NAPO TO BABAG TALES CXXVIII: Breaking In a New Pair

SHEILA MEI LOST HER OLD PAIR of Merrell during the last few kilometers of the last day of Segment I-A of the Cebu Highlands Trail, right after the 90-minute trek and forced river immersion along the length of Biasong Creek on the way to Bonbon, Cebu City. That happened in February 2018. Good thing it did not gave her a problem on the first day.

One sole got detached from the upper fabric and I have to tie it with a cord so it could still serve its purpose. It did not halfway through. Sheila Mei has to remove the pair and changed into rubber flip flops. That was the end of her storied Merrell. She carried it home and may well be buried in a special cemetery for shoes.

 

On March 11, 2018, Sheila Mei came back with a vengeance. She has a new pair of Merrell and she has to break it in. Gian Carlo, her partner and accomplice for Adrenaline Romance Blog, motivates her from behind, smiling devilishly. Their common friend, Halourd, is with them. All came to train and prepare for an adventure outside of Cebu. Was it the Bakun Trilogy? I think it is that.

I choose a route for them that has no hiker traffic on a Sunday. It is found on Tagaytay Ridge, one of the several east-pointing ridges of the Babag Mountain Range, and there is a beautiful path there called Manggapares Trail. It starts right away, upon crossing a foot bridge by way of Napo. The path goes through a small community which changed into steep flower farms.

I really love to hike this trail and I rarely bring people here. For the Adrenaline Romance couple, along with Halourd, it is a must that I show them the other least known side of the Babag Mountain Range. Only a few hikers walk here and they named this route as “7 towers trail” as a reference. In my walks here I only pass by five towers and disappear through another path.

Of course, that secret path would also be visited by my guests today. Tagaytay would connect with the main ridgeline of the Babag Range. I intend to bring them to Mount Babag and go down back to Napo on another route. That is my plan. Once we got past of the small flower farm, we huff and puff into a hole among the greens. It is so silent here and so cool but we sweated, nevertheless. The path is forever ascending.

We were just walking slowly but the weather had become so humid after many weeks of mild temperatures. The tropical summer is now felt abruptly. It is just too early for that and I missed the times when it came slowly in the middle of March. Must be climate change or is just that this is just a natural cycle when the globe warmed up before it gets super cool again. Anyway, sweating is a fact of life here.

Worming our way through the green tunnel, we finally come out on open ground and standing before us, from our point of view, is the first steel behemoth. Still far away is the second and the third. It rises more about a hundred feet above us with high-tension cables connecting from faraway Naga City to a distribution terminal in Mandaue City.

The presence of the steel towers became reference points of sort along the trail and I would know how long would I have to walk more or where am I on these parts. You can anticipate and conserve energy, take a rest or proceed up the ascending ridge just by counting the towers. I would know which part is the most difficult to reach and which one is not.

The second tower is far from the first and it is on a hill. We get there, nevertheless, but the next one is much higher and more difficult to approach. After willing our bodies to go up the hill, we were winded. I am now facing an easy trail and the walk to the fourth tower would not be of a problem but we have to take a rest first on another landmark, an abandoned backhoe.

As I have said before in another blog post, the junked heavy equipment is a natural magnet of conversations. It had been left by the contractor who erected these steel towers and, until now, I do not know why it had been so. From what I heard from the locals, they were quite surprised also that it was left behind when it was still in good condition, despite rolling down the ridgeline twice.

As we continue, we go past the fourth tower, I break off from the trail and followed another one. I have never shared this path except to my adherents in the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild. But, today, I make an exception. The uphill walk had cost us almost three hours already and it would be best that we have to stop to prepare lunch, preferably, a place where there is a water source. I know of such a place and I have been there many times.

The trail is wild since it is seldom walked. It cross a dry gully where there is a crooked coconut tree guarding its approach then you walk on a wide and flat grassy area where there are more coconut trees. There is a pointed iron bar standing from the ground and there are coconut husks strewn everywhere. This would have been a perfect bushcraft camp if only it had a water source nearby.

We pass by below the peak that hosts the sixth tower and goes into a saddle and up a hill where there is a mango tree. According to local lore, there used to be two mango trees growing close together here and looked almost the same that it became a reference point for locals and called this path as “mangga nga pares” (English: twin mango trees). The other tree had died and only one is left standing.

Unfortunately, someone had placed barbed wire fences on the trail along the saddle. This is not a popular hiking trail since it is not known. There could be a good reason why a farmer would fence off a land. It could be to prevent farm animals from straying in or out of the farm or it could be built to keep off-road motorcycles away. If it meant for the latter, it serves them right. However, the fence has a narrow passage good for a person to pass.

