2022-008 | DISPOSING PROPERLY EMPTY CANS

OUTDOORS COMMON SENSE TIPS: This is the proper way to dispose of empty cans: 

1. After emptying, turn it upside down the whole day or night so juices and fluids go down directly to the ground and gets cleaned off by ants.

2. When it is dried and cleaned, push the opened lid back inside with the thumb. That lid is jagged and sharp and slices through your thin garbage bags, no matter how many layers of plastic you use.

3. Step on the opened end with your foot. There is no resistance and it gets flattened easily.

4. Step on the unopened end and push it towards the middle. There is a slight resistance but shifting your weight forward gets it flattened nevertheless.

First seen in Facebook

October 27, 2018

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I JUST HOPE THIS WILL find itself in school curriculums and outdoor-ethics seminars. This is a product of judicious observations and experiences that I have compiled through my many years of ranging our mountains and in wilderness areas and devising ways to remove harm and to help in listening the noise created by real and pseudo environmentalists against real and pseudo “mountaineers”.

When I joined a formal outdoors club in the early ‘90s, my outdoors awareness and values were shaped by what I witnessed. Most often, people would never carry their garbage bags inside their backpacks. Why should they? It stems from the fact that all the camp wastes are there and what if the flimsy bag burst open inside? What misfortune? 

Because of hygiene, they would rather piggyback the garbage bags outside of their backpacks or carry it with either hands. Razor-sharp blades of grass turn these thin garbage bags to smithereens that disemboweled the contents down the trail without the person’s knowledge. Or is it really grass blades that turned it inside out? Possibly but not all.

Opened cans, which still has leftover juices and feasted on by large flies, are deposited inside these flimsy black garbage bags, hoping its unpleasant appearance are forever buried away from your eyes. These same opened cans are half-heartedly flattened leaving the jagged lids as is and giving it the space to shred the plastic bag or flesh. 

Flattening properly increases storage space inside the garbage bag based on the instructions written in italics above. The properly flattened cans can now be placed safely in even the flimsiest garbage bag. You can even place that garbage bag inside your backpack. You just removed the hygiene issue with this method. 

Another plus is you just made space for more garbage to be taken in a garbage bin or a garbage collection truck with this kind of citizen’s initiative. What is more, you would be entitled to a prayer of thanks from a street scavenger who makes his living selling off junked cans to recycling depots and junkshops. You just made his life easy. 

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions. 

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

2022-007 | MORA COMPANION

IT WAS IN EARLY 2015, THAT I get to own a MORA Companion. My first and only knife from MORAKNIV of Sweden. It was a gift from my student who took the 2014 edition of the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp. It is made of carbon steel with a plastic sheath. The handle is made from a combination of different synthetic material which, surprisingly, produce a good grip. 

The MORA Companion then became part of my array of blades that I used for a living here in the Philippines. I am an outdoors educator, bushcraft and survival instructor, adventure guide, blogger and explorer. I travel with my blades when I do survival trainings in other parts of the country. I am also a knife-carry rights advocate, educating people about knife safety and carry ethics.

My MORA Companion, like all my other blades, are extensively used during my training sessions. However, no student would touch a blade until they listen and understand first about knife care and safety. Then I let them engage in knife-dexterity exercises during survival-tool making and when batoning notches. Although supervised, I would never know how they would use the blades when left alone for a while. 

When I examined the blades afterwards, some, if not, most, has edges suffering traumatic results. But one of the very few blades that had not been affected by that undetected and unseemly use is the MORA Companion. The result led me to believe that MORAKNIV has superior heat treatment which made their blades impervious to the wear and tear of use in the outdoors. 

Even when I know that the MORA Companion has three-fourths tang, I subjected it to rough handling as if it was a full-tanged knife by carving it on hardwood or of batoning with a heavy stick. The blade had not chipped nor bent nor it showed signs of separating itself from the handle. The hardness of the blade could be attributed to the preference of MORAKNIV to design their blades with industrial standards in mind. 

I have exposed my MORA Companion to salty air when I did an exploration of the Dayhagon Canal, an expanse of chest-high mangrove forest, mud flats and fish ponds in Northern Cebu, on April 2015. I slipped it in the chest strap of my backpack and inside a float vest. On other times, I used this on sponsored corporate bushcraft sessions with kids on beach and island resorts.

