BUOYED UP BY THE SUCCESS of walking
the first half of Segment I last week, the blogging couple of Adrenaline
Romance, begins to develop a certain attitude, understanding and toughness
necessary to understand how the Cebu Highlands Trail should be walked. Besides
that, they begin to get used to my trail habits in such a short time and both
felt comfortable with it.
On my side, I have a lot to improve
and the presence of Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei last week was a good start. Today
– February 24, 2018 – is the second installment of Segment I. We would start
where we last left off and it happened to be in a place called Tugop, Babag,
Cebu City. It is on the Transcentral Highway, right where a road goes to Bonbon
and another road going up Babag Ridge.
We meet at JY Square, Lahug, Cebu
City at 06:00 and proceed to Tugop by motorcycles-for-hire. The sky is moody
and there is a weather disturbance somewhere east of Cebu. I would not mind
rain and mud and cold. What I worry are those bolts of lightning. You cannot be
too sure especially when you are on higher elevations and carrying electronic
devices.
We arrive at Tugop and begin our
journey at 07:05, in a slow pace, following a paved road that goes uphill. The
morning is unusually cool and working up a sweat takes some time. We pass by
this seldom-taken road and it created a life of its own despite its lonely
location. Homestead farms gave way to homestead resorts, sometimes blending the
two together.
On a point of the winding road, is
a view of Mount Sibugay and Mount Pung-ol. Both mountains are the reasons why
there is such a village called Pung-ol Sibugay. The higher of the two – Pung-ol
(755 meters) – has its peak looking like it had been lopped off which is why it
is called that. The second – Sibugay (741 meters) – is forever moving
north-northeast towards the sea.
The imposing view also afforded me
to study the horizon. Thick black clouds are approaching Mactan Island and
obliterating the view of Bohol and Leyte. Soon it would reach the shorelines,
plains and lower hills. Probably, in less than an hour, we would be swept by
cold headwinds and swamped by heavy downpour. I could sense a slight stress in
my brain but my other brain knows better. It says “take it slow”.
We arrive at an intersection of a
road and we are now on Babag Ridge. We go south and more uphill walk until we
arrive on a store owned by Vicente Bontiel, whom I have known and befriended
through so many visits here since 2008. My itinerary says we should be here at
09:00 but our time says it is 08:00. We were not walking fast but were just
dilly-dallying. You know what I mean?
Anyway, we stop here to rest and
take a light breakfast which Sheila Mei prepared and packed for this occasion.
Vicente has a big bamboo gazebo across his store affording a good view of the
Sapangdaku Valley, the metropolis and the Bohol Strait. This is a very good
location to rest since the store sells cold softdrinks. You could also use
their washroom complete with running water.
The rain clouds are now on the city
and very soon it would be raining here. I can feel now the cold headwinds
blowing, churning up dust on the unpaved road and shaking the trees. We ignored
the warning and enjoyed the blessings of a cold drink instead. The food also
restored my confidence to lead the Adrenaline Romance pair to this rare
adventure of a lifetime.
The CHT cannot be walked without a
guide. Only two people know the routes and this can only be possible through
their memories. Memory, sometimes, is not sharp and, in my case, always
suffered some “senior moments”. Failing memory create mistakes, especially,
when stressed. The CHT was not documented with radionavigation devices but by
memory. Fortunately, my memory was very good last time.
Fortunately also for me today and
tomorrow, I would not be needing my memory. I am in my home turf. We leave the
store at 08:20 after covering our backpacks with rain covers. Gian Carlo and
Sheila Mae carried Deuters and they moved good with it. They are product
ambassadors of Deuter, a good-quality bag which is in everyone’s wish list; and
of Se7en Outdoors, a local apparel provider.
Totally confident of moving about
in familiar playgrounds, I carried my “SOP” - the name I gave to my folding
stool which meant as the “seat of power”, inside my spacious High Sierra Titan.
The bag was provided to me by Adrenaline Romance, halfway through my Thruhike
of the CHT last January-February 2017. It is like changing from a mutlticab to
an SUV. The bag was one of the reasons why I succeeded in my Thruhike.
The pair is wearing CHT t-shirts
provided by my sponsor, Silangan Outdoor Equipment. I am wearing a yellow Cebu
Mountaineering Society t-shirt in honor of my late mentor and friend, Dr.
Abraham Manlawe, who passed away recently. The t-shirt came from him as a gift
during the last time we walked a trail together last July 2017. This walk is
for Doc Abe.
It started to rain once we
approached the upper slopes of Mount Babag. We pass below the peak since it is
off-limits now to people due to the presence of government telecommunications
tower. We cross a high saddle and proceed to another hill where there is a
commercial TV station tower. The rain did not peak up as it was blown off by
strong winds. Although there is a light shower but it was cold.
