It’s a Roller Coaster Ride at Pintong, Bukawe and San Mateo Trails.  The trails have long lung-busting ascents  and adrenaline-pumping descent. It gives you a mix of the scenic mountains and the fun part of the rivers.

#TaleOfTheTrail

It was fun as we got to start in the middle of the trail with 4×4 ride starting from UP.  The ride was an adventure on its own as we get shaken all throughout the ride as we passed through the rough roads.  San Mateo has a really good trail ecosystem and this time, we’ll be taking the new Casile Road, descending the Bajo River, ascending the PG climb enroute to Basekamp in Pintong Bukawe.

The Map and Elevation

The trek starts at Casile New Road with a slight rolling terrain on the first kilometer. The trail follows Casile New Road and shifts on a long ascent of about 120 meters on the second kilometer. The trail goes on a long descent in the next 4 and a half kilometer worth about 300 meters of elevation. There’s about a kilometers worth of descent to Bajo River and another half a kilometer exploring two rivers before starting the PG climb at kilometer 8. The steep climb at PG covers about 350 meters of elevation spread out over 2 kilometers. The trek then shifts to the road with more than 2 kilometers of rolling terrain heading to Pintong Bukawe.

Trekking San Mateo Rizal Trail

The trail started at Casile New Road, which had rugged fire trails used by the local community here. You get a mix of dirt roads, rocks and grasslands across the trail. The trails are not technical and is a run-able which makes it an excellent place to train or to run.

Trail champs Majo and Iris led the pace on the fire trails that started on a moderate ascent.  They set a really fast pace but it was nice that we had several breathers with the 4×4 ride shadowing us for our hydration.  There were peeks of the mountains along the trail as well as rock formations.  We slowed down at the second kilometer with a much steeper incline. We kept it at walking pace and had some rest stops on flatter parts.  You have full range of views so that’s a good motivation.

The course goes on a descent on our 3rd kilometer. It was an exhilarating ride downhill as I went with the faster group. We got treated to one of the best sites of the trail here with the vantage point of the mountains and clouds that surrounds it.

The next 4 and a half kilometers was a really wild and long descents with a few climbs in between. I’m not a daredevil when it comes to downhill terrains. Since this is on wide roads and the steepness was just fine, I went with the group at a fast pace. It’s like unleashing the kid in me as I went carefree on the drops.  I felt braver on the descent after doing this long stretch of downhills. I think the longer you are in the trails, the more comfortable you get.

What I like about this stretch is that it was not pure downhill, there were stretches that you had to slow down because of some short climbs. It sorts of helps you balance the effort throughout the trail. I had to do some terrain and elevation management as I went on to cruise on the descents and recover on the inclines.

At kilometer 6.5, we had to regroup as we were given the option of going on a moderate climb or go downhill to the Bajo River and have climb the steep PG trail since I requested to do a river crossing. I said, let’s do the river and just think about the consequence later. Deep in my mind, I knew that it was choosing the harder option but I’m sure we’ll find a way to surpass that part… I hope.

It was another sweet descent going to the river for the next kilometer. The river was maybe knee to waist deep but had strong currents. There were stones which you can step on at some part but for the rest you just got to get wet. I love rivers and being wet is just the fun side of the trails. We had to cross two rivers before we could get to the climb part.

At about kilometer 8, it was time to climb again and this wasn’t an easy climb. It’s almost a straight line upwards covering 350 meters of elevation over the next two kilometers.  Be careful what you wish for but I’m sure I’ll find a way to survive even if climbing was one of my weak points.

I was climbing solo in the middle of the lead pack and the next group of runners. It was exhausting to climb as every time you see an end to the climb, you’ll get the next set of climbs once you reach that area. Since I was on solo mode at this point, I then had to add mental toughness. I figured just to take the climb 100 to 200 steps at a time before I take 30 seconds to rest. Little by little, I was covering the 2 kilometers worth of climbs. I have to say that I am slowly increasing my climbing resistance.

I am now about to reach the end of the climb, half hoping that I didn’t take a wrong turn. There were two major forks towards the top of the climb. The first one, I asked a local who was going down. He told me that the two roads would lead to the same direction but the one he took was shorter but steeper.  I took the easier but longer route. The second fork had a wide road and a trail option. I went on with the wide road and in the middle of the road I got a confirmation that the road would intersect with the trail. Before I got off the wider road, I had to contend with dogs ganging up on me. One was about to attack me so I picked up a stone and through it near the dog just to scare it. I took the moment the dog backed away for me to proceed.

I was out of the trails and into the Pintong Bukawe part. It was a good thing I saw the group of 4 x 4 vehicles and Aldean as I exited the trail area. Aldean told me to just follow the road and at the end of the road would be the Sandugo Basekamp. I thought it was just a short road stretch so I was proceeding cautiously for fear of missing the Basekamp. About a kilometer of walking, I asked directions again. they told me that it was still more than a kilometer away. I started to run again and finally reached the Basekamp. That was a really great adventure!!!