THE TRAILHAWK JOURNEYS: AkyatCon 2.0

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES MOUNTAINEERS, Inc. introduced AkyatCon in 2016 to the outdoors community. This was a national convention for responsible mountaineering and for the conservation of mountain environments. It is where professional and leisure hikers, local communities, conservation workers, students and academics, national and local government agencies, and other stakeholders share their accomplishments, projects, technology, information, knowledge, and experiences.

The following year – 2017 – the UP Mountaineers celebrated their 40 years as a school-based mountaineering organization, and as an advocate of responsible mountaineering and environmental protection. Running parallel to that was their hosting the second sequel and highly successful AkyatCon, in cooperation with the UP-Diliman Institute of Biology, on the dates of July 28 and 29, 2017, at the Institute of Biology Auditorium, Diliman, Quezon City.

AkyatCon 2.0 featured discussions on mountain biodiversity and conservation, outdoor ethics, mountain-related policies and implementing issues, cultural and gender aspects of mountaineering, explorations and expeditions, emerging/current mountaineering techniques, technologies, issues and trends in mountain sports. UPM aimed in enlightening participants of such topics especially with the growing popularity of mountaineering as a sport and as leisure activity available for everyone who wishes to experience the outdoors.

From out of the blue, I was invited to give a talk about the Cebu Highlands Trail for AkyatCon 2.0, which I accepted. I could not believe it then. No less than the UP Mountaineers extending that invitation to me even when I have not submitted any abstract nor an application. It was beyond my expectations yet I had to honor that and prepared my presentation and sourced funds for my travel to UP-Diliman in the National Capital Region. This was something big which I did not let pass away.

I did not know that the AkyatCon 2.0 organizers have taken an interest in my Thruhike of the CHT – all 400 kilometers and 27 days of that – and it took place on center stage, which is one of several plenary talks scheduled for two days inside the 150-seat auditorium. I added more spice to that by mentioning the explorations of the eight different segments for almost six years and the difficulties of engaging an expedition without support from big corporate names. These were the very ingredients that the CHT came to be.

I forgot to tell you that I am not a mountaineer. I am just an ordinary outdoorsman who walked and ranged mountains as a form of exercise, as recreation and where I earn my keeps. I am a bushcraft enthusiast, a wilderness guide and an experiential educator specializing in the outdoors. The CHT is just a by-product of my creative mind. I just want to inspire people that you can make your dreams come true with hard work, patience, persistence and a dash of audacity.

I arrived at NCR by plane on July 26 in a very dour morning. There was a tropical depression and it was raining hard. I need not worry about AkyatCon 2.0 since it is mostly indoors. I availed of the offer of a mining executive and friend to enjoy the privilege of staying at the Holiday Inn Manila for a day. Yes, for a day, this lowly bushman lived like a king and I took advantage of the uncooperative weather by exploring every nook and cranny of my comfortable kingly chamber.

 

On July 27, I transferred residence to Navotas City. The couple Jay Z and Carla Jorge have hosted me several times when I visit Luzon for my training sorties and I took this opportunity again. Carla is a public teacher while Jay Z takes care of their startup business – Pacing’s House of Barbecue. They are very generous when it came to sampling their menu to me. I could never say no for theirs is the most delicious fare on this side of town. This time, I dined like a king.

Then came the BIG day, July 28. That was my schedule and I was the second speaker. The AkyatCon 2.0 have already started when I arrived and the first of three plenary talks for this day – Eco-Climbing in the Philippines by Anthony Arbias – was now in its infant stage as I settled in one of the cozy seats of the auditorium. Listening to Mr. Arbias, I began to learn many things. AkyatCon 2.0 was a very good event for improving your stock knowledge and I commend UPM for this idea.

My turn came and I talked casually about the CHT without any script. The slides lets you in on the groove naturally. Did you not know that long ago I have this fear of speaking before a crowd? I do not know what happened in between but I found out that I have this natural gift later in life like wine when it goes through its aging process. Yes I was quite aware that I was in a bigger stage. I was in UP-Diliman! Right before me were authorities in their own right, academics and idealistic thinkers. The best in the land.

 

I was given an hour for my discourse and that was fair. I just add incongruencies to elicit laughter so I could steer my presentation back and forth without interrupting the natural rhythm of the slide sequence. Adding icing on the cake, I talked about my recent Camino de Santiago, which overlapped some of the routes of the CHT. Questions came my way but they were the merciful kind and I was able to satisfy people. A token of appreciation, a terracotta plaque designed by Roberto Acosta, was presented to me after my talk.

With my talk over, I went back to the lobby area so I would meet the very people who made possible my participation in AkyatCon 2.0 and they were Leonard “Bunny” Soriano and Jom Daclan, the UPM President. Tope Ordoñez, also of UPM, informed me of a room reserved for me. I returned to the auditorium to listen to the last plenary talk – An Everest Base Camp (EBC) Backpacking Experience by Ed Magdaluyo and Doreen Candelaria.

Lunch got served in the canteen of the Institute of Biology Building for the registrants, organizers and guests. Bottomless coffee was available provided you brought your own cup, this is in line of UPM’s pro-environment advocacy: Green Is Good. UPM was generous of my participation that they had provided me free stay for one night at the UP NISMED Hotel, where I headed that way on foot. The weather was still gloomy and the star gazing session at nighttime was now in peril.

 

In the afternoon, breakout sessions were held. There were three topics each hour and you have to choose one and you have all the four hours of the afternoon to navigate your way from one topic to another. For the first hour alone you have the following subjects to choose: 1) Down-to-Earth Approaches to Light Backpacking; 2) Speed Ascents; and 3) Top of the World: Identifying Factors that Influence a Person to Become a Mountaineer.

For the second hour: 1) Mt. Maranat, Mt. Balagbag, and Oriod: Forest Protection Activities and Rules and Regulations for Hikers; 2) Wildlife Act: Reporting Protocols and Do’s and Dont’s; and 3) Mountains on Hiatus. The third hour was this: 1) On Philippine Caves; 2) Open Source Mapping, GPS and the Mountaineering Community; and 3) Friend or Foe: Introduction to Philippine Snakes for Mountaineers.

For the last hour of the day the talks were: 1) Experiences of a Woman Backpacker Traveling Solo; 2) Bikepacking 101; and 3) Trail Running 101. After the first-day sessions, I walked back to the university hotel in a slight downpour, following a path that passed through their famous botanical garden. Rare trees that I often saw on my ranging were all here and, where a few that I know not its name, it was here with labels. I wished I had more time and better weather to be with these native trees.

Second day, July 29, I checked out of the hotel and went back to the event site. The plenary talks started as scheduled and these were: 1) Accessing the New Adventure Economy as a Tool for Landscape Conservation by JP Alipio; 2) Carrying Capacity and Beyond by Caloy Libosada Jr.; and 3) Best Practices in Mountain Management by Philip Bartilet. When the talks were finished, everyone went out of the auditorium and into an indoor market.

 

The lobby was dedicated for booths and tables displaying branded outdoor bags, apparel, shoes and other items, sold at slashed-down prices, and I took advantage of that by acquiring a pair of Hi-Tec shoes. The crowd had doubled and I began to see familiar faces like Adonis Lloren of Lagataw, who would be giving a talk later in a breakout session; Jay Servano of Silangan Outdoor Equipment, my CHT sponsor; and Marc Gana, whom I mentored in a bushcraft camp at Mt. Balagbag in 2012. Or virtual FB friends like Fred Ochavo, Vernie Villarosa and Jay Plantinos

After lunchbreak, the breakout sessions began where you would have to choose one topic again from among three on the first hour: 1) Useful Plants in the Wild; 2) Impact of Social Media in Mountaineering; and 3) On Biodiversity. The second hour came: 1) From Capitalist to Naturalist; 2) The Tungtong River Conservation Project; and 3) Project AlaGALAan: Proper Etiquettes in the Outdoors.

The last breakout hour sessions were like these: 1) The Sicapoo Exploration; 2) The True Story of Rene, Abel, Kit and Lorna; and 3) The Palanan Co Sierra Madre Trek. Then all the audience returned to the auditorium once again to listen to Carina Dayondon talk about her topic – First Filipina Attempt on the Seven Summits. There was a raffle session after this where the top prize was an Insta360 camera.

It was just unfortunate that the outdoor activities of bird watching and the native tree tour got aborted due to unfavorable weather, along with last night’s star gazing session. On the whole, AkyatCon 2.0 was another success, maybe better than the first, and I wished there would be many sequels to come or maybe they would bring AkyatCon to the rest of the country. In my own little way, I would endorse AkyatCon anytime to as many people as possible. It is a treasure trove of knowledge and a bridge to start new friendships.

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Photos 1, 3, 4, 6, 11, 12 & 13 grabbed from AkyatCon 2.0

Photo 5 & 9 courtesy of Jay Plantinos

Photo 8 courtesy of Vernie Villarosa

Photo 10 courtesy of Fred Ochavo

PINOYAPACHE GOES BACK TO BASICS

I HAVE BEEN CLIMBING MOUNTAINS and hilly regions in the ‘80s here in my country but I do not consider myself a mountaineer. I do not know then that mountaineering clubs were already existing as early as 1970 and these guys have challenged and assaulted remote and difficult mountain ranges. You only know of this from tidbits of information from newspapers and from monthly leisure magazines, usually already so outdated. News travel so slow on those long forgotten era. Pre-Cambrian times.

When mountaineering became popular in the ‘90s, the University of the Philippines Mountaineers formulated the creation of the Basic Mountaineering Course (BMC) as a prerequisite for induction of members into their organization. Later on, it was adopted and shared to the different mountaineering clubs and the National Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines, the forerunner of the MFPI. Before or during that time, I was now a member of the Cebu Mountaineering Society and I have not heard of that. News does travel slow in that era. Jurassic times.

 

Fast forward to Facebook era. People flock to the mountains because their friends posted their exploits in social media and these places are now very accessible because it was pioneered by earlier mountaineers. While it may be good for local tourism, practicing the finer ways of engaging in leisure activities on the mountains are simply lacking and needs proper guidance and education. You see this all the time in social media: accidents, wrong attire, getting lost, rescued, retrieved, hiking on the wrong time, grassfires, unpreparedness, ignorance, garbage here, garbage there, garbage everywhere.

While the main purpose of the BMC before was more on preparedness, health and safety but, this time, the mountaineering community needed to protect the very playgrounds from these hordes of uneducated individuals. And so it became mandatory – with greater emphasis – to inculcate the Principles of the Leave No Trace to the new mountaineers as a side dish to the BMC. No, make that both the main menu. You would have to swallow both as a personal advocacy. It does not stop from there. You will ride the social media phenomena and educate people through there. Not by bashing but by intellect.

People, clubs, organizers and even government agencies are working against time in the hope of reversing a dangerous trend that social media unintentionally provided to a lot of people. One of these organizations is the Climbers League for Ideal Mountaineering and Balanced Environmental Responsiveness or simply known as CLIMBER. It is not a mountaineering club but an advocacy of long-time friends who would like to make the outdoors enjoyable and safe. They are based in the National Capital Region but they could be requested to teach and share BMC and LNT to the rest of the country.

Last July 22 and 23, 2017, CLIMBER came down to Cebu City to bring their knowledge and their resource speakers to educate members of a newly-established mountaineering club of Shearwater Health, a business-process outsourcing company based in the Cebu Business Park. CLIMBER, for most of the time, organize their own BMC in locations around NCR but, sometimes, on a few occasions, conduct BMC and other training on request just like they did in Romblon last 2016. Their instructors are some of the best in their own fields. Let us name them one by one:

 

Regie Pablo. He needs no introduction. Everybody knows who he is. For those who do not know it yet, he is the fourth Filipino to scale Mount Everest. He did it on May 16, 2007 and lost the endmost joint of a thumb for his effort, through frostbite. He is also recognized as the one who inspired the mountaineering community to form the Philippine Everest Expedition Team so it could place our country’s flag on top of the highest peak on Earth, which we did in 2006. He will be handling Introduction to High Altitude Mountaineering.

Erick Suliguin. A product of the earliest BMC batch of CLIMBER, went on to seriously pursue advanced learning in LNT at its Center of Education in the USA and came back to transform CLIMBER into a very credible outdoors learning institution. He is a holder of the LNT Master Educator, a distinction of being the only one among three Filipinos who has this learning to teach LNT here, the two being US-based. His presentation would touch on the Principles of LNT. 

 

Ronald “Fabs” Fabon. One of the most versatile resource speakers for CLIMBER. He could discuss anything relating to mountaineering and the outdoors. His long experience and wide array of skills made him very valuable to the mountaineering community. He had sharpened those skills when he was then a member of the MFPI Educational Committee. He would touch on many topics for this BMC and it is about Planning and Preparation, Gear and Equipment, Map Reading, and Knot Tying.

Ramon “Jay Z” Jorge. With CLIMBER from the very start of its inception. Currently is the administrator of their social media pages and also handles their marketing thrusts. While he has undergone many training, people here in Cebu remembered him only as a participant of the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp in 2012. His pioneering inclusion of survival as a subject in a BMC was revolutionary. He will be discussing Introduction to Survival.

The Boy Scouts Camp in Kalunasan was chosen as the venue. I happened to be there to support CLIMBER, along with the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild. There were eleven participants from Shearwater Health and they were augmented by people from Camp Red, to include me. I have never sat in a BMC before and I have no certificate to show that I have participated in one. Maybe this time I will have one to attach and show in my curriculum vitae.

In case you might know, this is one of the ironies of my life because I am often invited as a resource speaker in many BMCs for topics which are not found in their regular lectures. By the way, all the things my peers and I did during those Jurassic times were just common sense and it found its way in the pages of the BMC. I heard it many times from different resource speakers of many BMCs I have been in to. I learned these rudiments informally, long before it was called a BMC, and the CLIMBER event would just formally place an icing on my cake. 

After singing the National Anthem before the Philippine Flag, Jay Z opened the BMC to the participants on the first day, July 22. For a whole day, Fabs began his topics from the pre-climb meeting to choosing equipment to pacing to navigation. After dinner, Regie talked about his experience with the Philippine Everest Expedition Team which brought him to snowy regions, training and acclimatizing himself for the big day in 2006. His success came in 2007 and he did it alone. So ended the first day.

Giving Regie support is his closest friend and fellow Everest expedition team member, Larry “Hillboy” Honoridez, who came while he was in the middle of his topic. Regie and Hillboy talked about old times. Joining him in their circle were Jay Z, Erick, Fabs, Billy Anciro, Randy Salazar, Jonathaniel Apurado and me. The festive company ended only after the first few hours of the next day. I stayed with the participants in the BSP Camp and slept in my hammock.    

The second day, July 23, started after breakfast. Fabs began the part about knot-tying and ropework and culminated with the part about the post-climb meeting. After lunch, Erick took up the cudgels and discussed LNT for a whole afternoon. After dinner, and not part of the program, I found myself talking about the Cebu Highlands Trail so as to inspire the participants. Then Jay Z gets his turn exposing the participants to a survival mindset.

The BMC that CLIMBER introduced to Cebu was the 19th one ever since they existed in 2015 and the first one that I attended as a participant. CLIMBER has taken the right advocacy: Outdoors Education. With their effort, they were able to educate a lot of people relating to the different outdoor hobbies, most notably, of mountaineering. The mountains possess a different environment and unpredictable weather patterns. The BMC guides you to enjoy and cherish these places safely and help in the conservation efforts thru LNT.

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PINOYAPACHE MEETS THE GREATEST PINOY MOUNTAINEER

REGIE PABLO JOINED ME today, March 18, 2017, inside a Toyota Corolla driven by Jay Z Jorge. We would all be going to Antipolo City. The Climbers League for Ideal Mountaineering and Balanced Environmental Responsiveness, or simply known as CLIMBER, will be opening the 18th Batch of their Basic Mountaineering Course in Basekamp, a private camping facility.

I stayed the whole day yesterday in the residence of Jay Z in Navotas City and I am fully rested after a week of travel, work and outdoors recreation. A wholesome dinner at Pacing’s House of Barbecue settled my equilibrium to near normal levels. My participation in the CLIMBER BMC would just be in a cameo role of bed spacer and freeloader. Jay Z must have erred in inviting me.

Sitting all to himself at the back is Regie, the renowned Filipino mountaineer and Mt. Everest summitter. It is indeed an honor to meet and share a ride with him inside the Toyota. This unassuming man made possible the Philippine dream of putting the first Filipino on Everest, with which honor belonged to Leo Oracion, who planted the national colors at 8848 meters in May 2006. It could have been him, though.

 

Unknown to many, he was the wellspring of that idea when he made known his intention of climbing Everest in 2001, after acquiring the funds, the equipment and the sponsors through his own industry and connections to sustain his expedition. He was set to claiming that honor when he was talked and prevailed upon by the local mountaineering community to involve the whole nation. So it became known as the Philippine Everest Expedition Team.

On that year in 2006, the country achieved an unprecedented feat by placing two team members on top of the peak. He did not get that chance. He sacrificed everything for that moment but his never came. Worse, he was sent packing days before caused by internal politics of the expedition team. He nursed bitterness for relinquishing his opportunity in 2001 but he will prove one day that he can climb without a team with useless people and their personal motives.

His day came on May 16, 2007. He did the impossible. He climbed Qomulongma all by himself, by his own wits and, in the process, losing the endmost joint of a thumb to frostbite. But he survived the greatest ascent of his life and lived to tell his solo adventure. Quite a feat for someone who defied age and his critics. It was the greatest insult he could flaunt in their faces! I loved individuals who thrived in obscurity. Regie is a certified Badass!

 

I remembered featuring Regie Pablo and his Everest climb in my Multiply account back in 2007. I know only that his expedition was done on his own power, bequeathing his corporate job for that one chance which elicit my appreciation. I know now that he took the longer route, after a brush of betrayal and rejection. His ascent has more substance, more drama and more sacrifice than any other Filipino before him and he deserves that honor, in bold letters, as the Greatest Filipino Mountaineer.

We arrive at Basekamp and some of the CLIMBER training staff are already there. The participants are excited to be in a seminar that would educate them into responsible individuals. They would learn a lot, considering that CLIMBER is an advocate of excellent outdoors education anchored on the seven principles of the Leave No Trace. In fact, CLIMBER is one of only a very few local partners of LNT Center of Outdoor Education.

Jay Z introduced me to the participants as an “inspirational” speaker. I was caught unprepared for I was informed at the last minute. Maintaining my composure, I tried to be esteemed as possible infront of them. I appealed to the participants to be discerning and objective of joining in mass climbs and cheap bandwagon tours which tend to drain them physically and emotionally instead of gaining good impressions and memorable experiences.

However, DIY trips and organized tours by more responsible tour agencies are much better and yields you higher sense of adventures and better memories, provided you follow protocol, which you can only learn in seminars like the BMC. As my parting message, it would be nice to the environment and to the indigenous communities to keep these unvisited places all to yourselves and it would be better, as well, not to share it in social media sites.

 

Regie would talk about Introduction to High Altitude Mountaineering during the first part of the BMC. For that matter, he brought a big bag containing the learning aids vital to imparting his lecture to the participants. Real mountaineering starts at 4000 meters because air begins to thin and low temperatures starts to be a hindrance. These two, together with ice, avalanche and crevasse, would make progress painful and dangerous.

Altitude sickness, frostbite, exposure, pulmonary and cranial edema are the main illnesses that slows down expeditions and, almost always, it claim lives. Another difficulty in higher altitudes is the difficulty of doing body functions deemed normal at sea level like breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping, defecating and urinating. Because of that, the sport of mountaineering needs special clothing, safety equipment and high-end gear and a very complicated acclimatization process.

The bag is a treasure trove of items that have seen better days when Regie brought it in many of his mountaineering expeditions in New Zealand, China, Argentina, Kyrgyzstan, Alaska, India and Nepal, but his crowning glory in Mt. Everest made these items more valuable than ever. Each has its own story to unravel and are now collectible items. These items are a decade old now and still served its purpose as valuable aids in BMC education.

I was amazed at the number of tools and thought processes to accomplish an expedition in arctic and thin-air conditions. In cold weather, deprived of oxygene, your blood circulation becomes sluggish affecting your thoughts. Simple body movement takes an eternity to accomplish. It takes years of experience to get used to these harsh conditions and an equally harsh environment. It takes also a deep pocket to make a summit timed on the most favorable time of the year.

 

It is cheap if you were born and have lived there all your life like the Sherpas but astronomically expensive when you are organizing an independent expedition on your own. Lately, commercial adventure tour agencies organize climbs in the Himalayas region and the price has diminished so much by leaps and bounds and, because of that, summitting Everest or any of the fourteen 8000-meter peaks are now possible for everyone.

The Philippine Everest Expedition Team took this very economical course and their contracted tour agency took care of everything from climb permits, lodging houses, additional equipment, oxygen, food, transportation, yaks and a small army of Sherpas to pave the way for them. It would have been much cheaper still if they start from the Buddhist Kingdom of Free Tibet but it is much safe in Nepal with all these professionals.

Regie successfully climbed Mt. Everest after cultivating friendships and connections with Nepalese tour operators and guides. He is a likeable fellow, humble and simple, but he has drive which could move mountains like his plans in 2001 where a number of people woke up from their stupors and inspired a nation. Denied his chance in 2006, which was originally his expedition, he came back and proved his detractors wrong. He won the last battle after a painful retreat.

His name in Philippine mountaineering history is already ensured and his way was the stuff of legends. Regie is an asset to any organization which could positively harness his intellect, skills, experiences and insights and CLIMBER is just fortunate to have worked together with him in educating people. CLIMBER guarantees the education of BMC participants only from the people who are the best in their fields, which followed thereafter.

 

The afternoon of the first day is dedicated to Land Navigation which is handled by Ronald Fabon and, after dinner, Basic Life Support by Christopher Jazmin. During the breaks, I set up my Silangan 2nd-Gen Hammock and an Apexus sheet at the back of the lecture hall and chased short naps. While witnessing the BMC, I get to meet again Ven Ap of Ven Going Places’ Stories Blog who had featured me many times and who have helped me with sponsorship for my Thruhike last January.

The next day, March 19, is a whole morning of Ropesmanship and Knot Tying by Marc Gana. The afternoon is dedicated for Wilderness First Aid by Chad Angelo Torres and Leave No Trace Principles by LNT Master Educator Erick Suliguin. After dinner, guest resource speaker Jeremiah Dayto talked about Prepping. Jay Z capped the final day with Introduction to Wilderness Survival and Khai Fredeluces explaining the appearance and contents of a survival kit.

It was another worthwhile weekend that I spent, this time, with my friends in CLIMBER. Some of these guys have even sat in my different bushcraft and survival classes like Jay Z (PIBC 2012, BWSC 2013), Marc (MCAPBC 2012), Jeremiah (PIBC 2016), Chad (BWSC 2016), Khai (BWSC 2016) and CLIMBER top honcho Bong Magana (MCAPBC 2012). These guys know what they are doing and, as I have mentioned earlier, they are the best in their fields.

Notable mentioning is Erick, a product of CLIMBER’s earliest BMC batch, who went on to pursue advanced learning in LNT at its US headquarters and came back to inject CLIMBER into a very credible outdoors learning institution. From him, I now own a Condor Bushlore, a Browning folding knife and a NOLS patch. It was a very fruitful weekend and my overall 14-day in visit in Luzon, which brought me to Baguio and Zambales, culminated in meeting Regie Pablo, a Filipino mountaineer nonpareil.

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RAVICHANDRAN THARUMALINGAM IN CEBU

ONLY A FEW SOUTHEAST ASIANS climb Mount Everest and fewer still who climb it twice. That honor belong to a Malaysian mountaineer. He is no other than Ravichandran Tharumalingam. His first ascent was done in 2006 at the North Face from the Buddhist Kingdom of Free Tibet and the second was in 2007 from the Kingdom of Nepal via the South Face.

Aside that, he is busy training for the completion of climbing all the fourteen highest peaks in the world that stood at 8,000 meters and above; as well as aiming to finish the Seven Summits very soon by climbing all the highest peak of each of the seven continents. Despite a handicap of missing fingers lost to frostbite, he is set to climb Everest for the third time in 2014 without the aid of oxygen.

During his preparation for the big climbs, he came to the Philippines for some serious training by climbing with members of the Mountain Climbers Alliance of the Philippines (MCAP) at Mount Pulag via the Akiki Trail in Benguet and at Mount Batulao in Batangas. He travelled down the Visayas and climbed with the Negros Mountaineering Club (NMC) at Mount Canlaon in Negros Occidental.

When not climbing, he is generous enough to speak about Acute Mountain Sickness based on his experiences at alpine altitudes which he did before MCAP in Metro Manila and the NMC in Bacolod City. As his schedule will take him down to Cebu, he is also set to talk about AMS which the MCAP Secretariat had arranged except for the venue.

Since this blogger is a member of MCAP, I staged this event under the endorsement and sponsorship of Snakehawk Wilderness School which kept the tab for the rental of the function room of St. Mark Hotel, located at Queens Road, Redemptorist Plaza, Cebu City. The date was set for August 5, 2013 at 6:00 PM where thirty-eight people came.

Ravichandran’s patron, Habagat Outdoor Equipment, came in full force to support their veteran climber by giving away free items after the seminar. Backpacks under the Habagat brand, especially their Venado II and Sigbin models, were essential gears used by Ravichandran’s solo expeditions in the Himalayas.

Silangan Outdoor Equipment big boss, JR Serviano, also came to study the possibility of testing his renowned Rev 20, Amiel 5 and Eis 8 tents in alpine conditions during Ravichandran’s next big climbs. Silangan is a valued partner and sponsor of Snakehawk which, after this event, is set to stage the first ever Outlaw Bushcraft Gathering in Asia on August 30, 31 and September 1, 2013 at Sibonga, Cebu.

A million thanks then to the other owner of Snakehawk, William Rhys-Davies, who did the legwork of staging this successful presentation by an Everest climber here in St. Mark Hotel which come so rarely in Cebu and to Randy Su of Habagat, for his all-out support of this event.

Worth mentioning are MCAP Cebu members Maria Iza Mahinay, Darean Heyrosa, Chad, Bacolod and Johnas Obina; and Dominic Sepe of Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild – all for working behind the scenes. Special thanks is given also to Ramon Corro of First Gen Energy Solutions for his useful laptop; to Ronald Ramiso for providing technical expertise; and the coffee boys of St. Mark Hotel for the bottomless refills.

Below are the collage of photos from the seminar on Acute Mountain Sickness:

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FREEDOM CLIMB 2010

I AM THE FIRST to arrive at the meeting place in Tisa, Cebu City in the very early morning of June 12, 2010. Today is Philippine Independence Day and I aim to refresh my love of country by participating in the 2nd Freedom Climb on one of the two designated campsites in the Babag Mountain Range. Sixty-five summits will be climbed all over the country and around the world where there are Filipino patriots.

The EWIT Mountaineers will be at the vanguard of the most number of participants on a campsite above the former Swiss Chalet restaurant. They will start at noon from Napo in Sapangdaku. Other groups will tackle the route from Kalunasan and converge with the main group. Others still, will walk on the Babag Ridge Road from Upper Busay to this site.

Camp Red, on the other hand, chose to make this event meaningful by starting at Katipunan Street and camp on another designated campsite at Manwel's Peak, a knoll 150 meters away from Mount Babag which is the highest point of Cebu City at 752 meters above sea level. I am with Camp Red – a bushcraft and survival group.

Rounding up the rest of Camp Red is Boy Toledo, Ernie Salomon and newbie Marco Albeza. Going along with us is the couple Randell and Marjorie Savior and Glenn Tampos - all of Tribu Dumagsa and special guest Wil Davies (aka Jungle Wil) of Jungle Wild Adventure Tours. We will follow the route specially designed for this occasion – the Freedom Trail.

This is the second straight year that this route will be used for this event. Last year Boy T and Ernie successfully led the Cebu Mountaineering Society (CeMS) in the 1st Freedom Climb and camped at Manwel's Peak at a pace of thirteen-and-a-half hours under a showery weather.

Freedom Trail starts from Katipunan in Tisa and climb over Tisa Hills and Banawa Hills then it goes inside the edges of the Buhisan watershed and the Baksan teak forest, then crossing a road into Arcos Hills and goes down into Lanipao Creek where it joins the Sapangdaku River and then Napo. From there, it follows the Sapangdaku up river and climb any of the routes to Babag Ridge.

Our small group left at six in the morning after a quick breakfast. Ernie took the lead while I act as rear guard. We reach the bare Banawa Hills at an early hour and it is a welcome thought. Walking here beyond seven in the morning is torture. We pass by a couple of small huts and all took the opportunity to rest amongst a shade of aratele trees.

I carried for the last time my 80-liter Habagat Venado II. I could feel the backpack creak and grunt as it secured all my necessities for this traverse trek over some of the most gruelling trails in Cebu City. It is heavy but I can manage very well the climbing. I worry about how my knees will fare during a long downhill stretch.

Bushcraft is about observation and adapting and more on skills while mountaineering is more about mileage and altitude. I can do both. Showed Jungle Wil an improvised bat catcher made of bamboo frame and thorns called kaguingking. He thought it at first as a TV antenna. It sure looks like one from a distance until you go closer.

We walk along the edges of the watershed and took a short respite in Puertahan Uno. We did another short rest in Puertahan Dos after an hour of walking, Boy T lay on the ground exhausted while I decide to sit down for the first time. An hour-and-a-half to go and we will have lunch.

We climb Starbucks Point and make coffee in a shady clump of big tamarind trees. A flat rock served as table and we eat whatever snacks we brought. Marco shared his sticky rice (puto maya) and I consumed one and it made his pack lighter. For the first time, we felt the coolness of the breeze here and it is generously given by nature.

Refreshed, it is time to move once again and cross the Baksan-Pamutan road into a saddle between Mount Lanipao and Arcos Hills. We followed the route downhill into Lanipao Creek and arrived at our designated lunch area at exactly twelve noon beside a water hole in Sapangdaku River.

Instantly, Boy T retrieved his fresh seaweeds from his pack and prepared it while Ernie cooked pork sinigang and sauteed dried fish in tomato sauce. Marco and I tended the cooking of the milled corn in three small pots while Jungle Wil did the entertaining stuff. All the while Randell, Marjorie and Glenn watched the flurry of activity by our tight group.

After 45 minutes, it is time for lunch. The guests retrieved their packed lunch and shared it with the rest of the party. Tribu Dumagsa couldn't believe that we do cooking on the trail as they were used to carrying a prepared meal and eat it cold on the trail. Camp Red ensures everyone that all are comfortable as possible by eating food just off the fire.

We left at 1:30 PM for Napo and cross the Sapangdaku into a route that follow the snaking river uptrail. Going along with us are five rifle-carrying men. They are going to Kahugan to hunt birds, reptiles and small mammals and they wear long pair of blue jeans and heavy jackets. I envy them but I prefer to catch my prey with deadfall traps and snares.

We arrived at the foot of the Kahugan Trail at 2:15 PM and we overtook the first contingent of the EWIT Mountaineers led by Ariel Montuerto. I refilled my bottle from a natural spring and another party from EWIT arrived with Eric Rio at the forefront. Then came another led by Paulo Tallo. They are all friends and these young people are so dedicated with their hobby, the environment and the impoverished children of the mountains. They are kindred spirit and they are special.

We leave the now populated place and start the climb for the Roble homestead where, I know, they are preparing green coconuts for this special activity. The Robles lived in between Napo and Mt. Babag and it is a natural resting area for rehydration. We arrived at 3:30 PM and sat on the bamboo benches. Fele Roble have added two more long benches to accommodate more people but, it seems, many will come.

Ching Altar came here in the morning with her office mates and her American boss who have been trying without success to meet me in person after visiting and reading my personal blog. Unfortunately, they move too fast for our party and I missed the opportunity to meet him but they leave a couple of unused coconut meat which I consumed. He, he, freebies!

A little while, Eric's group came and then Ariel's. Fifteen minutes later, Paulo arrived and, I estimate, there were 33 people here including our own. Then more people arrived and we have to leave at 4:30 PM to give room and negotiate the Babag East Ridge Pass while Ariel did the same taking his group into the difficult Ernie's Trail.

I keep an eye on Glenn and Randell on this last stretch as both have been suffering from cramps every now and then. I know how to remedy this by applying pressure on the lower joints and then a massage to keep the blood flowing. Finally, we are over the ridge and walk a couple of hundred meters to our campsite. At 15 before six in the evening I closed the gap and pitched my tent.

In the half-light of dusk, I failed to stop my balled sleeping bag into rolling down the slope at a fast roll going in the direction of a deep ravine. I run after it and, at that time, I run like Usain Bolt but could not keep up with the pace. What is a sleeping bag anyway? At the last moment before it could teether into the ravine a low branch stopped it just enough for me to retrieve it at the last minute. Lucky me!

Exhausted, I lay inside my tent and drowsed awhile until Manwel Roble nudged me. Oh, supper. I must have slept for an hour, I guess. I smiled at Manwel and I went out to eat the meal left for me. Wow! Chopped cabbage in soup and canned tuna. I eat voraciously and consumed all, including sliced bread. Now, where did they get those? Ernie passed me a cup of cold liquid. Beer? Yes!

They must have drunk four-and-a-half big bottles of San Miguel Grande while I was asleep. A green beer case have only one full bottle left and another half-full bottle held by Ernie. The rest were empty. This is Boy T's idea of celebration, I guess. We talked under a starlit sky gazing at the bright metropolis below. After the beer, a tequila bottled appeared courtesy of Tribu Dumagsa.

Jungle Wil told me a tale while he was in a Mexican cantina. An old Mexican said to him that a glass of tequila will wash away dust, a second glass will make you drunk while a third one will make you crazy with sex. We all laughed at this thought and I evaded that third glass. I asked him if the Mexican have any idea about the fourth glass of tequila? Jungle Wil just grinned and I downed the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th glass that came my way.

While we were conversing gleefully, many more parties arrived in the dark going to the direction of the main camp occupied by the EWIT Mountaineers. I counted twenty headlights bobbing on the road. Meandro Abao of EWIT came forward our camp to see if we are alright. He is with Jon Consunji and Vince Delicano of CeMS and they started their hike at five in the afternoon. They will all camp at the main campsite and skip our place.

Many more came and it is already almost ten. Groups like ZETS, YAMOG, YAPAK, BAGTAK came for this event, not to mention other groups whose names escape my memory and the freelancers. I would not be surprised if the participants would swell to over a hundred climbing patriots. As fog began to envelop our small camp, we burrow into our tents and observe taps.

In the morning the big campsite across us are full of tents and they were like a rainbow failing to take off the ground. We cooked breakfast with more of this cabbage soup, noodles and canned tuna with our favorite staple – milled corn. After the meal we broke camp.

I carried a Philippine flag and lashed it at a 3-foot long slender bamboo tube and will be our flag pole. I pierced the earth with Glenn's wooden staff and slid the bamboo pole around it making our flagpole higher. The flag danced in the breeze. I lead the singing of the national anthem – Lupang Hinirang, then the oath of allegiance – Panatang Makabayan. Ariel and Meandro came to represent EWIT and joined in the simple ceremony.

Time to leave the campsite and we go down to where we came from yesterday. Boy T and Jungle Wil opt to stay in Papa Joe's store by the roadside. We leave at nine and arrived in the Roble homestead at 9:45 AM. We took a long rest while waiting for Boy T and Jungle Wil. They arrived thirty minutes later red behind the ears!

We would have moved downhill but Manwel's mother, Antonia, insisted that we stay for a while. She prepared and cooked two free-rein chicken for us. She is celebrating her natal day today. Wow! What a treat! The soup is so delicious, the meat so juicy. Milled corn and rice came with the viand but I chose the part of the milled corn where it kissed the pot's bottom. It goes best with native chicken soup!

After a short rest we bade goodbye to the Roble family. Just a little more downhill and we would be on the river bed. At least it will come close to being flat and it will be kind to my knees. The weight carried by the Venado on my back is multiplied several times with each step taken down ward and it hurt both my knees. Then that should be it. I will hang the Venado for good after this. The last hurrah!

We reached Napo at around two in the afternoon. We let the guests hop on the motorcycles-for-hire first before us. We rendezvoused at Guadalupe and Tribu Dumagsa parted company with us while Jungle Wil took a taxi for his flat. I opted to go home early and rode a public jitney twice. As I arrived home I made it sure that I send a message of thanks to Manwel's mother for her wonderful meal.

EPILOGUE:

MEANDRO ABAO notified me a week later that there were One Hundred Ten (110) people who participated in the 2nd Freedom Climb in the Babag Mountain Range and I'm sure the organizers – Filipino Mountaineers, Inc. - welcomed this news with such enthusiasm and vigor. I believe a new annal in Philippine mountaineering have arrived.

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