We are now leaving the unpaved road
for the trail. A couple of dogs caught our scents and followed us. I have
enough of dogs following people so I tried my best to shoo these away and I
thought I succeeded there. I did, for one dog. For the other, I failed. Now it
is ahead of me and I cannot chase it down. I let it be. For the moment. Sooner
it will tire. I hope.
We followed a path beside a fenced
property. It goes down and up, sometimes squeezing between barbed wires and
thorny bamboos (Local name: kagingkingon). Under a slight shower, I
persevered, the dog pranced and jogged ahead of me, daring me to play catch-up.
The moment I closed the distance it would sprint ahead and cocked one hind foot
to squirt invisible urine on stone or trunk.
By now, we are on the hidden gem of
Babag Ridge – its forested trail – lush and remote, it starts from a bare
saddle and goes through another hidden feature – a World War II tunnel network
– up to a barren mound called Bocawe. The covered trail gave us respite from
rain and cold wind. Now you begin to understand why I preferred the treeline
over exposed places with those spectacular views.
On the peak of Bocawe, a sea of
mists covered the Bonbon River Valley. On the other side, the metropolis air is
very clear. The rainclouds had passed over us and are now on the Sudlon
Mountain Range across us. The sun is missing but humidity began to build up as
the clock ticked to noon. The dog is twitching on its back rubbing against the
grass and loving it but keeping one eye on me.
Gian Carlo had been experimenting
on Facebook Live since the time we walked away from Tugop. He is rewarded with
a couple of comments from his earlier try and a smile broke on his face while
dictating to us what was said. Where signal is weak, he saved the video for a
late upload. He is now holding his smartphone talking to it while pointing it
all over counterclockwise.
We go down the hill and come upon a
small pond. Upon this place I saw a human-like creature which I though was an
ape. It happened in December 2016. I later realized then that monkeys here have
a tail and that strange creature does not have one. Then I realized that the
creature hexed me and I walked in circles until I outsmarted it and regained
the true trail.
I do not feel dread of the pond. I
do not even give importance to what I saw yet I always believe that they exist
and it is just a matter of time if I see something similar again. I rarely do
but when I see one, I just ignored it. That is it. No hysterics. No fear.
Nothing. Leave them be and they leave you alone. I approach the pond and looked
closer. There is a path downhill but it was created by water overflow from the
pond. It is a brook! I would explore this one day.
Meanwhile, we continue on and
follow a trail on scrubby grass. Faint smudges and a few bare patches of ground
suggest that it is a path. Sometimes, it projects a different color from the
rest of the field. We see fences where there were none before. Farmers placed
these to discourage dirt motorcycles from ruining the trails and breaking the
serenity of the places.
We entered a crude gate by removing
three sticks blocking the way and returning it back to its place when we got
past it. The silence was overwhelming. It blended well with the beauty of the
green meadows and the almost-perfect mound-like hills dotting the landscape.
Locals call this place as Tagaytay. We leave the greens and entered a path in a
small forest where it disgorge us to another path where there is a house.
We were supposed to take noonbreak
at Mount Bocawe but we arrive there a bit early even though we were walking
really slowly. It amazes me that I am always ahead of the itinerary, a far cry
than when I used to in a faster pace. I do not know why? We need to make
noonbreak near this house. A lady welcomed us inside her fenced frontyard so
Sheila Mei got a good place to prepare our meal.
After lunch, we remained immobile,
chasing siesta until it is 13:00. Our campsite would not be faraway. It should
be if we were in Mt. Bocawe. Slow is best. No stress and the senses remain
sharp. We move on and thanked the woman. Far ahead, I leave a blue plastic with
a chocolate bar hanging on a bush in full view of the children looking at us
from a window of a house faraway.
Locals are shy and are intimidated
or feel discriminated by the affluent look of city people. Bright-colored
sporty apparel could cause it, maybe, and, of course, your smartphones and
headphones. That is why I prefer wearing clothes with earth-toned colors so you
would not cause too much glare to the eyes but, today, I wore something bright.
Well, one of those days that I have to honor a dear departed.
The path veered to the right and I
show Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei a “knife edge” that connect Tagaytay to Mount
Samboryo. You do not know it is there until you stop and study both sides
closely. Then you become very careful. Samboryo has a life of its own and is
full of urban legend tales. I just keep these things in secrecy and focus on
the trail.
