NAPO TO BABAG TALES LVI: The Battle of the Bulge

I CAN FEEL THE ADDED weight and I am not comfortable with it. The month of December had pampered my stomach and intestines so much that my bodily desire to crave for more of the fats and sweets that I have been regulating for the past eleven months had gone out of hand. I have added girth that my favorite pair of Mammut hiking pants is rendered cabinet-bound.

The result of a hundred table feasts had made me uneasy and I have to push away the nagging feeling of just being lazy and being near the kitchen all the time where my wife cooks tasty concoctions. Got to say NO today – December 30, 2012 – and prepare myself for battle for the year 2013.

I have got to train again this early before it is too late and I set my sights to my ever wondrous Mount Babag where, I believe, is sufficient to give me this challenge. Others got wind of my plan (and predicament) and make themselves available. So, I will share the trail today with Randell Savior, Dominikus Sepe, Ernie Salomon, Wil Rhys-Davies and Mr. Bogs.

When I arrive at the church grounds of Guadalupe, Ernie and Mr. Bogs were already there. Then my cellphone got busy telling me to wait for a Dom, a Jungle Wil and a Randell. Okay. Fine. Whatever.

I carry a 40-liter Sandugo Khumbu bag and it has a stove, fuel can, a small pot, a skillet, a stainless steel cup, spoon-fork set, an extra shirt, my EDC, my tomahawk and my fire kit (just in case). I feel that the whole weight is inadequate for training so I buy a kilo of rice and two kilos of pork meat.

The added three kilos will be my training weight and I don’t need to share it to the rest and I will dispose of these when I reach the abode of the Roble family as my post-Christmas gift to them. I also buy fifty-pesos worth of bread for Manwel, Juliet and Josel. It is good for the heart and the spirit to share something and do exercise on the side.

Would I need to eat breakfast before I start the hike to Napo? The better of me got the good answer and it says NO. It is already 8:10 AM when we all walk the asphalt road to the highlands of Cebu City. The weather is fine although it would be hot pretty soon when the heat would dissipate away the early morning clouds that hover over the mountain ridges.

When was the last time I walk this road? Ah, I remember. I was alone when I walk here to the Roble homestead last January 29, 2012. I was bringing seeds for planting then. Today, I still bring seeds. I have with me five nuts of the tabon-tabon tree (sp. Atuna racemosa). This is a native of Mindanao Island and it is used in processing raw fish as a dish.

Anyway, I practice my scant English with Wil who never leave my side until we reach Napo. From there we cross the Sapangdaku Creek and follow it upstream by walking on the trail high above its banks. It rained yesterday but the ground is firm although a few muddy spots are present which we simply walk around or step over.

It is almost ten when we all arrive at Lower Kahugan Spring. I add another kilo to my back by filling my one-liter Nalgene bottle full. Now they were discussing which way to go but I tell them that I am on training and would rather take the hardest route which is the one that passes over a flower farm and which is facing directly the sun. What bravado! Let us see.

From the creek I lead the way and when I reach a mango tree my resolve begin to wilt. I gasp for air while my “love handles” weigh now like elephants. A tell-tale cramp on my left upper thigh poke my senses. Recovering my tattered sense of pride, I block those that have plans to overtake me and pushed myself up the hill and that danged shade-less flower farm.

Inhaling deep I begin crossing the exposed hillside and glad to have reach a shady part and, this time, I let the others go past me. Above me are more flower farms and I am now more comfortable with my pace with nobody behind me. I am the last to reach the big mango tree where houses are found underneath and I relish the coolness of the place.

I would have stayed long but Jungle Wil do not like that idea and I need to wake up from my stupor. Well, got to push my sorry ass now and save me some semblance of dignity. Obviously, I got the heaviest backpack and what made it worse is I carry a lot of unwanted bulges in my waist now and this is a serious battle. Yeah. I am serious!

My going is slow and I can see the others moving far ahead. When I reach a lot of shaded areas, my disposition is improving a little. I do not have to chase the air for my nose and the tell-tale cramp begins to disappear. From time to time, I see Mr. Bogs ahead in the same predicament as mine but I try not to notice so he would not force himself to work double.

