WE
LEAVE GUADALUPE for Napo at 06:30. Today – December 29 – is the
last Sunday of 2013. This is not a planned trip but the occasion to
do this, as time permitted, goad me to rally certain people at the
Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild to walk with me to the Babag
Mountain Range. Thus came Jhurds, Dominic, Justine and Faith to
break that cycle of indulgence on good food brought on by the holiday
season.
I
carried two liters of water for this, as well as my soot-covered cook
sets. As always, the AJF Gahum knife will take its place,
hanging proudly by my side, and my William Rodgers bushcraft
knife, silently protruding about by my backpack. We need to walk
early because it will be a long hike and the warmth of the rest of
the day will torment us. I believe that the wide-brimmed digital ACU
camo hat that Lester Padriga had given me will be handy. I consumed
just one piece of bread and a glass of water. I have experimented
this simple meal many times and have forged a trust on this.
Before
we reach the Lower Kahugan Spring, we break off the main trail by
taking on another one. This trail was mentioned some years ago by
Fele Roble as “mangapar”, a shortened version of “pares
nga mangga”, in reference to two big mango trees that mark
another branch of the route which is on the spine of Tagaytay Ridge
itself. For easy reference, I name the route as Manggapares Trail.
I had previously hiked this path downhill in January (NBT 57: The
Last Wild Place) and uphill in March (NBT 59: Reunion with an
Old Trail) and it will be my third time here.
The
connecting route to Manggapares Trail pass by brushland and mango
trees for some four hundred meters before reaching the first of a
series of newly-finished power pylons. The steel tower stand tall as
I gape from below and it promises you some views that you had not
seen from the other parts of the Babag Range. This could be the
beginning of Manggapares Trail but I am just amazed at how some
people construct this behemoth for several months in the middle of
nowhere and then abandon it.
I
walk on the trail and come upon another one with big holes all
around. As I was resting, I saw the branch of another trail that may
or may not lead to either Napo or Lanipao. My adrenaline rose to
another level upon seeing the prospect of exploring a trail that had
long been abandoned and unused for some time. It is a path worth
exploring in the future. Very well, I push onward the ascending
ridge and pass by another tower.
We
take a rest at a wide ground, cleared of vegetation with pieces of
charcoal all around. I see a grove of sand bamboo (Local name:
bagakay) and another grove of spiny bamboo (Local:
kagingkingon). This would have been a perfect place for a
campsite except that there is no water source nearby. I may need a
dry pole of sand bamboo since it is effective as a weapon because, I
know, we will be passing soon through thick jungle. I do not want to
be surprised by something lurking beneath vegetation. My right thumb
bled when I touched a sharp part of the bamboo as I was cutting it.
We
reach an unfinished tower where the rough road ended or begun,
depending on which way you came from. The road had not been used for
some time and vegetation begins to claim it. A small backhoe is
abandoned, left to the elements and to “cannibals”. I see a
missing alternator and a starter from the engine’s compartment. A
small cement mixer is also left behind by the construction workers
with the carburetor from its small engine missing.
I
am just wondering why they left behind the fifth tower unfinished.
Gaping big holes show each where the foundations for its posts are
constructed. We leave this and another tower loom overhead and
another one on top of a hill and that is it. From hereon, we will
not trudge anymore on a path with steel pylons in between. It is now
10:00 and I am hoping we will reach our resting point at 11:00.
Across
me is Mount Liboron. I passed by a trail a half hour ago but I take
chance instead to go around the peak on a path that I discovered in
March. I just hope that the vegetation had not claimed back the
scant trail I created there. I cross a barbed wire fence and look
for this route. It is gone and I mistakenly follow a scant path
downhill which led to more thick jungle. I do not want myself to go
easy on the temptations of a downhill path only to discover that you
are trapped in a boulder-filled watercourse where all nasty creatures
forage, a possible haunt of a Philippine king cobra (Local: banakon).
I
go back up to where I started to find another route when Justine got
hit by cramps. We rest for a while before proceeding to higher
ground and rest again when we are there. When I think that the
ground where I am at is in line with a saddle, which I believe lies
somewhere below us, I start the downhill search for a path. It is
slow painstaking progress, the big AJF Gahum knife doing its
work slashing vines and branches then sheathing it back when I move a
few meters and the process is repeated over and over until I see open
ground. In between are rocks whose ground underneath showed signs of
burrowing. Perhaps, by monitor lizards or by snakes.
We
walk down and reach the saddle and we take rest there. It is 11:35.
