WE
AT THE CAMP RED BUSHCRAFT and Survival Guild begun to love Baksan
when we discovered its secrets that we decide to transfer our “dirt
times” there. At Baksan, we do not meet anymore colorful corporate
hikers. Of course, they know where it is because it can be searched
in Google Earth but going there is still a puzzle for them. Even if
they will accidentally find it, they cannot fit in because there is
nothing spectacular to talk about.
In
the old Roble Homestead, we frequently meet them there. Meetings are
mutual and friendly but we know that they talk behind us because we
are different. We do not worship Leave No Trace, like they do in
such vociferous manners on other people, yet they cannot impose it on
us. We have our own set of values when it comes to enjoying the
outdoors and LNT is not one of those.
We
carry knives and we know most of them cringe at the sight of even the
smallest Swiss Army Knife. We regard our knives as mere tools and we
know the value of this simple tool in simple outdoor functions or,
worse, during SHTF. Our difference from them stood out glaringly
with our joyous attachment to our unique tradition of the blade porn.
We delight at our “wrong turns” and it is the best thing in the
world.
We
blend well with the landscape by just being there and not mere
passersby. We can sit idly by a campfire and enjoy its companionship
of warm food and steaming coffee while some of these colorful hikers
would be busy spying on other campers of their misplaced garbage.
While some of them pounce people in Facebook by posting pictures that
hurt their make-believe LNT sensibilities, we dare them with ours
that totally ground against their beliefs.
We
are now at Baksan always to save them of their frustrations of seeing
us doing many things that ran contrary to their Western-inspired
outdoor principles. We regret to inform them that we never camp on
bald peaks nor make campfires there. These are the very places we
evade for it ran counter to our adherence of Blend, Adapt and
Improvise. On the other hand, we do not stay a minute and we had
rather be on our way quick.
This
day – August 14, 2016 – I am with these crazy bushcrafters. Two
male guests came along upon the invite of one. Our plan would be to
test the route between Tisa and Kilat Spring for we heard rumors of
this greedy Italian-sounding abomination called the Monterazzas de
Cebu trying to gobble up the whole of Banawa Hills and part of Tisa
Hills, thereby, close access to a valuable water source at Kilat
forever.
Although
it is still 07:30, by my own experience walking both Tisa and Banawa
Hills at this hour, it should already be warm. The hills are grassy
but devoid of trees. It is rare to find a copse of different trees,
most of it among deeper cleaves and on a few ridge tops. A power
pylon stood guard on the trail. Its presence a hint that a corridor
underneath it and its cables are government property. Why would this
Italian-sounding housing development pursue its project?
Behind
this low mountain range facing Cebu City is a watershed where Kilat
Spring is found and the imaginary boundary is just a couple of steps
away. Do not the Metro Cebu Water District find this position
irregular? Is it okay to supply water to the metropolitan area whose
source partly comes from the Buhisan Watershed Area which is now a
close-door neighbor of this Italian-sounding residential area?
Did
they check where their drainage flowed this time because there had
been silence lately of places which had been inundated with water and
mud coming from them in the past? I am just curious because one
small stream in the Buhisan showed brown and silty effluents during a
downpour. I understand it has been issued an Environment Compliance
Certificate by the DENR because you cannot proceed with earth-moving
activities without one? Is this ECC acquired with all the proper
requirements? Is it above board?
Is
it not a part of this Italian-sounding residential area transgressed
by a corridor of high-voltage power lines supported by two steel
towers on two separate points can be a risk to life and property?
Can City Hall just allow and provide them building and land
development permits without closely scrutinizing its close location
to a watershed and a power corridor? Would City Hall not consider
preserving a historical landmark that is now being trampled
underneath this Italian-sounding abomination? It is a kilometer-long
Japanese tunnel.
I
waited for the others as they slowly negotiate the trail. I found a
branch of a trail that would lead us to Kilat Spring. I know most of
them have exhausted their water bottles but, over that ridge where
there is an old mango tree, a path goes down into the Buhisan
Watershed Area and abundant water. It did not take long and we reach
Kilat Spring. We have all the water in the world. We celebrate by
boiling water for coffee.
Water
from Kilat Spring, according to an old-timer that I met some years
back, burst forth after the ground was hit by lightning. A stump of
a burnt tipolo tree is a testament to this incident which
happened many many years ago. The water is now caught inside a
concrete box and is diverted to the dam structure to serve as water
supply for the MCWD engineers while the rest just flows freely thru a
tap. Above the spring is a talo-ot
tree, which nurtures the fine quality of the spring.
