NAPO TO BABAG TALES CXXIX: Camp Preparation

PREPARING A CAMPSITE for bushcraft or a survival training camp is one that I have done many times and I always have a checklist which needs to be followed. In the early days and on a few occasions of late, I do it alone. I love working silently. I have mastered this aspect and it also involves identification and selection, borne out from discovery of places.

More often now, I am with my people from the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild and it makes camp preparation quick with so many hands helping out. However, in a noisy crowd there is always someone dedicated to cooking the meals and preparing coffee. Even when the day is warm, these things, in an outdoor setting are heavenly.

Today, March 18, 2018, I am going to Sapangdaku, Cebu City to use again the campsite I used last year for a wilderness training course done for an outdoor club or maybe find an alternative. I am considering another location beyond the old campsite but it remains to be seen which one would be better.

I am not alone today. Going with me is Ricky Petiluna. He is organizing next week’s Basic Wilderness Survival Course for friends which he would also attend as one of the participants. We would meet at the parking lot of the Our Lady of Guadalupe and then proceed to the trailhead in Napo on motorcycles.

I am carrying my old-school Lifeguard USA canvass rucksack but inside it is my folding seat, which I love to call as the “SOP”; a US Army-issue folding shovel, a trowel, the AJF Gahum knife, the William Rodgers bush knife, a Victorinox Ranger, a Swiss Army can burner, a Nalgene bottle, my fire kit, a headlamp, whistle and cotton gloves.

It begins to go warm and humid as I led Ricky from Napo to Kangsi. The ground is dry from lack of moisture but the greens have not wilted. Sapangdaku Creek is noisy and robust, despite the absence of rain for many days. A smaller tributary, Sarapia Creek, joins it. The small stream still has water and that is a good sign that the “tub” will be good for bathing.

 

From the stream, we follow an ascending path that lead to an abandoned house. We rested here for a while to munch on water apples (Cebuano: tambis). From there, we proceed up the trail, passing by the old camp. Showed him the camp ground with all of its green meadows and ancient mango trees. 

This is the primary choice. Its advantage is it has a clean natural spring, a nearby stream with a small waterfall, bamboos on its lower slopes, abundant firewood, an established campfire ring, abundant vegetation for plant ID, trees for shades and my own personal bathtub. Its disadvantage is it is not hammock-friendly. It simply has too few places to accommodate hammocks.

After the inspection, we walk uphill, following the same trail to look for a local farmer whom I befriended a few years ago. He is not here yet. Maybe later. Instead of waiting, I brought Ricky down to Sarapia Creek to check on the condition of the water source. There is a newly-installed bamboo trough that channels the water flow. Very nice.

I check the stream where I think would be off limits to people, especially on a crucial moment like nocturnal hunting. I found it downstream where thick vegetation obscured the view of what is below it. That place gave me the creeps. It was dark and perfect for venomous snakes to hide. There have been sightings of Philippine king cobra (banakon) within the environs along Sapangdaku Creek and its tributaries.

We walk upstream and the water cascade down the small waterfall. After crossing the small stream we climb up a steep path and stood above the waterfall and examine the foliage of an ancient but wild johey oak tree (marang) which the locals mistakenly assumed for a long time as a tipolo tree (Sp. Artocarpus blancoi).

A path leads more of upstream. I need to check my personal natural bathtub. I am disappointed. The last strong rains have filled it with sand, pebbles and silt. Although I have a tool to dredge it, it is not priority. I have but a few hours of morning left, which I would use to inspect a secondary camp across a peak and dig latrines.

 

I retraced my path back to the marang tree and follow another path towards Mapawon Peak. It is a kilometer away and passes by soft disintegrating ground where the trail passes by. Since it is a peak, it is moderately steep and it takes some effort to reach the place. There are two holes where water is fed in it by two separate PVC pipes.

There are many trees here and it is great for hammock camping. I go down to a saddle where there is a giant power pylon. The ground is wide enough for five tents but I have second thoughts. It is susceptible to lightning strikes since the steel structure is a long conductor. I liked this place because but it could not host a big camp.

We go back to Sarapia Creek and then to the main choice of camp. The farmer is there also and he let me borrow his digging iron after I consulted him of using the place again for Ricky’s activity. I also mentioned to him of digging latrine holes since people would have to poop and I do not want the place and all around it spoiled.

We did not do much for the rest of the day except dig three rectangular holes very far apart from each other, on two opposing sides of a ridge, two for males and another one for females. The digging iron was most useful as the soil was hard, but the folding shovel made a big difference. In the old days, I would have crafted a digging stick and it demands lots of energy, which I am wont to expend when the sun is at its zenith.

Ricky was much satisfied with our working excursion and gets to learn camp selection and preparation personally from me. The checklist left a few blanks after that and the bushcraft camp is ready for next week. We finished earlier than we thought it to be and an early rest is more welcome.

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NAPO TO BABAG TALES CXXI: Campsite Hunting

THERE IS NO GREATER EXCITEMENT in the outdoors than that of hunting a campsite. It rivals a little with exploring a route, which is the most challenging. A campsite used for bushcraft differs so much by those used in mainstream outdoor activities. Bushcraft prefers places that is not conspicuous and flashy. The heart of finding a bushcraft camp is the discovery of a clean water source which should be farther away. Access to a stream is its other consideration and, of course, bamboos.

