THIS
IS MY FIRST TIME to teach bushcraft and survival outside of my home
turf in Cebu. The Mountain Climbers Alliance of the Philippines,
Inc. (MCAP) hierarchy have tasked me to conduct a bushcraft camp
among its members so as to equip them with the necessary skills to
complement their outdoor pursuits. MCAP is a fledgling national
umbrella organization of individual mountaineers in the Philippines
that follow the concept of “old-school mountaineering”.
I
am old-school and so are Edwin Gatia and Vicky Evarretta, the MCAP
President and Vice President, respectively. Both deferred to follow
the present state of mountaineering which hinged more on form and
quantity rather than in substance and quality and both do not want
MCAP to tarnish its image by dabbling towards capitalistic
inclinations which some enterprising mountaineers have taken
advantaged of of others. The mountaineering community is in such a
state of disarray and rift that it needs an immediate reorientation
of its priorities and objectives to achieve unity.
The
visionaries of MCAP desires only to unify all Philippine mountaineers
by providing them with an organization that seeks to protect its own
with above-board transactions, an insurance policy to cover its
members from mountain climbing accidents, a cooperative for members
and an opportunity to be selected and sponsored in overseas
mountaineering expeditions. I have longed to enjoy these privileges
when I was then at my prime and I am elated to see that it will soon
be a reality.
Anyway,
the MCAP Bushcraft Camp commence on September 29, 2012 at Mount
Balagbag in Rodriguez, Rizal and will end on October 1. Eighteen
MCAP members and other outdoorsmen from different affiliations opt to
participate Class 01-2012 by proceeding to the assembly point in
Tungko, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan where the party leave for the
camp at 1:30 PM. Also coming along are my volunteer staff: Raymund
Panganiban who will be the official event photographer and EDC
instructor; and Jay Z Jorge who will be the camp ramrod.
It
is a Saturday and Super Typhoon “Lawin” was supposed to have left
the Philippine area of responsibility many hours ago yet it
persistently refused to budge its watery weight and parted scattered
heavy rainshowers and thunderclouds. Rivulets of water run along
creases on the road as we walk upwards to the camp from the Balagbag
Elementary School which attest that the tempest is still here. On
the roadside ditch, water roared furiously whose rhythm had
methodically pushed my mind to think and seek other last-minute
options, just in case.
After
an hour of uphill walk, we reach our campsite located inside a
private property. The small flat space fronting a small house whose
electricity is powered by a tiny solar power facility is squishy and
completely immersed in water underneath. We gaze at the higher
ground and set up our tents on four small clearings which each could
hold three to five tents. I opt to set up a primitive shelter of
cheap tarpaulin propped up by a foraged tree trunk in the middle and
tied at the four corners with strips of cord from a cotton shirt.
Setting
up beside me in an almost similar manner is Melchor Radovan of the
Alamid Mountaineers. His is of fine quality rip-stop tarp and
pricy-looking flat rope strung from shrub to ground. His tarp is big
enough to accommodate five people yet he welcomed me to sleep under
his shelter which I oblige and I immediately splay my PVC tarpaulin
above the dirt for my own bed space. I decide to make my shelter as
a storage area for the rest of my gears which amounted to nothing but
just an assortment of borrowed, foraged, improvised and hand-me-down
items.
I
prepare my dinner while there is still light and make work on the
taro sprouts, gumbos and green pepper and stir fry this after cooking
milled corn. There are no milled corn sold in Metro Manila
marketplaces and I bring my own from Cebu. All the participants,
except those few from the Visayas and Mindanao, got fascinated of my
milled corn while my “takway” dish elicit a lot of
questions from the urbanites.
After
supper, some of the participants converge on a tarpaulin awning
fronting the house for social time and a getting-to-know-you circle
ensued. It happen to be the birthday of Ella de la Cruz and there is
a simple celebration ratcheted up by her fellow participants. Soda
drinks and wine flowed all around while a full cake is sliced after a
candle blow-out rite complete with sparklers. Funny two-liners
passed around even while the heavens start to pour another flurry of
rain which stopped just as it had started. Boyet Cristobal arrive
just in time to enjoy the exchange of jokes and he got a lot of doses
of it as well.