Then I did the unthinkable. I slipped my MORA Companion into the sleeve of my dive suit as if it was a diving knife when I participated in an international coastal garbage cleanup at Mactan Island in September 2017. Rust was never an issue for the metal responded well to my care. Immersing the whole knife in fresh water overnight and coating it with oil the next day solved that problem. 

The MORA Companion weighs just 110 grams, to include the sheath, and I brought it in my route explorations of the last six segments of the Cebu Highlands Trail Project, a long trail I established in between February 2011 and November 2016.  I brought it again when I hiked through my finished project, across the central cordilleras of Cebu, of a south-north axis, 408+ kilometers long in 29 days. I even carried this in our local Camino de Santiago, 10 days and 175 kms. Long. 

What I liked about the sheath system employed on the MORA Companion is that it is very safe to carry and remove blade. The hard plastic sheath kept the blade from cutting through to you when you take a hard fall. If you want to remove the blade safely from the sheath, you just hold the handle and, with the thumb, push the sheath away. Very child-friendly and a very convenient way to teach knife safety. 

The hole on the tip of the sheath drains water away when you are immersed in chest deep of water or drenched by rain. Because it is plastic, it discourages moisture to accumulate inside which causes rust to form on your blade and it is safe to store your MORA Companion inside its sheath although it is advised to separate both. 

The only downside of the sheath design is its belt clip. I already experienced two cases of missing MORAKNIV blades from two different individuals: one had a Companion and the other had a Basic. Both were used in jungle environment where wiry vegetation would snag on anything. It is best clipped facing inward instead of outward and hanging loose. 

I rarely open carry the MORA Companion on my belt except when I am within the comforts of a camp. I preferred its sheath clipped and tucked in a series of MOLLE webbings of a tactical backpack or just clipped inside of a side pouch of a bag when I walk the trails. Both ways, I could retrieve the blade quickly if I need it. My Companion is indeed a companion and I share my joys to you by acquiring yourself one. 

MORA Companion comes in military green, black, beige and pastel colors of blue, pink, green, and orange. Aside from carbon steel, a Companion is also made in stainless steel and is thicker by 0.5 millimeter. The carbon steel is 2.0 mm thick. There are other Companion variants like the Serrated, the Expert, the Heavy-duty and Heavy-duty Serrated, the Spark, the SRT and the Rescue SRT Safe, the Service Knife, the Electrician and the Fishing Fillet.

The MORA Companion and other MORAKNIV products are available online from their own website. These are also available online at Amazon and all outdoors-and-sports-oriented online stores. Here in the Philippines, it can be bought from real stores like Forged Philippines, Derek’s Classic Blade Exchange and Tactical Asia or online from them.

2022-006 | MOBILE PHONES & THE OUTDOORS

WISDOM TRAILS: The backcountry and your electronic gadgets do not mix. You cannot have both.

First seen in Facebook

November 19, 2018

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MOBILE PHONES PER SE are not distasteful to have and carry with in an outdoor outing. In fact, it is your lifeline for help when your trip turns out bad, given you can catch a good signal. It is just unthinkable to spend time with it oblivious of the natural beauty of the landscape evolving around you which everyone are relishing.

While it is rude to see people tinkering on their phones when someone is talking to them as an audience, it is just as rude on yourself to shortchange your time in the outdoors by willful and compulsive use of your phone or like gadgets. Freedom of the hills simply forgot about the topic on mobile phones. 

I know MOST of us are beholden to our cellular phones in all of our waking hours. Phones, because of its numerous apps, evolved as our own personal assistant. Without it, some would feel listless and helpless in how they make their day enjoyable. It is beginning to be a very obnoxious habit which you have little control of. Sometimes. 

But it can be controlled unlike cigarettes, alcoholic drinks and prohibited drugs where substance is inhaled, induced or injected into our body system that influenced our thoughts and moods. Battery life makes a habitual phone user shrink from continuous use. Absence of cellular connections makes them surrender to that situation.

There are no withdrawal syndromes experienced. No uncontrollable shakes. Just a feeling of anxiety and disorientation for a few minutes before one diverts his attention to his surroundings, unresponsive at first, but not for long. It is just a manageable psychological thing and a temporary emotional hang-up. 

There are places where your mobile phone is enjoyable and there are places where it is not needed and, therefore, kept in silent mode, unless you are expecting a call or a message. By the time you are finished, hopefully, it would not dominate your attention. Chuck it back in a safe place and enjoy nature with much vigor. 

