TEAM ADRENALINE ROMANCE HAD walked through
the first half of Segment IV and came out stuffed with better appreciation of
the Cebu Highlands Trail. The challenges of the fresh sceneries that the “no
man’s land” route provided have excited Team Adrenaline Romance so much so that
they filed a leave of absence the soonest time possible.
When we breezed past Mount Manunggal on our way to Lawaan, Danao City the last time, they begun to enjoy the landscapes of their backtrail and picked off the familiar landmarks which had given their confidence a shaky ground to stand on. The second part of Segment IV – Segment IV-B – has different difficulties than the first and it offers another different side of Cebu. This is still a “no man’s land”.
We choose the Cebu North Bus Terminal as our meeting place on October 13, 2018. Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei arrived first. Later, Apol came, and we found an empty bus bound for Danao City. The bus left Mandaue City at 05:30 and arrived at Danao at 06:45 and we found a small eatery to take breakfast. We also bought extra food for our lunch which our itinerary says 12:30 at Mount Mago.
We left the busy city center at 07:30,
each astride in tandem on a motorcycle-for-hire, bound for the village of
Lawaan, our last place of engagement two weeks ago. We arrived there at 09:10 when
the motorcycle I rode conked out and we waited for another. We hit the trail at
09:15. We were following a paved road that was quite shady and very peaceful.
We faced a road junction and followed the one on the left.
The road rose in elevation and we were now exposed to the morning sun. As we walked over a ridge, we saw Mt. Kalabasa of Danao City; Garces Peak of Asturias; Mt. Matun-og, Mt. Mauyog and Mt. Manunggal, all in Balamban; and – surprise! – Mt. Babag, Cebu City. These were the great landmarks that we saw on our northerly quest that created furrows on our foreheads. As we checked our backtrails, these were now just drops of water in a pail.
Walking on, we passed by a farmer harvesting pomelo from his fruit-laden trees and gave us two which Sheila Mei and Apol devoured without a trace and brought another with us. We walked on and we arrived on the trailhead in the village of Pili, Danao City. There is a trail that goes to Mt. Mago but I have to make a courtesy call first to a military detachment located nearby.
After my business with the
authorities, we pushed north at 10:20, following the trail that go over the
ridges of this unnamed mountain range. The path is soft earth blazed by
generations of feet while all around us are green meadows. It is rolling
terrain without forest cover. On a rise, I read an elevation of 755 meters from
my Casio Pro Trek.
We still brought a pair of Versa Quicktalk Go UHF/FRS transceivers which we used for our communications in Segment IV-A. While I took the point, Gian Carlo swept last and Apol and Sheila Mei in between. We used the radio to check each other out when visibility is hampered by rolling terrain or when a branch of a trail placed Gian Carlo in a bind.
We arrived at the camping grounds of Mt. Mago at 12:40 and quite famished. We spent noonbreak here under the shade of one puny tree, enjoying lunch from food we bought earlier and finishing the one last pomelo for dessert. I noticed a pond. It had always been there the two times I was here. I excused myself and made a brief inspection.
I found out that it is a seep that
overflowed to a very tiny brook. I deduced that it became a small stream,
ultimately dividing Carmen from Tuburan, until it became a river that flows out
to the Camotes Sea. This unassuming pond could be the headwater of the
Panalipan River! We took water from the pond and washed our plates, spoons and
forks from twenty meters away dowhill.
We left Mt. Mago when dark clouds appeared with the clap of thunder and followed a trail in a forested area. The ground is dry and plenty of loose soil and pebbles. We came upon a very steep part which was kind of tricky. This path is so enchantingly silent that only locals know and, of course, me. Overnight campers would never go beyond Mt. Mago. We rested after that descent and rehydrated.
From then on it would be rolling terrain once more, passing by solitary houses and farms and, sometimes, a family of cows blocking the way. The trail goes down to the remote village of Bangkito, Tuburan. We passed by a public school, going into their center where there was a basketball game in progress. Everyone stopped playing and looked at us.
This was one of the critical areas
during the insurgency problem in the ‘80s until the early years of the third
millennia and everyone wanted to make sure that we were not armed. When they
resumed their game, I released a sigh of relief. Then and there, I did a
courtesy call to their village council while Team Adrenaline Romance stayed
behind to fill water from a water reservoir.