Finally, over the horizon, I see the big tamarind tree. Underneath it is the Roble homestead and my friends should be there by now making coffee. The last stretch would be hot so I conserve my strength for this moment. It is now or never and I give my one last good puff of rested breath and I am there after a great effort of ignoring pain, heat and weight.

I got hold of the bench post and how I am glad that the nearest bench is empty. It is shaded and the bamboo seats are very cool and I immediately let go of my backpack as I momentarily closed my eyes to savor at this luxury. Wow, I could go on like this and not move but I need to retrieve the goods that I intend to give to the Roble family.

Yes, I got it and I bring the rice, the meat and the bread to the house and give it to Fele. His wife just arrive from their farm up another ridge and she showed a smile of gratitude and thanks. That’s all I need to keep my spirit moving and it’s a good feeling. Now, time to get my steel cup for that steaming coffee.

Ernie begins his magic on the cooking while Randell, Dom and Bogs take care of the milled corn. Me and Wil are engaged in a long conversation about the possibility of putting up a wilderness skills school. The green coconuts arrive and so is Manwel. Ernie is able to finish the mixed-vegetable soup and pork adobo and we progress to eating these as our much-awaited lunch.

After an hour of rest and pleasant conversations, we bade goodbye to the Roble family and proceed to Babag Ridge. Jungle Wil lead the way while I follow him. We are now climbing the Babag East Ridge Pass. It seem that I recovered my rhythm. Blame that to the lighter weight although I get to carry eight cobs of corn that Fele’s wife gave me.

The progress to reach the ridge take more than an hour. I am a bit disturbed that there are now barbed-wire fences where there were none the last time I climbed here. A no entry signage is now found on the short cut route to Manwel’s Peak. People are now getting greedy, I guess, and they are falsely claiming land where, I know, are classified as timberland.

We walk the Babag Ridge Road under the noontime heat but it is cooler here since it is above 600 meters above sea level. By the time I see a landmark where the trail to Kalunasan start, we separate from the road. I lead while others follow. I see the steep trail being furrowed in the middle caused by motorcycles. Water runoffs from rain made it deep and it is an ugly sight.

Down and down we go over very slippery terrain and polished stones and into scattered copse of southern mahogany trees. Here and there are mango trees and flower farms. This is the No-Santol-Tree Trail which I found and explored in 2009. The last time I used this path was during the Night Navigation Training on April 5, 2012 which ended on the early hours of the following day – April 6.

After more than an hour of walking, we reach the Kalunasan Circumferential Road and we walk south towards Napo. It is 4:00 PM and I am satisfied with my effort today in battling myself of those unwanted bulges. We take motorcyles-for-hire back to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and then transfer to the Red Hours Convenience Store for our customary post-activity discussions.

What a day and I just wish it could go on like this everyday but I cannot since I am free only on just a couple of Sundays every month. Nevertheless, it’s a good start and I feel good now. My limbs are working fine and I feel a sense of a looseness now. I think I am ready for 2013 and that project that Jungle Wil proposed to me.

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WILDERNESS HEALTH, HYGIENE & SAFETY IN THE FIELD

GO WILD ADVENTURES, through William Rhys-Davies, recently made their presence felt here in Cebu by introducing the Wilderness Health, Hygiene and Safety in the Field to local participants on August 23, 24 and 25, 2011 at Mount Manunggal, Balamban, Cebu. This writer assisted Mr. Rhys-Davies with the preparation, organization and other administrative tasks to make this event successful.

This outdoors course is offered here for the first time and concentrates mainly about personal and campsite safety and hygiene and exposed the participants to the realities of the “big-picture awareness”. The participants were ferried from JY Square, Cebu City to Mt. Manunggal via the Transcentral Highway and the Cambagocboc-Sunog Road courtesy of Mr. Barry Downes.

Fine weather greeted the party on the first day. Mr. Rhys-Davies taught campsite selection and safety; knife safety; and cooking fire management. He further discussed about the option of choosing the right kind of gears and materials for the right season and climate. Tents were set up by each of the participants on the helipad area except Mr. Rhys-Davies and I, who both preferred to sleep outdoors shielded by tarpaulins overhead.

