more hours and the sun was starting to settle down - and we were still in the middle of nowhere. We could not even find a campsite!
A decision was made - we had to find an elevated ground and scan the vicinity. We reached a ridge and became more depressed. There was absolutely no campsite nearby and the sun was getting ready to disappear. Then somebody saw a man with a dog in another ridge about a kilometer away. We shouted at the man and asked for some direction. He shouted back and said that down below us at one point was a flat ground with no vegetation. We thanked him and started going down. At that point, every second counted. We even argued whether we had to immediately go down or bring out our flashlights first. I was already in mild panic and had to tell everybody that we had to move first while there was enough light.
The man said down and we looked for a point going down. We saw one and I started grappling on tree branches like what an orangutan would do in a thick vegetation. After only about 20 meters of descent, just when it was almost totally dark, I saw a sand-covered flat ground - our campsite!
Dinner was a sumptuous spaghetti and pork barbecue (we call this gourmet hike!).
Would you call this celestial prophecy or just plain good luck? I led my mountaineering club (DOT-ASCENT) for an overnight trip to the volcano island. It was an adventure club so we had to do some hiking. Fine, our itinerary was a trek through the Daang Kastila for a bird’s eye view of the Crater Lake, then hike down towards the sulfuric water and then camp near Tabaro. The next day was going to be a trek around the twin craters. Easy.
We got two local guides (children - a very wrong decision). The first part was that - very easy. I had been through the trails a couple of times. We reached the edge where we can see the Crater Lake. Admired the sight and had lunch. Then it was time to go down. After a few minutes, I sensed something was wrong. There was no trail! We had to wade through six feet high cogon and leaned on them to make ourselves visible to the trekkers behind us. We had with us an American friend and I asked him about this hike. He replied, “I’ve never been in a jungle.” I had to tell him that we were not in a jungle but a cogon country.
From Tagaytay City, you would think that the island is very small and should be easy to walk around in. We thought so, too. We were very, very wrong.
In the middle of the day, the guides (kids!) said that they had to go back and that we can reach Tabaro as we could already see it in the horizon. We paid them and let them leave (another wrong decision!).
We knew we made that grave mistake to let our guides leave but we also realized that they were only kids. Besides, we also had our mountaineer’s pride to contend with. As we suspected, that horizon called Tabaro can only be reached by somebody who knows the island. After one hour of seemingly walking in circles (no trails), we knew that we were desperately lost. From cogon grasses, the vegetation changed to knee-high hard plants that were quite difficult to walk on. Two guys had to act like tractors to level the plants and create a trail. A couple more hours and the sun was starting to settle down - and we were still in the middle of nowhere. We could not even find a campsite!
A decision was made - we had to find an elevated ground and scan the vicinity. We reached a ridge and became more depressed. There was absolutely no campsite nearby and the sun was getting ready to disappear. Then somebody saw a man with a dog in another ridge about a kilometer away. We shouted at the man and asked for some direction. He shouted back and said that down below us at one point was a flat ground with no vegetation. We thanked him and started going down. At that point, every second counted. We even argued whether we had to immediately go down or bring out our flashlights first. I was already in mild panic and had to tell everybody that we had to move first while there was enough light.
The man said down and we looked for a point going down. We saw one and I started grappling on tree branches like what an orangutan would do in a thick vegetation. After only about 20 meters of descent, just when it was almost totally dark, I saw a sand-covered flat ground - our campsite!
Dinner was a sumptuous spaghetti and pork barbecue (we call this gourmet hike!).
As we settled for the night, we reconstructed the day’s events. When it came to the topic of the man with a dog on a ridge, we could not imagine how someone could be in that kind of place and at that time. Then somebody said that there is a saint with a dog. Under those circumstances, it would be easy to call that man by the name of that saint with a dog.We had a nice sleep that night but we were still worried that we were still lost somewhere in the island.
To continue the miracle, I mean, the story, just as we were having breakfast, a man suddenly appeared in our campsite. No, he was not the saint but a local coal maker. It was a very welcome surprise for us; he agreed to guide us to Tabaro. Later, he told us that he was quite shocked and afraid to hear voices (ours – he thought we were lamang lupa or forest spirits) and see our tents in the middle of nowhere.
When we reached Tabaro, we thanked him profusely. And instead of giving him money (he might get insulted - remember, he helped us), we gave him some clothes.
In another trip I found out from some of the locals that the guy was very thankful for our “gifts.” It was a very small token from us. But for him, it was more than enough to provide his family with one year supply of fresh (actually, used) clothing. Up to now, I still wonder what would have happened to us if he and the other guy with the dog did not show up.
posted by Caloy at
12:14 AM
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