On the way back, I brought a cold big bottle of Coke. We emptied it fast and we hoped we could produce another one later. We prepared our campsite and then our dinner. When the food was almost cooked, I went back to the community store to buy another cold big bottle of Coke. But it was the last they sold to me earlier.
We had our dinner and pairing it with warm Coke was not bad after all. That night there was another basketball game and there were many onlookers from the different places. After the game there was a disco. The noise interfered in our quest to snatch that sleep. Motorcycles would park nearby and leave. Nevertheless, it did stop at 03:00 of the next day, October 14.
We woke up collectively at 05:30 with
eyes that hungered for more sleep. We prepared breakfast and, after eating, we
broke camp. I went back to the village center to give the village council my
appreciation of thanks in the form of a certificate, as I did yesterday with
the villages of Pili and Lawaan. This was for their hospitality in accepting us
in their localities and aiding me and my team during the exploration phase of
the CHT and that epic Thruhike.
We left Bangkito and went east for that deep valley under the shadow of another mountain range found across us: Ngipon-sa-Ilaga. I almost missed a trail were it not for a girl who was observing us. After asking her directions, we followed the trail down the deep valley of Anahawan. It would twist and wind its way among the lower foothills of Mt. Mago.
Cows and carabaos were tethered along trails and we have to make wide detours. When we reach a stream we rest for a while from the brunt of the morning sun. This was the same stream that I suspected to have originated from that small pond at Mt. Mago and this could be the upper portions of the Panalipan River. Downstream of me are small waterfalls and Team Adrenaline Romance had to change to Project BLUE t-shirts for a photo ops.
After a generous rest of thirty
minutes, we resumed our journey. The trails pass by meadows and farms and a
very old oleander-leafed euphorbia (Local name: soro-soro). The biggest I have seen. This marked the start of the
ascent to Taguini. The trail is well beaten and easy to follow.
We arrived at Taguini so early at 10:00 but it was empty of people and traders. I expected a market fair. I missed by a day! Anyway, we are two hours early for a noonbreak and we decide to have that at the village of Caurasan, Carmen instead. So we spent rest here and bought locally-baked bread and paired it with cold soda drinks.
After twenty minutes, we resumed the last few kilometers of Segment IV-B. Team Adrenaline Romance, perhaps, assured that the last half of the CHT was about to end, walked with a confident and springy stride this time. We reached Caurasan at 12:30 and checked in at their village center with our identification cards with a civilian interloper who insisted on voter’s ID!
After that, I did another courtesy
call on a military detachment nearby and then we ate lunch there. We left
Caurasan for the town market of Carmen astride motorcycles-for-hire. The ride
down to town was a long one and we arrived at 14:00, time good enough to take
it easy for our return to Cebu City. Team Adrenaline Romance celebrated their
feat with an early dinner in a Japanese restaurant inside SM City.
Team Adrenaline Romance had achieved one-half of the CHT by finishing Segment IV-B, which was 17.68 kilometers in length. With that, they extended their mileage total to 207.73 kilometers which was quite impressive! They had adapted to the rigors of what it was like when walking a long trail like the CHT which is partly wild, very humid, unimaginable difficulty in terrain and somewhat dangerous!
The lands we passed by in all of Segment IV, to include parts of Segments I, II and III, were indeed very dangerous if we walked it in another time, say 1987 or 1995. That is the reason why adventure tourism and outdoors leisure activities did not grew beyond the known safe havens. Many have tried to open these corridors among Cebu’s mountains but it never prospered.
The exploration of the CHT and its opening to the public as a guided adventure hiking tour came at a favorable time when such threats and troubles to foot travel have disappeared although residues of it remained which comes in the form of suspicion and distrust. By and by, people will come to terms with their past and embrace change which is harmless, fun and productive.
Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei wrote about their Segment IV-B experience on the Adrenaline Romance Blog under two installments:
Cebu
Highlands Trail Segment IV-B: Lawaan, Danao to Bangkito, Tuburan.
Cebu
Highlands Trail Segment IV-B: Bangkito, Tuburan to Caurasan, Carmen.
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