Meanwhile,
Pastor Reynold Boringot (yes, Virginia he is an evangelist) I
learned, had made Mt. Balagbag as a training ground for himself and
for MCAP climbers and, not only that, he targetted the children here
as recipients of their outreach programs. The recent paint make-over
of the libraries of public schools of Rodriguez, Rizal is a testament of MCAP’s
willingness to part generously their time, resources and charity in
tandem with the National Book Store and KaEskwela Foundation – an
NGO. Quite commendable and endearing and should be replicated
everywhere.
Mountaineers
should give back to the highland residents and indigenous communities
in appreciation of the latter’s willingness to have their domain
and farming lands accessed and used by the former either as camping
grounds or hike trails. I have done a similar program such as those
mentioned above in the Babag Mountain Range of Cebu City and how am
glad to be with an organization that has a heart.
Lights
out is at 10:15 PM and I snuggle into the half-open shelter with
nothing but long hike pants, long-sleeved synthetic shirt, socks and
bonnet. It began to rain at dawn the following day – September 30
– and I awoke shivering. I try to remedy the situation by curling
my body as close as possible and place my bare palms between my inner
thighs to preserve body heat. It is a temporary relief which elicit
me short stretches of sleep that gets snapped, time and time again,
by the cold wind and drops of moisture running down the tarp.
Raymund abandoned his tent and joined us and we are now a crowd.
I
awoke at 5:30 AM and I see Dr. Randy Castro, Liam Fritz Doños and
Benju Pausanos braving the early-morning cold weather and taking bath
under the rain. I used to do this in the ‘90s to taunt and
challenge fellow mountaineers to wriggle them out of their comfort
zones. This time, I am challenged and I change my long pants to
shorts and embrace the rain half naked like a child again. The best
way to break cold is to treat the wind and the rain as your brothers
and embrace the cold.
Today
will be the main day of the MCAP Bushcraft Camp and, after breakfast,
I may have to walk an hour to a stream where there are groves of
bamboo. Bong Magana with friends arrive just in time and set up
tents with help from Jay Z and Marc Gana. Shirtless and carrying a
machete, I follow Reynold on a dirt road for the stream. Coming
along are Dino Sarmiento, Max Tercerus III, John Paul Martires,
Ulysses Ibarrola, Joseph Tagle, Boyet, Melchor and Raymund. Guiding
us are local grade-schoolers Dagul and Li-it. A steep path go down
into the stream with thick jungle.
There
are many groves of bamboo but it is of the “bagakay” or
“buho” variety (sp. Schizotacyum lima) which is smaller in
diameter and thinner in thickness than the usual bamboo that I used
to cook with rice or milled corn. But, bushcraft and survival is
adaptation and I choose the two biggest poles which I cut into three
sets of two unopened segments each. These will be my “cook pots”
later. We took a lot of time hunting bamboos and walking forth and
back that it is almost 11:00 AM by the time we reach camp.
In
a little while, two birds of prey appear and soar above our camp in
circles. The raptors are not that far and I could plainly
distinguish the length and color pigments of their wing feathers as
different from Brahminy kites and I believe these are serpent hawks.
I am fortunate to witness their welcoming presence and it is a good
omen for me. I hear them calling each other or it may have been a
welcome greeting for yours truly - the Trailhawk.
I
decide we first prepare and eat lunch before starting the the basics
of bushcraft and survival. I work on my last stash of taro sprouts,
gumbos and green pepper for my meal. Dino helped me with it by
stripping away the thin skin which may contain small amounts of
toxin. Jay Z and Bong shared their pork caldereta with me and it is
superbly cooked. Outdoorsmen should enjoy the outdoors with good
food eaten hot from the cooking fire and not rely so much with canned
goods and repacked food eaten cold.