One thing about using electronic devices in mountain environments is you may increase the risk of being in the way of lightning. The elevated areas has a climate of its own which usually differs from the usual weather forecasts. When the first sign of lightning appear, turn off gadgets and go indoors if there are structures. If not, stay away from highest trees and long conductors. 

The first photo shows a plastic box full of mobile phones. It belonged to students in a Girl Scout camp organized by Ateneo de Cebu Girl Scout Council of the Philippines. It simply is good common sense to separate these from its owners when you are in an outdoors activity or otherwise. It is teaching the adolescents discipline and prudence.

It seems the new values triggered by the arrival of the new versions of mobile phones – smart phones as they are called – have subverted the accepted human values on social etiquettes and behavior. Too much dependence on gadgets is frowned upon by society and use has to be regulated and the first place to learn that is the home. 

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions. 

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.

Photo Nr 2 grabbed from Bicycling.com.

2022-005 | ADRENALINE ADVENTURE HIKE: SEGMENT V

TEAM ADRENALINE ROMANCE have walked the entirety of the first half of the Cebu Highlands Trail before 2018 ended. For the last four sets of weekends, Gian Carlo, Sheila Mei and their friend, Apol, have crossed over “no man’s land” from Mount Manunggal, Balamban to Caurasan, Carmen, leaving nothing but goodwill and the thawing away of distrust that locals usually heaped on strangers.

After nailing Segment IV, they had consciously and purposely accumulated a total of 207.39 kilometers, a modest achievement but which, nevertheless, will increase, as their sights are now focused on the snaring of this great prize which only two people have so far achieved. The CHT is a difficult challenge and hard to wrestle. As 2019 entered, their plans of finishing the CHT are on due course. 

At 05:00 of January 12, 2019, we all met at the Cebu South Bus Terminal. The bus left Cebu City at 05:30 for Dalaguete. We dropped off at the road corner at 07:45 where we found a restaurant. At 08:30, we rode on motorcycles-for-hire bound for the village of Mantalongon, Dalaguete. We arrived at 9:15 and set about buying the needs for our meals which we would consume along Segment V. 

Segment V starts here in Mantalongon and terminate at Upper Beceril, Boljoon. This is two days with Nug-as, Alcoy as our resting place in between. Mantalongon has a huge public market where all the vegetables grown from around here are sold which is then distributed to the cities, towns and supermarkets. When we have bought enough vegetables and spices, we start our journey to the south at 09:30.

We left the very busy vegetable market and followed an asphalt pavement that became concrete. This is the other side of Mantalongon that barely had a visit by tourists. Mantalongon is also famous for being the jump-off point to Osmeña Peak, Cebu’s highest point. In the old days we walked from the market to the campsite which took us three hours. Nowadays, the trailhead is just a fifteen minute walk. 

The features you see around Osmeña Peak are everywhere even on this farm road, but much closer. Big baskets full of cabbages over the brim, some standing four feet high, are whisked from farms to the markets on motorcycles, a basket rigged on each side with ropes. It passes by you with the driver in full concentration on the road and his balance. Many such baskets wait for their turn beside the road. 

We pass by the village of Langkas, Dalaguete at 10:00 and we get to see the different crops grown on the many farms. It came out of the earth on all forms: cabbage, vegetable pear, spring onions, eggplant, bitter gourd, sponge gourd, string beans, mung beans, sweet potato, turnips, spinach vines, lemon grass, ginger, squash, taro, turmeric, breadfruit, lime, pepper, coconut hearts, bananas and their blossoms and many more. Such bounties earned the high Mantalongon Valley as “Cebu’s Breadbasket”.  

It was more of the same in the village of Nalhub, Dalaguete at 10:45 where we took a rest at a bakery to gulp down cold soda drinks to beat the humidity. After 15 minutes, we resumed our walk, oblivious of the motorcycles and baskets, full and empty, speeding by you on this narrow vegetable highway. At 12:00 we enjoyed noonbreak somewhere in the village of Catolohan, Dalaguete.

After an hour of rest, it was time to go. The narrow asphalt roads became a wide concreted highway. We are now entering the outskirts of the village of Nug-as, Alcoy, famous for its last stand of original forest cover. Along the way, we get to see some of this remaining forest, in pockets, as the land around it were trimmed to introduce farming. It is in Nug-as where people embrace tree farming. 