In ten minutes we will be at our rest stop to prepare our meal but we
were so exhausted that we need to boil water for coffee to get back
our energy. When we have done that, we proceed and reach our midway
destination at 12:00 (we are an hour late), which is actually a
garden with two tiny houses owned by Julio Caburnay. Julio had been
so kind to accommodate me on two occasions in the past that I
believed he will do so again which he does.
I
start the cooking of rice on butane fuel and resume to slice the
eggplants, purple taro, gumbos and spring onions then work on the
jute leaves and Malabar nightshades. Dominic proceed to slice
eggplants, sponge gourd, red squash and bitter gourds as well as
doing the cooking. Faith and Justine alternately watch over the
second pot of rice which is cooked on another stove and fry beef
jerky provided by Jhurds, who play music on his Samsung Galaxy
to entertain us.
Dominic
is able to finish the cooking of mixed vegetable soup and eggplant
adobo. I take two refills of the mixed vegetables and rice and the
rest did so. We were so filled up with the tasty food that Dom had
cooked but, even that, there were a lot of leftovers and we gave it
away to Julio and his family. Aside that, I also leave three-fourths
kilo of uncooked rice to them before proceeding on our journey. It
is already 14:30 and too few hours for the day. We may have to
sacrifice rest time though with full tummies towards Babag Ridge.
Cooking
for people outdoors with few ingredients in an uncomfortable location
can give you a lot of pressure but Dom had overcome this challenge
after a little coaching. Someday he may learn that skill and there
are too few good cooks who could dish out tasty food outdoors. I
know that a lot of outdoorsmen prefer to eat the easy way like
pre-cooked food or heating the contents of canned goods or doing the
cooking itself but with MSG and other artificial preservatives. Camp
cooking with less is not for everybody. It is confined to people
with the proper frame of mind.
Cramps
caught Justine again and we rested within a forested part of the
route. In a few minutes we will switch to the old Babag Trail. This
trail is now forgotten by weekend hikers and is unknown, except by me
and, perhaps, by off-road motorcyclists, as what Julio told me when I
first met him. Nevertheless, I found the trail in excellent
condition winding along the spine of Babag Ridge. It is thickly
vegetated that you could barely see some parts of Sapangdaku Valley
and Metro Cebu on the east and the wide Bonbon Valley on the west.
I
follow the trail until I switch on to another one that goes into a
meadow and along fenced properties which take a long detour going a
long way down and a long way up. Long ago, I used to walk straight
from Buhisan to Upper Busay without these hindrances. Property
owners begin to seal off their lots when people bring their racing
motorcycles on the trail, according to a local. So far, I have not
encountered them in the past and on the three occasions that I came
back here. Maybe in the future but I hope it never come.
Ultimately,
we reach the shoulder of Mount Babag where the trailhead going down
to Sapangdaku Creek starts but Jhurds is craving for cold soda drinks
and we postpone our downhill hike by walking instead towards a small
store along the ridge 350 meters away. We follow the road until we
reach it at 15:45 and everyone made themselves comfortable with cold
bottles of softdrink while I rehydrate myself with a cold bottle of
beer.
When
we had rested enough, we leave at 16:30 for Mt. Babag and then down
the loose and steep trail towards the Roble homestead. I am wearing
my newer Columbia Coremic Ridge 2 hiking shoes and it has
superb traction where it raise my confidence but, at the same time,
would expose me to risks. The sane side of me preside and I go slow
even when my feet are suffering from pressure of being confined in
shoes that has a very small space allowance. It is really painful
but I grit my teeth to absorb the soreness.
It
is a blessing then to take a rest after that tiresome hike and I
bless the day I made the Roble homestead as a resting area. I
rehydrate from their stock of water which the family prepared for
thirsty hikers. On request, they could produce young coconuts and
open this for you to savor the sweet juice. Since it is almost dusk
– 17:10 – we tarry just a bit and accept the offer of ripe
bananas. I donate a small amount of money for their upkeep and
proceed on the last half of the downhill trek in semi-darkness.
When
I reach the creek, I retrieve my LED torch to light my way. I am
drained physically and mentally and cannot afford to use my natural
night vision perfectly as I had when I get a good rest. At least, in
darkness, I am on familiar terrain. The train of lights that follow
ensure that all is well with my trail mates. We pass by where we
started in the morning and everyone are quite awed by the route that
we took. For them it is another epic journey but, for me, it is just
“another day at the office”.
We
arrive at Napo under the soft glow of sodium lights. It is 18:30.
We took a lot of rest time, injury time and an hour of trail blazing.
I am short of my expectations which I based on my previous trip on
the same route (NBT 59: Reunion with an Old Trail) but I am
wiser this time. Maybe I will do another repeat of this alone.
Document
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