NAGSASA COVE VIA MT. NAGSASA Subic, Zambales Major Jumpoff: Sitio San Martin, Subic LLA: 14°49.03N, 120°06.25E, 450 MASL Days required / Hours to cove: 1-2 days / 3-4 hours Specs: Minor climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail class 1-2 Features: River crossing, beach I’ve conquered a couple of mountains from the South so why not go up North this time. ^^ My bestfriend and I had plans way back to travel out of town. Good thing our schedule permitted us and one day we found ourselves planning about conquering Nagsasa. I got so excited about the idea of trekking up north again which includes hitting the beach before the summer season ends. Aside from that, a new set of people to meet which thrills me more. This is what I love about travelling; you get to see new and wonderful places, new learning and new found friends.
The group met at Victory Liner, Caloocan around 9PM. At exactly 11:30PM, the bus we boarded left and we're bound for Olongapo. We tried to catch some sleep on our way to Olongapo (which most of them did, except me and Mario. EXCITED MUCH MODE). We arrived at Victory Liner Olongapo at 2:05AM. From there, we had to ride a jeepney going to the jumpoff point (Sitio San Martin, Subic). On our way to San Martin, we had to stop by PNP to secure our permits and pay the registration fee. We reached the jumpoff point at 3:30AM and secured our guides.
The trek started at 4AM, it was slippery and a bit muddy due to the rain showers. That didn’t stop us from this adventure. Wearing our headlights, we started to walk in a very dark trail. Since it was dark, we had to pass messages to one another to make sure that no one would get hurt with rocks or if the path is going left or right. The initial walk was long but since we started long before sunrise, the atmosphere helped to make the walk more relaxing. We also crossed a river. The trail was not steep but it was long. We were so excited to see the sunrise so we stopped for a while to capture that moment.
Obviously we really enjoyed our rest. We really took time to get our own shots of the lovely view. The wonderful view served as my energy booster so I decided to start the trek again. I can’t wait to see the view from the ridge.
“There’s a rainbow always after the rain…” – this line from the song Rainbow of Southborder is not always right. We had the rainbow first before the rain. While waiting for others to reach the ridge, the rain started to pour. I was worried that time since our guide told us that we will descend in a few. My concern: it’ll be hard for us to pass by the steep path. We also failed to take pictures on the ridge due to the rain.
NOTE: You can actually see 2 other mountains on your way to the ridge (Mt. Balingkilat and Mt. Cinco Picos)
While crossing a steep path:
Me: Kuya! May nalaglag na ba dito?
Guide: Ay ma’am meron na po… pero nakakapit
(may lihim akong ngiti habang tumatakbo sa isipan ko “buti naman”)
Guide: Sa katunayan po dito po nangyari sa kinatatayuan natin ngayon
(OO na! sabi ko na, minsan di nakakatulong ang pagiging matanong ko. Hahaha…)
When we finally passed that path, a breathtaking view caught our attention. We saw the blue waters of the beach. It gave us a super boost of energy and disregarded that we were super wet from head to foot.
After our challenging experience on the ridge, we proceeded with the trek. As per our guide, it’ll be 2 more hours to reach the shore (depending on how fast we can pass the valley).The trail between the saddle and the shore was long. The trail ran through rocks, dry river, streams, soft sand, hard sand, cogon and more sand.
A few hours later, we could already see the shore. It was a sight to behold. All the efforts spent trying hard to get to the beach were worth it. Everything was worth it!
We reached the camp site at 10:15AM. The beach and the river were breathtaking. It has soft white-grayish sand (ash-colored) with Agoho trees (resembling to Pine trees) around the place. Although, there was no electricity, no drinking water and no cellular phone signal in the place. It only has a common CR and water pump to share with other visitors of the place.
Though tired and weary, we still managed to set our tents and cook our much awaited Brunch.
The entire time we spent on the beach was dedicated to having as much fun in and out of the water. We swam, had pictorial sessions, walked along the shore, getting-to-know-you time and socialize.
After dinner and short chit chats with them, I felt my eyes were getting heavy. I realized that I haven’t gotten any decent sleep and rest. I ended up, sleeping earlier than they did. I actually lost a lot of juicy topics and discussion whilst I’m sleeping. End of Day 1.
PS. Day 2 will be my next post ^^
