MAN-SIZED HIKE XIV: Mantalongon to Mantalongon

I AM A MAN ON A mission and I am a man of my word. It is already 2015 and I am supposed to finish the CEBU HIGHLANDS TRAIL PROJECT this year which I promised myself that I will walk through in 2016. But other priorities got in my way that I let negligence get the better of me. But that will change. And I will have that promise a reality soon.

Today, February 19, 2015, I am embarking on the third segment of this Project after a hiatus of almost three years. Before taking on Segment III, I had prepared well the stamina of the members that will compose the Exploration Team as well as the items that we all need. I need this Team to be better prepared and organized than the previous ones I led so as to lessen waste of time.

I will lead the Team into places where mainstream outdoors people have not gone into before. There is more to Cebu and adventure can be most enjoyed here horizontally instead of vertical ascents. This is a four-day hike that will start from Mantalongon, Barili and, hopefully, would end at Mantalongon, Dalaguete. This exploration hike had first been scheduled in October 2013 and postponed to April 2014 and, finally, realized on this date of February 19.

After waking up at 02:00, I walk out of my house an hour later to the 7Eleven Convenience Store located across the Cebu South Bus Terminal and waited for the rest. Jovahn Ybañez, a trailrunner from Lapulapu City, arrived after me. Jonathan Apurado, a marine biologist and an inactive mountaineer, came last. Not coming but still part of the team is Justin Apurado, an electronics engineering student and son of Jonathan, whom I placed as reserve.

As in every organized explorations, there is the Base Support Team. Its primary function is communications and assistance. It will monitor the progress of the Exploration Team and will give updates on weather to the Team and informs the outdoors community in Facebook. Chad Bacolod, a communicator from Naga who is with Ham Radio Cebu, will man the desk. Another crew, Jhurds Neo, of the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild, will be on standby and would be mobilized when needed.

The Team, will carry a banner that describes our activity as well as the logos and names of sponsors. These are Silangan Outdoor Equipment, Titay’s Lilo-an Rosquillos and Native Delicacies, Tactical Security Agency, Jonathan Blanes, Glen Domingo and Glenn Pestaño. Also included are entities who contribute to the Team by other means like Camp Red, Mountain Climbers Alliance of the Philippines, the Philippine Mountaineering Blog and the Warrior Pilgrimage Blog.

The elements of the Team are proudly wearing the team uniform jerseys provided for by Silangan with the name of the CEBU HIGHLANDS TRAIL PROJECT emblazoned on the front. Silangan Outdoor Equipment is my official outfitter since I endorse their products through my Warrior Pilgrimage Blog and in fora where the outdoors community interact. I am wearing their Greyman Hiking Pants and carry their Predator Z Tactical MOLLE Backpack.

Aside that, the CEBU HIGHLANDS TRAIL PROJECT is officially sanctioned by the Cebu Provincial Government as a legitimate outdoor activity that would help them identify places where adventure tourism would be developed on the once-remote mountain areas of the island. This, after my meeting with the Honorable Grecilda Sanchez, board member representing the Third District, and Ms. Mary Grace Paulino, the provincial tourism officer.

The following are the narrative of events in chronological order that tell the whole picture of SEGMENT III, CEBU HIGHLANDS TRAIL PROJECT:

DAY 1 – February 19, 2015

• Leave the Cebu South Bus Terminal at 05:25 by bus bound for Barili.
• Arrive at Mantalongon, Barili at 06:40 and then a quick breakfast.
• Start of first day hike. Leave Mantalongon Livestock Market at 07:00 for Guadalupe Hills by trail. Pace: Moderate to fast. Weather: Cloudy.
• Cross boundary into Guadalupe, Carcar City at 08:00 and pass by Hunob Elementary School. Begins walking on paved roads of asphalt and concrete which is known as the “Vegetable Highway”.
• Starts communicating with Base Support of our progress by radio, through a frequency provided by the City of Carcar, and by mobile phone. Exploration Team use EAGLE ONE as its callsign while Base Support use EAGLE BASE. Radio equipment in use is a Cignus V85 VHF Portable Radio Transceiver but radio contact weak.
• Cross boundary into Mayana, Barili and stop at Lamak Elementary School at 09:30 to rest, rehydrate and eat trail food.
• Resume hike at 09:45 and proceed to somewhere in Sibonga. Weather: Partly cloudy.
• Cross boundary into Basak, Sibonga at 10:30 and stop to collect specimen and to document a strange apple-like fruit that hung from a vine. The fruit is locally known as “unlan sa bitin” and its flesh tastes very bitter.
• Stop by a communal water source at 11:30 to rest, rehydrate and eat trail food.
• Resume hike at 13:00. Pace: Moderate to fast. Weather: Warm.
• Arrive at the village center of Basak at 13:45. Head of village very helpful in identifying for us a mountain range situated nearby as the Tres Sierras Range.
• Pass by Cagay at 13:50 then stop at Libo at 14:30 to rest, rehydrate and eat trail food.
• Resume hike at 14:45 for somewhere in Argao. Pace: Moderate to fast. Weather: Partly cloudy.
• Cross boundary into Mompeller, Argao at 15:00. Left heel starts to go painful.
• Arrive at the village center of Mompeller at 17:00. Make courtesy call to head of village and ask permission to spend night at their multi-purpose building. Prepare coffee then supper. Food are enhanced noodle soup, fried chorizo Bilbao and milled corn. Dinner at 19:00. Weather: Cool. Taps at 20:30.
• ESTIMATED KILOMETERS WALKED: 23

DAY 2 – February 20, 2015

 

