It has been a while since I climbed a mountain so imagine my anxiety when I decided that I would do a trilogy - that is three mountains in one day. I participated in a joiners tour to do the Mascap Trilogy which covers Mt. Sipit Ulang (252+ masl), Mt. Ayaas (627+ masl), and Mt. Espadang Bato (455+ masl) in Rizal.

The climb started around 5am. The route was a gradual ascent going to Mt. Sipit Ulang, mostly on dirt road. After about an hour of climbing, we finally made it to the summit just when the sun has risen.

We stayed for quite some time because our group was big and it took us a while to finish all the picture-taking. After that, we started to make our way to Mt. Ayaas which was the highest of the three mountains. Because the group was pretty slow and I was starting to get a bit impatient, the guide gave me the okay-signal to get ahead of the group and instructed me to wait for them at a fork. He said that it would be safe for me to go on my own since the trail was pretty straightforward with no confusing turns or fork roads. 

Halfway through the trek, the group started to dwindle down. We made a stop at a store and that's when more than half of the group decided that they will not continue the climb going to Mt. Ayaas. From the store to the summit, the trail again was pretty straightforward. When a trail runner passed, the guide told me that I could follow him if I wanted to and wouldn't get lost. I did end up following the trail runner and had a bit of chitchat with him while climbing the steep ascents. It was almost noon when we reached the summit. The sun was harsh yet the views were breathtaking; it was super worth it.

I waited for the rest of the group at the summit. After taking a few photos, we started our descent by taking the same trail. We reached the store again where we took a break before finally climbing our last summit for the day: Mt. Espandang Bato.

If the route going to the second mountain was steep, this one was even steeper and were mostly of rocks. There were parts of the climb where I had to use my hands just to hoist myself up the big rocks. For the most part, the trail was littered with trees to shade us from the sun which provided us some relief. After about an hour of climbing, we finally reached the summit.

At that point, I was so exhausted that I didn't bother taking photos. I just took a nap on one of the makeshift benches at the summit and waited for the others to finish taking their photos. 

From Mt. Espadang Bato, it took us almost two hours to reach Wawa Dam, which marks the end of our trek. I didn't eat the entire day, except for a couple of chocolate bars and a pack of gummy candies, because I didn't want to feel bloated during a climb. So imagine my excitement to reach the end point so I could finally eat my packed lunch of red rice, squid, and tofu.

Overall, it was an exhausting yet truly fun experience. Would I do it again? Yesss, I would do another trilogy again given the time but not this one.