It is April 23, 2017, sunny and warm. I am not alone. I am with the guys and gals from the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild. I am leading the small party. We just left Napo and I have my sights to Camp Xi. This campsite which I always favor nowadays is accessible and easy on all ages and physically-challenged people. Camp Xi is a complex. It has many levels with good campsites and are inconspicuous when observed from the main trail.

 

Although I had already identified four possible campsites previously but I am not the one who is satisfied of first impressions. I need to search further for the best camping site. A gentle slope goes up from the Sapangdaku Creek and you only have to follow a trail. We stop by an abandoned house and plucked water apples (Local name: tambis) and star apples (kaimito) to refresh ourselves.

A cloud passes by and I resumed my uphill walk. I had been here a few times, the last was on September 4, 2016, and during that time, I noticed a good campsite. I did not stop to look around then as I was just passing through. After 20 minutes of huffing and puffing, I found the place. What I saw last time, I thought, was the whole area. I was wrong! It is bigger than I thought it was. To know the place better you have to walk into it.

Uphill of me would be another trail that goes down a small creek where there is a small waterfall. I could have plenty of water from there. Boil it if it makes it safe to use. The stream has bamboo groves and firewood are plenty. Well, I got all I need and I do not have to search far and wide. The new site is perfect. It has shades from mango trees.

 

Basically, it is ground good for tents and simple shelters. Places for hammocks are almost absent except for one or two places. There is a natural lecture area and there is a place to build a campfire. This is a good camping ground for next week’s event that I am hosting free and another one in May for a survival training camp. This is it.

The ridge I am on is actually bounded by two streams, the names of which I do not know. Maybe the farmer who farmed uphill would give me that information. I hope he is present. I walk uphill but the farmer is nowhere. I decide to go down the stream and prepare our meal somewhere there as it is now almost 11:00. We cross the stream and climb up a path beside the small waterfall. There is a huge marang tree (English: Johey oak) that grow here and it is quite shady. We will rest and cook food at the headrock of the waterfall.

I am quite amazed at this tree whose presence was not even appreciated by locals. They misunderstood it with something else – a tipolo – a close relative of the breadfruit. This tree could may well be an heirloom species, an original resident when Cebu was lush with indigenous forest. While the rest were busy preparing something to cook, I need to take a nap on the bosom of the marang tree as the day is very warm.

I must have slept for about 15 minutes. The guys are still in the middle of their cooking. They used tin fire boxes and aluminum Swiss Army burners for better management of fire. I fold my cheap laminated nylon sheet which I used as ground sheet and stow it back inside my Lifeguard USA rucksack. I decide to visit a small pool located upstream. The coolness is so inviting but bathing is not in my plans today. I went back to the guys.

I go down to the foot of the waterfall and goes up to the ridge where there is a small flower farm. The farmer is there and we talk. The stream where there is a small watefall is called Sarapia Creek. The other stream on the other side is Lungnan Creek and, beyond another ridge, is Busan Creek. The ridge I am on is called Kampredo and a hill across where there is a lone steel tower is Mapawon. My education today is answered.

I take note of these things because I am a writer and an outdoors educator. I need to be accurate with my facts. To those who sat in my camp classes and to those who read my blog, you only learn from the best, as I strive to be that, to satisfy your thirst for knowledge. I thanked the farmer and go back to my buddies. The meal is served just in time. It is another feast for these hungry bunch.

After lunch, as part of our entertainment, we parade our blades on a piece of log. The blade porn, is a bushcraft tradition which naturally sparks off good conversations and good camaraderie. We in the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild have adopted it here in Cebu and introduced it to the rest of the outdoors community as a novel activity. There never was like this until I pioneered leisure bushcraft here in 2010.

We washed black pots and dining implements and slowly packed it inside our backpacks together with the extra blades. We would go to Mapawon Peak and we took a trail that only few people use. I have walked this trail a few times and I liked it because I do not have to meet the mainstream outdoors crowd. I liked it that way and it is exclusive, for the moment, to my bushmen. The trail passes by a small flower farm and goes down a small gully.

We pass by an abandoned farmer’s shed and this place is mango country. There is a trail on our right that goes downhill and another on my left but I focus on the one ahead of me. It wind along the contour gently and the trail goes steep a bit as it climb up a hill. We arrive at Mapawon. On the peak is a dilapidated hut, long abandoned, and there are two big holes filled with water. Two PVC pipes separately supply water to the holes.  

 

It is also a good place to make camp here due to the presence of water which were piped from somewhere along Sarapia Creek. It has trees that gave shade and to set up hammock-and-shelter sets. There is a ground down a saddle that could host tents. One of these days, I would also use this as a bushcraft camp.

We go down from the peak to the saddle where there is a power pylon. We pass underneath it and climb another hill which the farmer said was called Katugasan. There is a stunted avocado tree that bear shiny-green little fruits. There is a trail to the left that led to a rose flower farm but I am not interested of getting snagged with thorns and touch substances like chemicals.

We reach a tamarind tree that marked another trail to the right but I am interested only on the main trail which I have been following for more than an hour. Then the vegetation disappeared. Right before me is the trail but all around it is a bare hillside and it is quite steep. It would have been easier if we walk from down up to here. Going downhill is kind of complicated. There are no vegetation to hold on to as anchor.

I got two fat guys with me and two females. The rest are regular guys who spend some good time outdoors. The path is now loose because there are no more green things to retain ground moisture. I hate mindless cockroaches who wantonly cut trees and shrubs just to make charcoal. It took us almost an hour on this part to see all landing safely at the trailend. We are now on the road and we walk a kilometer more to reach the parked Fuso Canter.   

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