At
1:00 PM, I start the bushcraft camp. Part One is Introduction to
Bushcraft and Survival. The participants make use of boulders on
a slight rise of a knoll as seats like a crude amphitheater. I
explain the idea of bushcraft to them; what are its standard
activities; where it is usually done; its relation to the
environment; how it affects your psyche; and why should it be taught
to mountaineers. After that, I proceed to Part Two which is Survival
Tool-Making. I discuss the most basic hand-made tools that a
survivor would likely use in his day-to-day chore like foraging
sticks, cordage, cooking/dining implements, friction devices, etc.
I
included a sub-module about Everyday Carry or EDC which
is Part Three of my syllabus. This time, Raymund do the honors of
explaining to the participants about the importance of EDC in
everyday living, whether you are in the mountains or in your
workstation. Raymund is a member of Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival
Guild and he specializes in EDC which he maintains for himself and,
at the same time, give pointers about this kit. From a distance, I
see thundercloud looming and coming fast. As I begin to resume my
lecture, rain fall hard and everyone go to the safety of the lone
house.
For
about thirty minutes, we could do nothing but wait for the rain to
subside. It is now 3:20 PM when I start Part Four and, this time, it
is about Knife Care and Safety. Bushcrafters are proud of
their blades and I assume mountaineers do likewise, albeit in a
discreet way. The choice of sheaths and the manner of carrying are
very important to minimize accidents not only to oneself but also of
others. Rain interrupted my lecture and have to transfer into the
tight confines of the house to continue my discussion. I talk about
the only knife law in the country – Batas Pambansa Bilang 6
– before I finish it with the traditional way of sharpening knives.
As
the rain becomes a slight drizzle, the class transfer again outside.
The boulders are wet and the ground very muddy and Part Five tackles
about Foraging. This is a sticky subject which goes against
the tenets of LNT but, then again, when you are on survival mode you
withdraw from whatever moral values you may have in order to survive.
I give an explanation of what needs to be foraged, collected or
hunted in the course of your survival or in your preparation for
survival. Foraging in the line of your preparation and being ready
amounts to nothing else but just scraps of natural and man-made
material. Hunting for food, however, is essential and absolute.
Part
Six is next which is Firecraft. I explain to them that you
could not achieve fire from friction if you could not even accomplish
this with a simple conventional method like lighters and safety
matches. Emphasis for this lecture would be more on what type of
tinder and kindling and the proper arrangement of your firewood so
you could successfully produce a flame. Methods, however, vary
according to convenience and efficiency and I am more inclined with
the bow-drill method as much better than that of the bamboo saw
granting you have determined the perfect combination of wood for this
which you could carry as a kit.
The
last part of the lecture is Outdoor Cooking and it could
either be done in the campsite, along a trail or during survival.
Survival cooking means that you would have to forage materials for
your cooking vessel, ingredients for food and firewood from the
environment. For demonstration, I teach the participants how to
prepare a bamboo as a cooking vessel and how to arrange firewood
preparatory to making a fire. The air is full of moisture and thick
with fog. The ground completely immersed in water and very muddy.
Firewood is half-wet yet, with persistence, a fire did start by
conventional means and cooking rice inside the bamboo begins.
An
hour later, under Kris Shiela Mingi’s and Randy’s watch, the rice
is cooked together with instant noodles done in an adjacent segment.
Ella and Randy decide to cook rice on another bamboo pot which they
did successfully while practicing to light tissue papers with a
firesteel set on the side. The rain refused to budge and everyone
went on their business of cooking meals for supper. Gene Jesus
Arceno and Kris prepare spaghetti while the company of Bong and Jay Z
cook pork sinigang and sisig. These people know their
cuisine very well and I get to taste some of the finest food done in
the outdoors.
After
a short lull of washing dishes and groping in the dark for some
private moments, all reclaimed their places under the tarp awning.
By now, a preview of camp storytelling and yarns – sans a fire –
begin to unravel. At 9:00 PM, the nocturnal hunting episode start.
It would have been done at the stream where we source our bamboos but
it is very far and I cannot assure the safety of everyone for night
foraging is a dangerous undertaking. I choose instead a brook beside
the road to simulate the idea of nocturnal hunting. There is not
much to hunt except for a small fresh-water crab and a field frog.