• Wake-up alarm rang at 04:00. Prepare coffee then breakfast. Food prepared are fried beef jerky and chorizo Bilbao and milled corn. Breakfast at 07:00.
• Start of second day hike. Leave Mompeller at 08:00 for somewhere in Argao. Pace: Slow to moderate. Weather: Partly cloudy and scattered rainshowers.
• Pass by Anajao at 08:30 and Tulang at 09:20. Radio transmission very excellent.
• Stop by a resting shed at 09:45 to rest, rehydrate and to eat trail food.
• Resume hike at 10:00. Pace: Moderate to fast. Pass by Alambijud at 10:20. Weather: Warm.
• Stop by a resting shed at 11:10 to rest, rehydrate and eat trail food.
• Resume hike at 11:25 for somewhere in Argao. Pace: Fast. Weather: Very warm.
• Stop at an open market of Bayabas, village of Cansuje, at 12:10 to rest, rehydrate and take a meal at a small eatery.
• Resume hike at 13:15 for somewhere in Argao. Pace: Slow to moderate. Weather: Warm.
• Pass by Butong at 13:50 and stop to take photographs of a huge strangling-fig tree at 14:40.
• Pass by village center of Linut-od at 15:00. Head of village very helpful in facilitating of our coming to the next village of Balaas through radio. Weather: Partly cloudy.
• Arrive at the village center of Balaas at 15:45. Make courtesy call to head of village and ask permission to spend night at their multi-purpose building. Head of village very helpful in identifying a mountain range situated across us as Canbantug Mountain Range. Likewise to a lone peak as Mount Lantoy and to a robust stream as Salug River. Prepare coffee then supper. Food are mixed strips of vegetable pear, pechay, green pepper and carrots; beef jerky; fried krill with tomatoes; raw sliced tomatoes and milled corn. Dinner at 19:00. Weather: Rainy and cool. Taps at 21:00.
• ESTIMATED KILOMETERS WALKED: 15.5

DAY 3 – February 21, 2015

• Wake-up alarm rang at 04:00. Prepare coffee then breakfast. Food prepared are corned beef, scrambled eggs and milled corn. Breakfast at 07:45.
• Start of second day hike. Leave Balaas at 09:00 for somewhere in Dalaguete. Pace: Slow to moderate. Weather: Partly cloudy.
• Cross boundary into Manlapay, Dalaguete at 09:25 and pass by Manlapay National High School.
• Arrive at Maloray at 10:45 to rest, rehydrate and eat trail food. Decide to investigate and explore Mount Candungaw for possible inclusion as a tourist spot. Arrive at first peak at 11:30. Jovahn decide to explore a cave nearby while me and Jonathan proceed to second peak. End exploration at 12:30 and return to base of peak. Ordered hot noodle soup as meal.
• Resume hike at 14:10 for Mantalongon. Pace: Slow to moderate. Weather: Partly cloudy.
• Pass by Ablayan at 14:55. Change pace from moderate to fast.
• Stop at a culvert at 16:00 to rest, rehydrate and eat trail food.
• Resume hike at 16:15. Pace: Slow. Weather: Very mild.
• Arrive at Mantalongon at 16:35. Visit first the Saint Isidro Labrador Parish to pay respects and thanks to Providence before proceeding to the Mantalongon Vegetable Market. A crowd begins to mill around us as we pose for the camera in the market.
• Leave Mantalongon at 17:00 for Poblacion, Dalaguete by motorcycles-for-hire. Celebrate our success with cold beer and food by the seashore.
• Leave Dalaguete for Cebu City at 20:00 by bus.
• Arrive Cebu South Bus Terminal at 22:00.
• ESTIMATED KILOMETERS WALKED: 15.5

This present Exploration Team had prepared so well in terms of physical conditioning that we shaved off a day of its original itinerary by our pace alone. Another factor which caused us to make this a 3-day affair instead of four is the presence of the “Vegetable Highway”. The existence of this little-known vein of progress actually is unknown even to some people living on the places we passed by. For most of those who lived along it, it is a blessing.

The Team officially have logged 53.85 kilometers of walking from Point A to Point B, basing upon the auto computation of Wikiloc, a web-based application which can either be manipulated by uploading GPS waypoints or by manual tracing of the route with a mouse, but it does not include the peripheral routes we had taken like the locations of our billeting areas which are actually located 200-300 meters from the main route and our climb of Mt. Candungaw. I believe we had logged more than that.

We each carried an average of 13+ kilos although we are observing light backpacking. Food, survival gears and our sleeping equipment had used up much of our cargo space. It is good that water could be had along the route. The places where we pass by are abundant of water so there is no need to carry more than a liter of water. Along the route are spring boxes which pour out cool potable water for man and beast alike.

On the other hand, folks see our presence on most of the places we passed, except at Mantalongon, Dalaguete, as unusual. They have not seen hikers or outdoorsmen or urbanites with backpacks before and they viewed us with suspicion until you break the ice by giving them a smile and a greeting. Ultimately a conversation begins, explaining your purpose, would make them see a bit but they cannot comprehend of why we walk when there are vacant seats on a few motorcycles passing by.

The completion of Segment III is but one step closer to my objective. The next routes would not be as easy as the finished segments nor would it ensure favorable conditions. Definitely, the next segments will not be a walk in the park and would demand navigation savvy from the Exploration Team, which that responsibility rests squarely on me. The CEBU HIGHLANDS TRAIL PROJECT from hereon goes on a high swing of difficulty but the team accepts that challenge nevertheless.

I have learned so much from the different segment hikes that I have had with different teams. This present team is so flexible and very much prepared for the physical challenges at hand that it had given me a great assurance that we can deliver the CEBU HIGHLANDS TRAIL PROJECT true to its schedule. I am confident that we could overcome one of the most difficult stretch of the Project, which is Segment IV, in October and the longest, Segment VII, in 2016.

Document done in LibreOffice 3.3 Writer