Adventure is… Leaving Your Comfort Zone for Mt. Talinis (Apolong-Bediao Trail)

Tribu AdoBo

Barely calling ourselves as mountaineers with our few years of hiking experience, we ever dreamt of leveling up. What happens next was really an epic – somewhat a failure for not reaching Mt. Talinis’ summit but an overall success for our safe descent. Admitted to having not properly prepared for the climb, this serves as the first major hike for most of us. Lucky enough we have entrusted our safety and security from our seasoned guides.

Disclaimer: All thoughts expressed in this blog are based on my own. Every traveler may differ in perspectives on things they experience at traveling.

@ Yagumyum Lake

From planning to preparation to the event schedule; there are a lot of lapses and misadventures. Yes, we brave ourselves trying to test our adrenaline in this extreme adventure. We should have had never underestimated the mountain, as it should be and as has been warned, even the minor ones. Expectations versus reality collided indeed. The most awaited feat came and the whole team, split in two, went off to face the unexpected ordeal.

Entry Point

You could just imagine how we were able to conquer our misfortunes even from the jump-off near Casaroro Falls. The traverse we opted to follow was actually the reverse of the usual Bediao-Apolong-Casaroro Falls route. For me, this seems to be a Calvary as I will always prefer downhill than uphill. Facing the signage of our entry point, I already did an assessment of the fate of ahead of us. It’s far from our usual hiking routes where we pass through residential areas from jump-off.

the view though

We were greeted by an approximately 60-degree angle of trail indicating an unending ascent towards a 90-degree angle. An hour passed and we can literally feel exhaustion. Can we still bear the trek for about 7 more hours to reach the camp site? Doubting whether to continue or back off, yet determined to take the challenge.

Twin Falls meters from the guard house

Sweat and rain water had their fair share of getting us all wet and motivated to go through despite and in spite of the circumstances. We had our lunch along the trail towards the guard house where we joined the first batch. We had a short visit to the twin falls, had some photo-ops before heading to Nailig Lake passing by the sulfur deposit spot.

sulfur site

Nightfall started to succumb the mountain and we’re still trekking en route to the camp site. Everyone felt the pain of no trace combined with tiredness and hunger. Our pace seems double or even triple the one we had in our first hours of hike. It was already past 6 p.m. when we finally find ourselves at Nailig Lake for a night stay. All wet and exhausted, some pitch the tents while the others started to cook dinner.

stunning Lake Nailig greeting us a Good Morning

Thank God everyone made it through here though some came a bit later. We only spent few hours of socials as temperature seems to keep us inside our tents and retire to bed.

boodle fight in the wild

With so much food to prepare for breakfast and lunch, we failed to summit due to time constraint. We continued our walk to reach Lake Yagumyum in no time. Just wanted this provocative adventure to end, we had our lunch and hurried down to our exit point at Barangay Bediao, Dauin.

lunch at Yagumyum Lake

the priceless smiles after the struggles

If given a chance to climb Mt. Talinis second, third or more time, I would still do it again without a second thought. Partly because of its summit, I will still give it another try to embrace nature and overcome its sweet revenge.

so we’re at the exit point

back to Dumaguete

Itinerary:

TALINIS (APOLONG- Bediao TRAVERSE)

Dauin and Valencia City, Negros Oriental

Entry point: Brgy. Apolong, Valencia

Exit point: Brgy. Bediao, Dauin

LLA: 1903 MASL

Days required / Hours to summit: 2-3 days / 10-11 hours

Specs: Major climb, Difficulty 7/9, Trail class 2-4

Features: Lakes, waterfalls, mossy forest

Day 0 –

0400 ETD Cebu – Liloan Port, Santander, Cebu

0800 ETA Liloan Port

0900 ETD Liloan Port-Sibulan, Dumaguete

Day 1 –

1000 From Dumaguete, hop a Jeep to Apolong Jumpoff

1100 ETA Apolong (prepare for trek)

1300 ETA GUARD HOUSE

1400 Twinfalls and Sulfur

1830 ETA Lake Nailig; set up camp

2000 Dinner/socials

Day 2 –

0500 Wakeup call

0900 Start descent

1200 ETA Lake Yagumyum

1500 ETA Bediao Descent

1800 Back in Dumaguete

Meal Plan:

Dinner: (Day 1)

Vegetable

Adobo

Ham

Dried Fish

Breakfast: (Day 2)

Noodles

Egg

Dried Fish

Corned Beef

Tuna

Lunch:

Beef Loaf

Okra w/ tuna

Grocery Items:

4 kls. pork for adobo 1000

Dried fish c/o Poloi 50

5 packs Noodles 30

1 doz. egg 96

4 cans corned beef 100

5 cans tuna 100

4 cans beef loaf 100

___________

Total: 1476

Guiding Fee 1400

Estimated Budget (food and guide fee) 192.93/pax

Breakdown of the fare:

Cebu to Liloan Port by bus P200

Liloan Port to Sibulan by ferry boat P63

Sibulan to Dumaguete by jeep P12

Dumaguete to Valencia by jeep P12

Valencia to Jumpoff by habal2x P50/head

Then traverse from Jumpoff to Dauin by habal2x P150/head

Dauin back to Dumaguete by jeep P20

Dumaguete to Cebu by boat P300+

Total: 807

Total Estimated Budget: 999.93

Things to Bring:

Water (at least 5 ltrs each)

2 cups of rice each

Container

Eating utensils

Extra clothes

gloves, jacket,

bonnet

burner

cook set

headlamp

tent/camping gear

medicine

energy drink

trail food

toiletries

cellphone

Reminders:
• have enough rest before the event
• exercise days before
• keep safe
• keep the LNT principles
• pray
• enjoy

 

For guideship you may contact trusted and official guides Glecerio Chris D. Gonzalez at 09460177884 and/or Joel Timoguing at 09360422211.

Watch video at: A Weekend Spent at Mt. Talinis

Also read: Travel is….luxury beaches and magical rainforests that define your life

Travel is… More Than Just the Lord of the Rings

Travel is…a solo adventure in the lap of the Himalayas

Some Photos Credited to: team members