Dinner served were an assortment of canned goods, milled corn and mung bean soup but without monosodium glutamate which is forbidden by Mr. Rhys-Davies and this writer as an ingredient. Mr. Rhys-Davies slept on a bamboo bench while I favored the ground near the Pres. Ramon Magsaysay monument and covered it with dry palm leaves as a cushion so I could elevate a few inches if, in case, it rains and the ground becomes a puddle.

On the second day, the participants were taught how to analyze terrain for travel and how to place “Fred in the red shade” of a compass after breakfast and there was a friendly competition amongst the participants on who gets the perfect spot during the drills. It rained after that and the instructions transferred to the house of Mr. Leopoldo Bonghanoy, which is just located nearby.

Mr. Rhys-Davies continued the lecture which now touched about personal and food hygiene. I complemented the lecture by teaching everyone how to cook canned goods without using cooking oil. After lunch break, Mr. Bonghanoy's daughter showed to all how to process raw abaca fibers into cordage and twirl it into a rope with the use of a simple machine. Everyone tried their best to twirl the fibers and attain some discernible success!

After the rains have stopped in the late afternoon, I gathered a bamboo pole from a small stream and demonstrated to everyone of how to cook milled corn inside of a bamboo. It would have been a success were it not for strong gusts of wind that blew away my cooking fire every now and then and turning my milled corn half-cooked so I decide to cook another batch of milled corn inside of a Vietnam-era mess kit on conventional camp stove for dinner plus different menus.

Everyone retired early as the cold crept into everyone's layer of clothing and the fogs made it more miserable bringing slight drizzle. I worm into my sleeping bag partly exposed from the elements. By early dawn, heavy drops of water sprinkled my face and I'm forced to move into the innermost recesses of my shelter. For more than an hour, I sat and waited out the dawn shower to stop before reclaiming sleep for the rest of the night.

The third day brought forth sunshine and heat dissipating last night's dew and moisture. Mr. Rhys-Davies started the activity very early in the morning and begun giving instructions on first-aid responder duty and lightning-strike drills. More drills were set-up along the stream and along a road even as I prepared a meal of milled corn and cabbage soup on all the three bamboo segments.

The activity ended after lunch with a ceremonial toss of brandy by Mr. Rhys-Davies, this writer, Glenn Pestaño, Silver Cue, Lawrence Lozada and Raymund Panganiban. As scheduled, Mr. Downes arrived with his Suzuki Scrum to transport us back to JY Square.

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WHY I SHIFT TO BUSHCRAFT & SURVIVAL?

ONCE UPON A TIME in Banilad, Cebu City in September 2009, I meet two foreigners inside the Gustavian Restaurant. Both were very amiable and they look like veterans of sleeping more than a thousand nights under the stars. One is an American who goes by the name of Thomas Moore and the other is Welsh, William Rhys-Davies. Both are old-school outdoorsmen in the purest sense of the word.

Over swigs of beer, we were talking about Cochise's stronghold in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. Tom has a famous blog, I suppose, and it is titled Tomahawks Adventure and Travel. The “Pathfinder” and “Tomahawk” are his handles in the 'net. On the other hand, Wil is into adventure tours and outdoor-sport education and he prefers to be known as “Jungle Wil” and has a nasty former nom de guerre - “Cochiserattlesnake”. Ouch!

Without farther much ado, they have read my personal blog and arranged for this meeting in the Tap Room of the Gustav. They were interested into spending some time in our local mountains and we set a schedule after that but, Super-Typhoon Ondoy came and washed away our day. It was the only time I saw Tom in person before he embarked on his never-ending adventures in the States and elsewhere which are well-documented. Wil, he stayed long enough and climbed with me to Mount Babag in early October 2009 before going up to southern China.

These two middle-aged guys love what they're doing and that gave me some hope and a ton of inspiration. They are bushcrafters and they ache to practice their survival skills in the tropics. I live in the tropics and why can't I be like them? Too bad, I spend too much time on a hobby that teaches you nothing but gain high elevations and acquire expensive gears! These two guys convinced me right then and there to shift to bushcraft and survival and it is so familiar. Skills I neglected for so many years. Oh, Jesus, I hope I am not late.