Wild strawberries complement the collection of food though.
It
is minutes past ten and we reclaimed once more our seats at the house
and continue our storytelling and yarns minus a campfire for we have
used up our stash of firewood. This time a glass of local brandy
make several rounds around the joyous circle. Jokes and funny
two-liners are exchanged among the campers. Camp Red stickers and
logo patches, a paracord bracelet and a Warrior Pilgrimage t-shirt
are raffled off to the participants. It is raining hard again but we
transfer inside the house to continue with our jolly activity. After
two hours, the bottles are drained of its content just in time for
the rain to stop and we make a beeline back to our respective tents.
Since
it is very cold, I unpack the SOL Emergency Bivvy that Jay Z
had gifted me during the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp last
June and try it for the first time. I slept warmly until I awoke at
3:00 AM of October 1 shivering. It is raining hard and strong winds
swept over our campsite. The tarp mat where my feet are is in a pool
of water but I am dry, thanks to the bivvy chute. My body is warm
but my face is exposed to the wind for I forgot to don on my bonnet;
my feet could feel the cold water touching the thin layer of the
thermal sack; and my hands touch condensed moisture inside the bivvy.
I longed for daylight as I try to sleep out the discomforts.
I
wake up at 5:45 AM and the sky is calm. Fog hover on the faraway
peaks of the Sierra Madre and over the lower foothills going down to
the municipality of Rodriguez, Rizal. A sinister smog hover all over
the Greater Manila Area and I could hear the distant hum of a million
vehicles running which a local interpreted as a roar of a flooded
stream. Today is Monday and people rush to work. Some participants
do leave early to avoid the traffic jam. For those who stayed, we
have a lot time to pursue.
When
breakfast is done, the bushcraft tradition of blade porn is
unleashed. There you go brothers. Place your blades and take a shot
of it and those of your friends’ knives with your cameras. I see a
Ka-Bar, a Smith and Wesson, a Columbia, an
Aitor, a Zachary Crockett, Leatherman
multi-tools, a SOG, Victorinox Swiss Army knives,
native blades, machetes, a tomahawk, a home-made blade, an ax and
sickle, even a tiny scalpel by Dr. Remo Tito Aguilar. All are spread
on a folding cot – a pageantry of the few who may soon become
legion.
The
last activity would be to summit Mt. Balagbag (770 meters ASL) and
renew our bond with flag and republic. I brought a Philippine Flag
for this occasion which Melchor attach to a bamboo pole that I
collected yesterday from a stream. The flag dance with the breeze
and we all sing the National Anthem which I lead. We then raise
right palms and take our oath of allegiance for country and then all
shake hands with each other for a successful summit. We go down back
and break camp. We say our thanks to Ma’am Lenlen and family for
our disturbance and walk to the trailhead.
We
transfer from San Jose del Monte to SM Fairview, Quezon City for a
post-activity discussion. Stephen Dayandayan is already at the area
waiting for us. Stephen would whisk me off later for Camp Crame for
some unfinished business and then to the airport. Last September 28,
Stephen have fetched me from NAIA Terminal 3 and hosted me at his
home in Marikina City. Later on that same day, we go to Camp Crame
for an errand by my office to submit documents but we had a lot of
misadventures and I failed. But today, I successfully submit these
at the last minute after a great trouble of evading traffic.
It
was a great and fun weekend with the participants of the MCAP
Bushcraft Camp. Despite the rain, the wind and mud, we made
ourselves comfortable as possible by cooking great food and making
light of the situation. I have given my time generously and imparted
special skills for they deserve it. These skills command a high
price commercially but Warrior Pilgrimage gave it back at almost no
cost at all save for replenishment of my air fare and for the
printing of certificates. Looking forward to the next batch.
Document
done in LibreOffice 3.3 Writer
Some
photos courtesy of Warren Bulasa, Gene Jesu Arceno, Paul Martires,
Jay Z Jorge and Dr. Remo Tito Aguilar