By 14:00 we arrived at the village center and did a courtesy call on their village council for a place to stay. Our arrival, however, was already expected by virtue of my liaisons with the Office of the Governor and the Cebu Police Provincial Office. Their multi-purpose building was made available for our use. After a very savory dinner, lights out came so early. Then it rained very hard!

We woke up to a very cold morning of January 14. The village and the whole landscape were swathed in fog. Even so, we have to keep the fire burning. On the stove, I meant. Under the comforts of a roof and a wall, cooking was seamless. After breakfast, we repacked our things inside our backpacks. We left Nug-as at 08:00 under a heavy downpour. The road was wet but it was wetter where there were puddles.

On this stretch of the road where there used to be a big coffee farm, the robusta shrubs were cut to make way for a fighting cock farm. What madness sometimes people inherit? Beyond the game cocks, the earth was turned inside out to the whims of another fake landscaping in progress. What got my ire is the building of a road into the last stand of the original forest of Cebu! I walked with a heavy heart for the government could do nothing with this madness! 

It was a long walk to the next village of Nangka, Boljoon which we reached at 09:15. The road narrowed into another concrete pavement. Farms and forested hills clasped each other perfectly to the joys of a passersby, seeing all these so close to the road. It was just beautiful and a balm for the soul tormented by the sight he previously saw and protested to the four winds.

The skies cleared for a while of raindrops as we approach the village of San Antonio, Boljoon at 10:45. Here we stopped at a community store to enjoy another round of cold soda drinks. It was at this time when a fellow hiker stopped by and introduced himself to us. He is Ronald Villanueva and he is the tourism officer of the Municipality of Boljoon. He invited us to visit Dayhag Waterfalls and he will be waiting for us. 

Naturally, we disengaged abruptly from our rest and hastened our pace, hoping that we would arrive there before noon. The waterfalls would be found at the village of Upper Beceril, Boljoon, and it was very far from San Antonio. We could never close the distance with the way Mr. Villanueva was moving. He was running, but we could try in our own pace. 

The road started to cant favorably for us and we arrived at a road corner leading to Dayhag Waterfalls. We have arrived at the terminus of Segment V. It is 11:30 and just a few minutes more we would be at this local resort. I have never been here but I found it, aided by signposts and a big welcome sign on its entrance. Entrance fee was waived because it was closed on Sundays.

Mr. Villanueva welcomed us and assigned a gazebo for us and, immediately, Sheila Mei and Apol changed clothes for bathing. Gian Carlo too. I followed them after I had rested for about 20 minutes but they were on the other waterfalls. There were seven. I did not stay long in the water. There was a slight drizzle and I need to dry my undershorts. I did not carry a spare. 

Mr. Villanueva surprised us with a free lunch courtesy of his office. It was black chicken (Local name: dongkoy) soup, grilled free-rein chicken, boiled bananas and unlimited milled corn. The food, except the soup, were splayed on banana leaves above a bamboo table. Meal was hand to mouth, literally, and it was deliciously cooked, especially the dongkoy. 

This was a real surprise on all of us, to be invited for a free meal and free use of this LGU-ran enterprise. But our unexpected visit in Boljoon was an opportunity also for Mr. Villanueva to take advantage of, upon knowing that Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei were genuine travel bloggers; while I, for my part is some sort of blogger and could bring clients here. It was, so to speak, a perfect exchange deal.

We said goodbye and many thank yous to Mr. Villanueva and his team for their hospitality. We found motorcycles-for-hire and we reached the highway at 15:30. Buses were full but we hopped onto one that was not full at 16:00. It would be a long way to Cebu City and the long day made us drowsy. It was perfect for the bus was airconditioned. 

Team Adrenaline Romance in their high momentum of adventure on this southern jaunt have acquired another 22.35 kilometers after snatching another segment of the CHT. They now have a total mileage of 229.74 kilometers and they are hot on the heels of the last three segments which they vowed to finish before the end of 2019.  

Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei wrote about their Segment V experience on the Adrenaline Romance Blog under two installments plus an extra on Dayhag Falls: 

Cebu Highlands Trail Segment V: Mantalongon, Dalaguete to Nug-as, Alcoy.

Cebu Highlands Trail Segment V: Nug-as, Alcoy to Upper Beceril, Boljoon.

Dayhag Falls: An Unexpected Surprise Down South.