I commenced by convincing my backpacking buddies Boy Toledo and Ernie Salomon and they were able to grasp the full meaning of this new hobby only after three trips into a trail I discovered, explored and designed for this kind of activity. It is a path less travelled and quite unknown to the backpacking community of Cebu. After that, they dictated to me of the most desirable name for a group to anchor behind local bushcrafting and so, Camp Red was born on January 24, 2010 complete with their idea of the group emblem.

The idea of bushcraft and survival is of a different level compared with other outdoor hobbies like backpacking and/or mountain climbing which are very popular here in the Philippines. The latter are quite bitchy about the environment and are more of sophistication and style whereas bushcraft and survival is more of knowledge, improvisation and plain common sense. However, bushcraft and survival is not very gung-ho about Leave No Trace. Bushcraft people find this very impractical, cumbersome and quite amusing.

Anyway, Tom and I exchange comments in between our blogs and in our Facebook accounts from time to time; while Wil come to Cebu every often and engage backbreaking bush hikes with the younger ones and down bottles of beer with the rest of the Camp Red circle. Ultimately, Camp Red became an identity of its own chosen craft and hobby; a trailblazer for bushcraft and survival here in Cebu and the rest of the Philippines south of Subic Bay. Thanks, in part, to Tom and Wil.

Tom travelled all over the states on a shoestring budget and it is so common for him to stand by a roadside and hitch rides to his chosen destination or do “dumpster diving” in the desert. He tried to hike his way to the tip of South America but his gears were stolen in transit. He loves Mexican food and drink gallons of coffee. Last heard of him, he was in Thailand; but, lately, he is now back in the States. He would have crossed over to Cebu from the Malay Peninsula, North Borneo and Mindanao when he ran out of greenbacks and decide to try his chance for a TV show in Discovery Channel.

Wil, meanwhile, does a dribble between Hong Kong and Cebu. Wil is a teacher and he uses his wide outdoor experience to teach people about wilderness first aid, camp management, trail preservation, ropesmanship, rock climbing, etc. He used to be part-owner of a Sri Lankan resto in Hong Kong and then with Jungle Wild Adventure Tours but now he concentrates his work on Bushcraft Asia(.com). Wil loves to sit at a sari-sari¹ store and greets everyone as if they are long-lost relatives.

By the way, Tom and Wil added some more of their survival skills from our very own Aeta brothers in the jungles of Pampanga. They spent a rainy week in the Pastolan Aeta village of Tata Kasoy and they have endeared themselves to the natives and their culture and have spent time, effort and blog space to put up funds for the Pastolan Aetas. Wil also have shown support for Camp Red by bringing in people to learn bushcraft and survival in Cebu.

Camp Red is not only a bushcraft and survival guild but it is a social group dedicated to preserving the environment through sustained photo documentation and reporting of illegal logging; and a proponent of practical tree planting activities. It is also a hub for budget backpackers and is an adventure partner to Green*Point/Circle of Friends, EWIT Mountaineers, Tribu Dumagsa, Cebu Mountaineering Society, Tribu Lapukon and Zubu Eco-Tourism Society. Camp Red is the fruit of my aspirations without being wrenched inutile by worthless rules.

After a year, Camp Red have stoked the fires of interest over many individuals but Camp Red is not keen about quantity unlike most outdoor clubs. To be honest, bushcraft and survival anchor its philosophy on a single person's common sense that would aid on that individual's (or a group's) survival. Camp Red's activities are tailored for a single individual instead of as a group. So, don't be surprised if I walk the trails on my own and never ever label it as extreme. That is bushcraft and survival and you don't need a group to practice it. Camp Red is just a means for these kind of skills and like-minded individuals.

There were many many skills I gained in the course of my life's journey; I used what is relevant in practical situations and took the rest for granted. Never have I known that the majority of these crafts which have lain idle would be worth a dozen-fold in bushcraft and survival. I have finally found what's really in my heart and I enjoyed all the things I do outdoors. This is also a worthwhile attempt to teach people how to use their wits while in the wild outdoors.

Oh, before I go, don't be fooled by those popular survival videos aired on cable TV. They are all scripted and are money-making productions. I have not watched one segment; the Tomahawk disdained it; and Jungle Wil doesn't care a bit. The best way to learn bushcraft and survival is to be by yourself in the bush. You are your own teacher.

“Chance favors the prepared mind”.

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1Local small convenience stores.