May 2015, we planned to visit the three natural wonders of Tuaca, the Mt. Manrisikrisik, Mt. Balagabag and the Bicol National Park’s Mother Tree. However, due to time constraints we end up considering Mt. Manrisikrisik and reschedule the hike to the other wonders in June.
On May 31, 2015, around 8:30 AM, we left our house in Talisay and proceed to Daet, the capital town of the province. Initially, we planned to take the jeep to San Pascual-Tuaca PUJ or to ride in a Naga City bound bus and get off in Tuaca; but upon seeing my cousin in the downtown Daet, we were convinced to hire his tricycle from Daet to the jump off.
During our pre-climb conversation with Hon. Danny Barrameda, we learned that the Barangay is very active in reforesting Mt. Manrisikrisik with narra and mahogany. So, we decided to visit a private tree nursery owned by a local biologist, Ma. Louisa Sayno who happened to be a graduate our university, the De La Salle- Dasmariñas. Instead of selling two narra tree seedlings, we were given six narra young trees and two grafted calamansi for free! I knew and I believe that this could be a sign that our adventure in Mt. Manrisikrisik would be very successful.
We started the trek on a very gradual trail that cuts through the coconut farm and orchard at around 10:45 AM. We reached the spring after 10 minutes and planted some of the narra seedlings. Then we further pushed through the mountain, after another 10 minutes we reached a small grass covered open area, which serves as a vestibule to the forested part of the mountain.
We stayed in the summit for more than an hour to have enough time to enjoy our lunch, clean some rubbish and plant the remaining narra seedlings. We start to descend at 1:15 and reached the jump off at exactly 2:10 PM delighted and very excited to be the voice of the mountain to mountaineering world.