We reach a farmed hillside and,
beyond it, level ground where there are trees would be our campsite. It is very
early yet, 14:30, but we cannot change back the itinerary, would we? The
blogging couple set up their Luxe dome tent while I did with my hammock and
overhead sheet between two trunks. There are slight drops of rain but it is
blown away by strong winds. I changed into rubber slippers and sit on the SOP.
A liberating feeling.
Sheila Mei and Gian Carlo prepared
the meal while I go talk to a farmer, asking his permission to stay near his
farm. He offered us water he stocked in his work hut and we thanked him. With
additional water, we could wash our dishes and boil coffee. Oh, coffee, I
missed you today. I drank one before a meal and another one just before turning
in. The last light of the day gave us a very beautiful crimson sunset.
Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei loved
their privacy so much and disdained evening chatter and drinking into the
night. I shared their preferences and I am most happy of it. I am like a cat. I
need lots of sleep to be able to store enough energy for every tomorrow. The
rain arrived at 20:00 together with strong winds. I secured my things placed on
the ground and went back in the meshed hammock, awake and observant.
The downpour must have lulled
around midnight but the winds stayed to shake vigorously the trees and my
shelter. There is not much I could do but sleep through it. I am awakened again
at dawn by the return of rain and, this time, it was not heavy. But it was an
unexpectedly cold night as our campsite does not harbor a micro-climate that we
have had enjoyed last weekend.
On the second day – February 25, I
decide that the dog must go. I cannot stand of another dog getting transplanted
from its home following strangers who it expect may throw morsels of food. After
breaking camp, I chased the dog up a trail when it let its guard down. A couple
of flying rocks were enough to send the message.
We go down the long pebbly trail to
a suspension bridge of Buot, Cebu City. I looked back several times at my
backtrail and I am quite satisfied that the dog have made up its mind for good.
This day is the last day for the whole Segment I but it is a long way to
Lutopan, Toledo City. We follow a paved road beside the Bonbon River until we
reach a tributary.
This stream is fast-flowing and
wide. I do not know its name and there is a sand-quarrying activity here which
is unusual. They usually do that downstream in the bigger Mananga River. I
really wanted to know the name of this river. I see an old lady helping a
younger woman on a motorcycle, perhaps her daughter. When she was alone I
politely asked her the name of the stream. I got a reply: Alpragatì.
I do not name places on my own
whims. I take it from locals and not just any local. I prefer the older ones
because they are the ones who grew up and toiled in these places. After
thanking the old woman, we followed a paved road that goes uphill. It is steep
and it was a nightmare for those who walked with me last time here. It is a
fact of life for me as I walked it again for another time and, surely so, more
of that in the future.
Slowly, without exerting so much
effort, we toiled inches by inches, until we come upon the road where there is
a water source and a beautiful view of the mountainous landscape – the same
mountains that we walked and camped yesterday. The couple cannot believe we
covered such a great distance in just a few hours of leisure walking.
Growing oddly among the shrubs is
an Indonesian pepper which locals called as “sili’ng demonyo”, because
it is so spicy hot. A man on a motorcycle stopped to talk to us. He was asking
if we were the same people whom he saw yesterday at Tugop. We three answered
him in unison that we were. He shook in disbelief that we covered so great a
distance. He on a motorcycle and we on foot.
We reach Udlom, Sinsin, Cebu City
and followed another paved road that exits to Manipis, Talisay City. From
there, we walked a short distance and we are now in Camp 7, Minglanilla. We
walk the rest of the morning, stopping by at Cantabaco, Toledo City to eat
lunch in a family-run small restaurant. After that, we walk and walk until we
reach Lutopan at 14:00 where we ride in a bus bound for Cebu City.
On two weekend dates, Gian Carlo
and Sheila Mei of Adrenaline Romance Blog completed Segment I of the CHT. I
estimate we may have walked a total of 52-56 kilometers over the most rugged
and seldom-seen parts of Cebu. The walk of today and yesterday pales in
comparison though to the ones we did last weekend and that one have only been
tried by just a few. It is already an accomplishment for both.
Nevertheless, Segment I is just
part of the bigger picture called the Cebu Highlands Trail and there are seven
segments more. I believe Team Adrenaline Romance can overcome it and make one
bucket list fulfilled. I could see they are more comfortable with the pace I
churned and, vice versa, it had benefitted me. I think a lot when I am on a
trail and follow the drift of moving, that sometimes I unintentionally walk
fast. Slow is Best.
Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei wrote about their Segment I-B experience on their Adrenaline Romance Blog under two installments:
Cebu Highlands Trail Segment 1B: Tugop to Mt. Samboryo
Cebu Highlands Trail Segment 1B: Mt. Samboryo to Lutopan
Photos courtesy of Adrenaline
Romance
Document done in LibreOffice 5.3
Writer
