Mt. Maculot Traverse to Grotto

Location: Brgy. Siete, Cuenca, Batangas
Elavation: 706 MASL (Rockies) / 930 MASL (Summit)
Date of Hike: September 24, 2017
Level of Difficulty: 3/9
Hours required: 2-4 hours
How to Get There:

• Ride a Lemery-bound Jam Liner bus in Buendia or Cubao
• Alight in Cuenca, Batangas
• Take a tricycle going to Jumpoff/Brgy. Siete

Earliest trip to Cuenca via Jam Liner is 3:30 AM. Refer to the photo above if you have other questions. :)

Tres Marias eager to see Mt. Maculot's beauty!

Tall cogon grasses present near the campsite

Maculot's first part of the trail is quite hard to the point that I questioned myself, "Is this really a 3/9?" The assault at the first part reminds me of Mt. Daraitan's trail. 

There are several trails that require rope rappelling; one at the first bench where you can first peak at the Taal Lake, and second is before going up to the rockies. 

Charlie's Angels wanna-be

Taal lake as seen at the Rockies of Mt. Maculot! 

We opted for traverse because we're adventure-thirsty. The trails going to summit coming from rockies is foresty; its covered with more trees, grass and vines. 

We reached the summit at around 11AM and took some rest before heading down to Grotto.  

At the Grotto

Traverse will require a lot of endurance, strength and perseverance. It can be very slippery during rainy season and other parts are pure assault. We had to take a lot of stops, catching our breath and trying to retain our strength. Also passed another rope rappelling but this one's very complicated! It's almost a 90-degree rock wall with a very small foot path. You have to cling at one part, the you have to push yourself in order to reach the other rock.

Harder than it looks!

The best side trip after the hike? G2B Lomi House is the place to be! Just ask the driver you will be hiring to drop you off at G2B, it's located at Brgy. 5. Also, the main road where buses going back to Manila is just a walking distance for the lomi house. 

Here's our sample itinerary:

0100 CALL TIME Uber to Jam Liner (Call time is very early because we still made "tambay")
0330 Board Lemery-bound bus from Cubao via Jam liner
0530 ETA Cuenca Poblacion/take a trike to Jumpoff
0545 ETA Jumpoff/Secure Guide/Register
0600 Ascent
0830 Campsite/Eat breakfast
0850 ETA Rockies
0950 Traverse
1100 Summit
1130 Descent
1300 ETA Grotto
1400 Tidy Up
1500 Leave for G2B Lomi House
1600 Depart Cuenca via DLTB

Expenses:

Uber to Jam Liner Php 166/pax
Cubao vv Cuenca via bus  Php 155x2= 310/pax
Trike to Jumpoff Php 20/pax
Bathroom Fee Php 5
Coffee Php 10
Breakfast Php 30
Lunch Php 70
Shower Fee Php 40
Lomi Php 35
Guide Fee: Php 800/3= Php 267/pax
Total: Php 953

Watch our video here: