MAN-SIZED HIKE XIII: Badian Coast to Dalaguete Coast

THIS WOULD BE THE last Sunday of training for the intrepid individuals who will compose the Exploration Team of Segment III of the Cebu Highlands Trail Project. Today, February 8, 2015, we will do a coast-to-coast hike and climb from the Municipality of Badian to the Municipality of Dalaguete with Osmeña Peak as the highlight of the route. It is 34 kilometers long according to a road marker on the junction of the highway in Badian.

We will be on Survival Hike Training. We will just subsist on bread and water. We will have to forego again lunch in between Point A and Point B, unlike that which I used to do with my other activities. During Segment III, time would be of essence since we would have to cover a lot of ground under daylight hours and we could have that deserved meal only during dinner and breakfast. We will also train on speed and endurance and, for me, getting used to the load I will carry during Segment III.

I am the project director of the Cebu Highlands Trail Project since this is my brainchild. It is a personal undertaking that is supported by both the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild and the Mountain Climbers Alliance of the Philippines. Sponsors who had contributed equipment and other logistics for this project are Silangan Outdoor Equipment, Mr. Jonathan Blanes, Mr. Glen Domingo, Mr. Aljew Frasco, Mr. Glen Pestaño, Titay’s Lilo-an Rosquillos and Tactical Security Agency.

I am also the team leader and navigator of the Exploration Team. The team is composed of Jonathan Apurado and Jovahn Ybañez with Justin Apurado as reserve. They are all here for today’s activity and they will face and brave the yet untried but intimidating route with me. It had rained when I am about to leave my house 03:00 and I liked the omen I received. I walk from home to the direction of the Cebu South Bus Terminal and take a short nap.

The bus leave Cebu City for Badian at 05:30. We cannot be at Badian at 07:00 since I miscalculated the departure time and I have to make do with a 08:00 arrival. We reach Badian at 08:15 and we start our foot journey at 08:35 after some personal necessities. We walk on the road for the village of Basak, which we reach at 09:40. At Basak, the trailhead to Southern Cebu Mountain Range is found and I retrieve my AJF Gahum knife and open carry it. Jonathan and Justin do likewise with their knives.

The weather is cloudy since we left the national highway and it augured well to our cause. I am most worried with the 10 kilo load in my Silangan Predator Z bag because I might bog down when the route would get difficult in very warm temperature. I follow the trail from memory over rocky terrain and small farms. We reach a small community of Malagaring and eat our first pieces of bread and drink water. It is good to take a rest, but not for long.

We meet the first party of overnight visitors of Osmeña Peak. They are poor creatures utilizing minors to carry the loads for them. Not a good idea. I decide to shift to a different route down a small valley which I have had the lust to explore. This is the best moment to undertake that and the best moment as well to evade the Malagaring Trail which would be crowded by the same people we had met earlier.

The path is good but there is less forest cover. It is used for farming. The route is also used by charcoal gatherers. Here and there and everywhere are spots of ground used in charcoal making and, on three occasions, smoke emit from mounds of earth indicating charcoal in the making. A very light shower fall from the skies and make limestones slippery. I have developed trust on my 5.11 Tactical Series Shoes and I am not worried.

The only worry from this pair is that the energy caused by the pounding of feet on ground are not absorbed well by the rubber soles but transferred directly instead to the feet soles as what happened the last time when we were on another training from Lutopan, Toledo City over the middle spine of Cebu and down the road to South Poblacion, San Fernando. My feet soles were in great pain after that and a skin on the tip of my left heel burst.

Today, I added rubber insoles to my shoes and added another layer of thin socks next to my skin apart from the Kailas hike socks I preferred using. The trail ascends in easy gradual stages but when the sun is out I begin to feel my energy sapping. We stop to rest near a smoking charcoal mound and eat our second pieces of bread and drink water. It is good to just sit and recover your breathing.

We continue on and the trail begins to go steep and pass by farms of taro and walls of limestone so close together. I see a lot of caves here and I like caves but not to the extent of using it as a venue for commercial and leisurely activities. This route is so “lonely” but I like it the way it is. It suits well to my interest of bushcraft and survival. I see water seep down from the rock wall and channeled to a plastic container with bamboo troughs.

We climb up to through many saddles and I now begin to feel fatigued. It begins to get worse when the sun comes out. From afar, I see a small community. It would be good to take rest there and ask for directions. I noticed that the farther we take the explored route, the farther we are from the village of Patong and of Osmeña Peak. I happily remove my backpack when we reach one house. We eat our third pieces of our bread and drink more water.

We ask of their coconuts and happily disgorge it of its precious liquid. I feel the energy coming back and I stare back at the steep trail that a local pointed to me that would lead me to Patong. It is very intimidating but I have to try. My stomach is full and it would add to the weight. Slowly, I ascend the path which leads to a high saddle and arrive at the top without stopping. We are now behind schedule when I followed the route in that small “lonely” valley but, nevertheless, we have to be at Patong and analyze our chances.

We reach Patong and take the opportunity of dousing thirsty throats with cold soft drinks. I believe we lost about two hours exploring a place and recovering my blunder. It is 13:00 now and I calculate in my mind the possible time we would be at the peak. I would like to be there by 14:00 so I could communicate with Chad Bacolod by radio using an assigned frequency. Chad is a member of the team as Base Support. He does not go with us but updates us of weather at assigned hours. Likewise, we update him of our progress.

Osmeña Peak (1,015 MASL) would be the last obstacle to overcome and it divides Badian from Dalaguete and, slowly, we begin our ascent. For some time, fogs would hug us then the sun blast us and then it go cloudy and sunny again. We reach the peak at 13:58 with a good clearing. Remnants of weekend visitors are enjoying the view that OPeak offer. I shake hands with Jovahn, Jonathan and Justin to congratulate them for climbing OPeak the hard way. I use the radio on the assigned frequencies and inform Chad of our position.

We go down the peak for the village of Mantalongon, Dalaguete through the old route. A lot of houses had sprouted on the upper valley that disoriented me during the last few recent times I was here but I am reunited today through the effort of Jovahn. He lead us through a trail that cuts across the wide Mantalongon Valley instead of following the meandering road which cut short our travel time. We reach the village at 15:18 and douse our thirst with cold drinks along with eating the fourth pieces of our bread.

From here, it is all the way down the coast of Dalaguete. It is all concrete except at a part where there is an ongoing road clearing. I never liked concrete pavements because it is not kind to the feet, especially when it goes downhill. It is still a long way to go and it is now 13:30 and then I chance upon a road marker after hiking half a kilometer. It says we are still 12 kilometers away!

My worst fears are relived. Now, as I steadily walked down the road, I could now feel excruciating pain under my feet. Worse, the rubber insoles do not work well outside my hike socks and liner socks do not work well inside on the same socks. My feet feels like it is floating inside their shoes and my toes bump against the insides. When my toes curl to lessen pain the collision brought, it puts pressure on the upper part of the toes, where the the thin socks fills the creases and gaps and rubs the skin.

I transfer to the part of the road where there is dirt or where there are grasses. The reprieve is only temporary until you step on a small pebble and you wince in pain and it slows my walk. I need to be on the coastal highway before 19:00 and resting is out of my thoughts. I did not blink at pain but my eyes betray. The concrete markers says 10 kilometers...9...8... Each time I see one, it gives me hope, but the farther I walk, the pain becomes great.

7...6...5..., I could see the coast now and I overtake Jonathan and Justin take rest. Adding to my misery is the weight of the backpack which starts to dig deep on the flesh of my shoulders. I just transfer the bag – and the weight – infront. Meanwhile, motorcycles whizz by with many people on board unable to comprehend our activity. Sometimes, the drivers offer us rides for free but we softly decline.

Farther ahead and beyond my sight is Jovahn. Four kilometers to go and I could achieve my goal in a few hours, with or without all these pain. Then comes 3...2...and I could see the grade of the road more to my liking now but, still, I choose the greener sidewalks and trot slow until I see the last of the marker which says it is the last kilometer. I reach the junction at 18:10, just as Jovahn had predicted we would, and seconds after me are Jonathan and Justin.

We had just accomplished our last training session in preparation for Segment III, which we will undertake on February 19-22 from Mantalongon, Barili to Mantalongon, Dalaguete over the middle mountain ranges and, I fully believe, we are ready for that challenge. We also had just accomplished the first-ever reverse cross-island hike in contemporary times from Badian to Dalaguete in under 10 hours despite being delayed.

Our hike was done by traditional means, although we may have achieved this rare distinction, but it was just a means to a bigger picture. The Exploration Team’s focus is on Segment III and this achievement was done only for the fun of it. It was sweet for Jonathan and Jovahn for they had not ascended Osmeña Peak from a reverse route and then doing the long extra distances but it was most sweet for Justin for it is his first. At his young age, he had already accomplished much today what most of us have done at a later age.

Nevertheless, we celebrate our coup by finishing the last pieces of bread before limping to the bus stop across the road. As I have said before in a previous article, that finding a half-empty bus to ride is much easier here than on the other side which the majority of weekend hikers go. The first bus arrive with many vacant seats to choose from and I sit nearest to the door and enjoyed the stress-free ride.

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MAN-SIZED HIKE XII: Lutopan to Taiheiyo Cement

THE PREPARATION FOR the Cebu Highlands Trail Project goes on high gear today, February 1, 2015, with a Survival Hike Training from Lutopan, Toledo City to Tubod, San Fernando then going down to South Poblacion, where Taiheiyo Cement Corporation is located. I have tried this route last August 17, 2013 but it was a leisurely activity which took me and those with me more than 12 hours to finish.

Today I am with my chosen Exploration Team composed of Jonathan Apurado and Jovahn Ybañez. I woke up at 02:00 and walked my way 30 minutes later from residence to the Cebu South Bus Terminal. I buy five pieces of bread to be consumed later during the hike and take time to nap on an empty chair. By 04:30, I transfer to the 7Eleven Convenience Store and wait for Jonathan and Jovahn.

Jovahn did not arrive but Jonathan and I leave, nevertheless, at exactly 05:00 from Cebu City on board a bus for Toledo City. I do not want again to make my activity to be held hostage by people who are not punctual. We arrive at Lutopan at 06:55 and walk to a waiting shed that marks the start of our route. The village of Bunga will be the jump-off point for this training hike and the early morning clime is cold but, otherwise, fine.

I grab my new Canon IXUS 145 Camera, provided for by Tactical Security Agency by special arrangement, from inside my Silangan Predator Z Tactical Backpack. The camera will be used for documentation of the whole project as well as for this occasion. I also make ready my Cignus V85 VHF radio and set a frequency where another cog of the team – Chad Cordova – will be monitoring as Base Support Crew.

I will open carry my AJF Gahum Heavy-duty Knife inside its PVC sheath. The knife is made by Aljew Frasco, a fellow bushman and one of my benefactors. One of the reasons why I will open carry a knife on this route is to facilitate familiarity to the locals of a different lifestyle that bushcraft will undertake. To recall, inhabitants on this route are suspicious of outsiders and they do not see hikers often and, much more so, from a knife-carrying urbanite. It is time to break that taboo.

At 07:00, me and Jonathan follow the road to the community of Bunga. We are still on the jurisdiction of Toledo City and, soon, we will be in Lamac, a mountain village of Pinamungahan town. We pass by a small lake and go down the road into its shore. Across us are people fishing using lines while nearby the lake is a poultry farm. It is a small lake alright and we know its name by the time we go back to the road. It is called Po-og Lake.

Today I am blessed with the finest weather. It is supposed to be a rainy morning and that would not have bothered me except the new camera. The camera kept blazing at its target seen in the viewfinder. Some parts of the road were cleared recently of earth caused by Typhoon Seniang. The walk becomes fast-paced as the grade of the road goes down into Lamac. We reach the village at 09:00 and eat rice cakes without stopping.

Without stopping really meant without stopping for a short respite even the chance to rehydrate. We do stop beyond the village of Sibago, still a part of Pinamungahan, but on the foothill of a trail that led to a ridge to drink water. This ascending trail leads to a road that is the boundary between Pinamungahan and San Fernando. The trail had been washed by rain runoffs and by small landslides yet we reach the road at 10:00.

We reward ourselves with cold bottles each of soda drinks and, at the same time, eat our first pieces of bread. After about five minutes, we proceed on with the training. We follow a path that had been widened and dug in deep by the sleds pulled by the many generations of swamp buffaloes. I call this the “Carabao Highway” and it would lead to the village of Tubod, in San Fernando, and, perhaps, would go all the way to Mantalongon, Barili in the old days.

The animal path is wet but there are parallel paths for humans to walk on, like a street sidewalk, and we shift often to one or the other whenever it suits us. We pass by an old concrete marker on top of a ridge that divide San Fernando and Pinamungahan and a couple of albino carabaos grazing. Since we left Bunga, I gave my best courtesy to the locals, giving greetings with a smile to arrest their instinctive suspicions of our presence. Sometimes they may ask what we are doing but I gave them honest answers.

It is not strange if they would ask us if we are doing a survey. That is the strategy that some groups with ulterior motives had been using to cover their real purpose but they get, instead, our honest answers. One local even asked us if we are treasure hunters. It elicit me a smile when I remembered that this was the prevalent question which the mountain inhabitants of Carmen had been asking of me and my previous group when I was there in 2009.

We reach the village of Tubod at 12:00 and it looks empty. On the communal water source, women are crowding around a concrete basin filled with water from a natural spring. They are doing laundry. We asked for a piece of their clean water and filled up our water bottles. We do not tarry and again we found ourselves walking on the road. This is the second half of our training and may well be the hardest.

Tubod is found exactly in the middle of Cebu between San Fernando and Pinamungahan and it could be 15 to 16 kilometers, when a bird flies, to either shores. It is located on a mountain ridge but on its east and west are other mountain ranges. Your view of the sea are blocked because of these mountains! We happily go down the road and reach a bridge after 30 minutes and, slowly, our torture begins when the road goes up. Ahead of us is a mountain range.

The bad thing about walking on mountain roads, especially if it is paved with concrete, is it is torture on the feet soles. Another thing is its monotony which bleeds away your expectations of a reprieve. I had been tempted many times to end this walking by accepting an offer of a free ride from drivers but I politely declined. During four days of Segment III (Mantalongon, Barili to Mantalongon, Dalaguete), which would be in about three weeks from now, it would all be mountain roads.

I face the ascending road with dread as it evolve into unending rises which would be broken by just a handful of level grades for just a few meters only. I would want to take a brief rest but the breaking of a momentum would be hard to recover. I would get that rest, however, if I am assured of a cold drink from a small store, which is rare. I need to replenish my spent energy and the best answer is sugar from soda drinks.

When I found a store in Bugho, we stop and drink the cold contents of a bottle and eat our second pieces of bread. After that, we bravely face again the endless rises of the road. We pass by the village of Magsico and further on would be the village of Tabionan which we reach at 14:00. My feet are now complaining as it is now swelling at the heels and the ankles are a bit stiff. I have found the 5.11 Tactical Series Shoes unfit for long walks on concrete roads. I don’t know why? But it must be the great care I treat the pair by changing my gait so soles would not drag on concrete.

We stop at Tabionan for one final drink of cold drinks. This is where the end of endless rises and the start of an unending downhill walk of asphalt and concrete pavement. Asphalt are missing on some parts of the road and I chose to walk on where it is unpaved. The soft ground would have been a reprieve but the feet have suffered so much and can only feel a little comfort. Worse, the weight of my backpack’s contents are beginning to be felt on the flesh of my shoulder as well as on the back of my waistline.

I walk slow to diminish the impact of feet on the ground and to lessen the bounce of the bag on the shoulders. I see a different ridge from my angle that would have lessened the travel on the road and I could have dared to explore it today if I only knew of its existence. The road I am on wind on a very long horseshoe curve and I am appalled at this torture. I have seen no local walking on the road like we do and they might have thought us as foolish for declining a ride.

Our hopes begin to soar as we see from afar the shoreline and the tall exhaust tube of the Taiheiyo Cement plant. I am hoping we would reach the cement factory by 16:00 but, at my controlled pace, I doubt it. I am not worried because we have a lot of daylight to spare. Steadily, the slow and controlled downhill walk diminish away the distance and my expectations that I would reach the highway at 16:00 becomes achievable.

I reach the plant at 16:00 and the highway five minutes later. We crossed the road half limping and sit on the waiting shed. Sitting still had never been so wonderful as is felt now. I congratulated Jonathan for surviving this test. We have accomplished our Survival Hike Training in nine hours of an almost non-stop walk without a solid meal in between. My experiments on just bread and water gained success once more with this long hike.

Today’s preparation would be tested on Segment III. The monotony of the roads and the different attitude of locals upon strangers would be our big obstacles. The pains felt on our feet and our shoulders can be remedied by adjusting the loads to the most basic of essentials like simple shelters, extra clothes and dried food. Navigating by traditional means would still be our main strategy in dealing with distance and objectives.

Apparently my feet took a beating and I wince in pain as I try to stand up from where I sat. I sit down again and, silently, I begin to return the camera, the AJF Gahum and the 5.11 operator belt inside the backpack while changing to a dry t-shirt. I have learned a lot from this day’s activity and I will make a big adjustment on the care of my feet since Segment III will be 4 days. I would need pain killers and some balms for that or even change my shoes.

It would be noted that on Segment III our loads would be heavy considering that we will be carrying our food. My own load would be very heavy and I begin to doubt the externally-expandable 32-liter Silangan Predator Z could carry all my needs. But it does not faze me at all. Today’s activity had prepared me and my team what to expect.

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