After
45 minutes we proceed to the Portal. We are now traversing thick
jungle on a path that had not been used frequently by many people as
before. Some parts of the trail are beginning to be overrun by weeds
and it came at a point where there is a spot that had, so many times,
led me to walk in circles and I am doing it again. I finally caught
the true path and it relieved all the stress that I am now beginning
to accumulate.
We
pass by a forest of mixed sugar palms (Local name: idyok) and
upland marsh palms (saksak). There has been an attempt to
burn down these and a few of the palms are molested and cut without
meaning. How could anyone be so vicious on these palms? I carefully
pull the hair-like fibers of a sugar palm and the others did so. We
collect this for our fire-making needs as it is a good tinder. I
stuffed mine inside a small plastic bag where it will be transferred
to my fire kit soon.
We
reach the Portal but we continue until we reach Sibalas, the “Navel
of Baksan”. There is also a natural spring here which is now
housed inside a concrete box. Nearby, is the resting hut of the old
steward of the water source and of the big swath of the place itself
– Luceno Laborte or Noy Ceno. He is around and Jhurds Neo, the
head shed of the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild, gave him two
brand-new stainless-steel cups which elicit a very happy smile from
him.
Everybody
settled down and proceed to the foraging of dry firewood, which are
few. Nevertheless, we have ways to make it fire-ready. The sound of
wood being split by knives echoes down to where I sat talking to Noy
Ceno and Jhurds. I watch the two guests, both wearing red t-shirts,
watching silently the show the guys are now running. It would be
their first time to see “dirt time” and they are glued to the
spot where they are crouched.
Ernie
Salomon, the camp fixer, is busy preparing the food while the rest
are keeping him company in the slicing business. Fires are lit on
two hearths. A pot for coffee is now above one while another pot of
rice claims the other. Ernie’s home-made hobo stove spews out a
smoke and a tin cup for coffee is placed over it. I was tired of the
hike. Maybe I am just too busy. I was guiding people yesterday. Or
maybe I am getting old.
I
drank coffee again and I tinker with my Cignus V85 VHF radio. I am
able to contact amateur station DV7FAL of Linao, Talisay City from my
hidden location in Baksan, bouncing my signal to a steep flank of
Banawa Hills which then makes a ping-pong to a repeater in Busay.
Ingenious maneuver. When you are into ham radio, you tend to
experiment and that is what I just did with an inferior made-in-China
equipment. Think of what I could do with a Japan-branded radio?
Immediately
after that, I caught the attention and interest of Christopher
Ngosiok, Nelson Tan and the two guests about ham radio. We talked
about licensing, acquisition of radios, review classes and preparing
for that written examination administered by the National
Telecommunications Commission. I am a licensed ham operator for
three years now and I carry a callsign of DW7EUV. Many of the guys
from the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild are licensed hams.
Radio
equipment is always part of mine and someone else’s gear. Radio
communications is essential when SHTF sets in. I have personally
witnessed cellular signals fail in the aftermath of a 7.2 earthquake
in Bohol and in places in the path of Typhoon Haiyan. Only radio
signals were able to provide a link between the distressed
communities and relief agencies. It happened in 2013 in many places
of Bohol, Leyte, Samar and Northern Cebu.
Spoon
is rapped on a pot lid, signalling the start of our late lunch.
Ernie did wonders with chicken meat with an estofado dish.
For a dayhike, we at the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild are
pampered to feast like kings! How could we reduce our weight with
food like that? More servings please! We gave a share of the meal
to Noy Ceno and his family and our bellies bloat like that of
Jhurds’. Hahaha…
When
dark clouds begun to appear in the middle of the afternoon, we decide
to pack our things back into our bags, including the blackened pots.
We will be exiting to Guadalupe this time but, first, we will have to
pass Enas. I lost the trail to there and I decide to explore the
many strange trails that crisscross Lower Baksan until I call it
quits and followed a trail that led to high ground. So familiar.
So, Bebut’s Trail it is.
We
go down that dreaded place called “Heartbreak Ridge”. We walk on
the fringes of that Italian-sounding abomination and I see they are
now starting to fence off the poorer quarters. How can you fence off
a fault line? It is recently discovered in Buhisan, just at their
back. I wished the new homeowners well.
Document
done in LibreOffice 5.2 Writer
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