Our Abra Trip

 

October 29, 2023 Sunday

A blessed Sunday!

 

For this day, we were given the chance to visit a newly opened hike-able mountain. 

This is my Mountain #47 (since 2015) - Mt. Baruyen

 

I am actually excited and grateful to go to this province as this was also my first time to visit to be here.

 

I have this secret goal (not so secret anymore! lol!) to complete my Project #Ph81 the soonest. 

 

And visiting Abra has been an affordable trip!

Thank you to the highly recommended organizer Sam of #Bundokista for this opportunity! 

It was tiring (because of the long drive) but it was fun to be a joiner once again. 

The total trip was a core memory! 

Mt. Baruyen has the height of 1036 MASL

Total KM is more than 1.5 and the whole trail can be done in less than 3 hours including the photo ops, rests and eating time. 

Difficulty level is 3/9. 

It was an open trail and grass land but there are also some difficult trails because of stiff slopes. 

Gladly there are at least three shaded areas when the sun is all show. 

The location is at Licuan-Baay, Abra.

 

Aside from the morning hike, we also had some side trips Around Abra.

And these are as follows: 

 

Sevilleja’s Eco Farm Resort and Falls

Calaba Bridge overseeing Abra River

I LOVE Abra marker

Tangadan Tunnel

 

Abra is a landlocked province on  the  Western side of the massive Cordillera in Northern  Luzon. Its deep valleys and sloping hills are enclosed by rugged mountains, except in the Western portion where the Abra River flows towards the coastal plains of Ilocos Sur. Abra’s neighbors are Ilocos Norte and Apayao in the north, Mountain Province in the South, Ilocos Sur on the Southwest and Kalinga on the East. (Source: Google)

 

Here's our itinerary for that day.

 

Day 0 of our Abra Trip: 

 

At 5 pm of Saturday, we went to MOA for our trip to Abra. 

 

We’ll be having a hiking to Mt. Baruyen and then some side trips around Abra.

 

At 6 pm, we were already at MOA, the van that will pick us up was late so we were able to have dinner and bought some water. 

 

At 7 pm, the van fetched us.

Then we’re on our way to Abra.

It was an 8-hour land trip. 

 

At 6 am, we’re already in Abra. But it’s still a 2-hour travel time to Mt. Baruyen jump off point.  

 

At 8 am, we started the hike.  

Our first stop was the pine forest, then the summit, next was the Rocks Garden, then the Ledge and lastly the Lion’s head.

We’re back to Pine Forest to have our lunch. And we’re finally back to the jump off point. 

 

We went to Sevilleja’s Eco Farm Resort and we enjoyed the falls and pool with spring running water. 

 

At 4pm, after freshening up, we had a short meal on a nearby cafeteria. 

I ordered their Special Miki.

 

Then we’re off to Calaba Bridge overseeing Abra River for some photo ops. Abra river can also be seen up close in this bridge. 

 

We also went to I love Abra marker at Victoria Park.

The sunset was lovely there and we saw the view from above. It was majestic. 

It has an overlooking view of its nearby town, Abra river and cordillera mountain range from afar. 

 

And for our last stop, we bought some pasalubong near Tangadan Tunnel and we’re finally on our way back to Manila. 

We reached Manila at past midnight. 

 

I would love to go back in Abra to visit its other beautiful and historical spots that I haven’t seen yet.

 

It was truly #Abramazing! 

 

Singalong Nature Campsite, Antipolo, Rizal

 

Celebrating 2nd year of Marriage

Singalong Nature Campsite, Antipolo, Rizal

December 19-20, 2022

 

December 20 is our wedding anniversary.

And we’re off to another adventure on the days of December 19 and 20. For these days, Hubby and I took vacation leaves from our work. And our destination was at Singalong Nature Campsite in Rizal.

We left home at 10 in the morning.

From Eastwood City, we rode a jeep going to Lifehomes then we rode another jeep going to Tanay. We told the driver to drop us off at Alfamart Mayiba Teresa.

Then from Alfamart, we rode a tricycle going to Singalong starting point.

Back to Nature and my heart was happy!

It was a thirty-minute trail going to the campsite and we mostly passed through streams.

We rented a tent as our sleeping room for the night.

When we were already settled, we had our lunch.

Hubby cooked Adobo before we left home and that was our lunch.

Then we hiked to the top of the campsite to see the amazing view.

The signal was limited there and the best thing to do up here is to enjoy nature.

And then we had a swim in a natural pool.

 

After swimming, we already washed off and took a short rest inside our tent.

Just before the sun sets, we cooked for dinner and also had our early dinner.

 

We also had the chance to have a bonfire and roasted marshmallows over the blue sky.

This is my favorite kind of night.

 

We slept early.

In the middle of the night, hubby woke up to eat.

And then we went back to sleep again.

 In the morning, we had coffee and bread for breakfast.

We left the campsite at 10 in the morning.

We just had lunch when we were already at Rosario.

Our anniversary celebration was simple yet we’re happy.

We are grateful for our marriage. This is a blessing we truly treasure and a partnership we work on every single day.

I want to thank my husband for agreeing with me to go on trips like this to celebrate our union. 

Mount Espadang Bato

March 12, 2022 - Saturday

Montalban, Rizal

Reunion Hike with TeamTraverser!

After two years, I've finally done two things I love the most.

First, hiking! I love exploring mountains,

enjoying the trails, the breathtaking view,

the stories shared with co-hikers.

Second, bonding with friends!

It was never a dull moment when you spend time with friends,

especially if you haven't seen each other for a long time. 

Team Traverser has been my friend since 2016,

back when I started joining hikes

and stepping out of my comfort zone to meet new people.

These people eventually became my friends. 

For this day's reunion hike, we went to Montalban, Rizal

via a friend's car.

Our destination: Mount Espadang Bato

at Barangay Mascap, Montalban, Rizal.

We met in Cubao at 5 in the morning. 

We had a stopover at 7/11 to have some coffee

and while waiting for our other friends - Jan and Joy.

Right there at that time,

we decided to hike Mount Espadang Bato.

It was all our first time going there.

We even lost our way going to the jump off area

and started our hike a bit late. 

After more than two hours with lots of  ‘take five’

or short stops to rest, we reached the summit.

The mountain has become well known

because of its rock formations that look like a giant sword

and also the scenic backdrop when you take a photo here. 

It felt good to be back on top of a mountain.

I didn't hike for the last two years

so I easily got tired during the ascents.

But the pain was worth it when you're on top.

And I also missed the forestry trail. 

Since the pandemic and several lockdowns,

hiking has been prohibited.

When we went there,

we were the third group to hike. Unlike before,

hundreds were flocking to the mountains

especially on weekends.  

Looking forward to seeing more people

will go back to hiking soon. 

Current tour guide fee is 500 pesos for 5 pax. 

And we paid 100 pesos each since we were 6 in the group. 

We also paid a registration fee at the Barangay of 20 pesos each. 

By 1 pm, we were back in the jump off area

and had our lunch in a nearby cafeteria.

Then we headed to Wawa Dam where we rented a cottage

and had a dip on the river.

After that, we also had dinner at SM Fairview

before we finally parted ways. 

I was happy reconnecting with nature and friends

and I can't wait to have more moments like this

as we are eventually going back to normal. 

Fingers crossed.

Thank you Lord God for keeping us safe and for always providing for us.

Thank you for the time spent with friends

and we were able to see your creation's beauty once again on a higher view.