Over another peak is another waist-high field of grass where it is a favorite nesting ground of grass owls. I once spooked unaware a large owl among the grasses here and it flew away when it noticed my presence. The owl kept its eyes on me as it circled above me twice before flying over to the forest that I just left behind. We were staring at each other and it was such a fantastic feeling. A feeling of kinship.

After we go over the hump, we go down a path where there are bamboo groves on both sides. At the approach of another saddle, dried bamboo poles were intentionally stacked over the other over the trail as a sort of crude fence. A person could step over and squeeze under these poles with not so much difficulty but farm animals or motorcycles could not.

When we got past that, a path led to a garden on a hill and then a small house. I have known the couple living here since 2011 and they make their living by farming. They have water which they sourced from across another hill and it is a good place to stop and cook a meal. There are plenty of firewood and tinder but Gian Carlo and Sheila brought with them their butane burner.

I promised them that I would be the one to prepare and cook pork adobao so I let them enjoy the spectacle of the garden. The farming couple grow vegetables, root crops, flowers, ornamental plats, fruit-bearing trees, bananas and pittaya. Their dragonfruit is of the deepest red in color and so sweet. Everytime I visit the couple, I always brought with me pittaya fruit and stems for propagation.

Not this time. Their pittaya farm suffered from a recent typhoon where the structure that held the crawling stems collapsed and rendered the stems waterlogged and unproductive. This is an introduced plant that originally grows in the barren plains of Central America and an abundance of rain is just not what it needs. The stems above the ground could still be salvaged and propagated.

Harold has other ideas. He bought several of the healthy stems from my pensive farmer-friend so he could compliment his white and pink pittayas with this deep red one. He is into commercial farming and awaits his first harvest. Not everyone has this very red species and it commands a better price, I think, than its paler cousins. Sheila joined the hunt for plants and settled on ornamental and flowering plants.

While they were busy, the farmer gave me a medium-sized local blade which he called as a “binangkito” when I asked the name of its shape. The blade has a chisel grind which favored a right-handed user. The handle is wood with intricately-carved designs, the bolster tightly wrapped with copper wires. The sheath is made of the same wood with a different carving style and three sets of rattan wicker cords are woven on three different places.

 

Sheila, Gian Carlo and Halourd came back from their green search and settled with several plants being readied for transfer down the lowlands and into their homes. I am afraid there would not be a hike on the rest of the route anymore. Rather we have to take an exit to Bocawe and then to Pamutan Junction. But first, we have to eat our pork adobao and rice.

After the meal, Sheila, Gian and Halourd decide to remove most of the soil from the plants because it is heavy, retaining only that had adhered and hardened among the roots, as well as the plastic that held once the full soil content. With plastic bags, they pressed as many of the plants inside. The pittaya stems were held by layers of banana trunks and secured tightly outside the backpack.

We go down a trail and then on to a set of concrete foot paths, crossing a small stream and followed an abandoned road until we stepped on concrete. It is early afternoon and it is very warm on the pavements. While we were walking uphill, we meet many hikers. From the shapes of their bodies and the way they dress, they were all novices. Most likely, they are from call centers, forced to go with their peers under the assumption of “team building”.

 

We reach Pamutan Junction and it is difficult for Sheila, Gian Carlo and Halourd to heft the plants to more distances like going to Guadalupe on this same road. The walk from the hidden garden to here had already taken their toll on their arms and hands. The most likely action next would be to hire motorcycles. It took us a half hour or more to haggle and to look for three motorcycles. We all need to leave all at the same time.

But, once we did, the motorcycles go by way of To-ong, Buhisan and, finally, Punta Princesa. From there we transferred to public utility jitneys going to the downtown area. Halourd dropped off at Labangon while Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei has to go to SM to transfer to another passenger van. As for me, I disembark at the road to Pier 3 and walk the short distance to home.

Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei wrote about this episode in their Adrenaline Romance Blog as:

    ManggaparesTrail: A Practice Climb and a Closed Sale

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Some photos courtesy of Adrenaline Romance

GIRL SCOUT AND BUSHCRAFT | SACRED HEART SCHOOL-ATENEO DE CEBU

DAYS AFTER GUIDING ADVENTURE bloggers on one major segment of the Cebu Highlands Trail, I am invited before a Girl Scout gathering at Camp Marina, Capitol Site, Cebu City on March 3, 2018. It is organized by the Senior Planning Board of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu GSP Council. I will be talking about Introduction to Bushcraft to both junior high and senior high students.

SHS-Ateneo is one of the premier schools in Cebu. I know some people who have graduated from this school and they had created an impact on the fields where they focused their energies on. It is a fact that many of them became somebody in business and society, became great entrepreneurs and innovators, and some became captains of their industries.

I am fortunate enough to mentor a few of their alumni in my yearly Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp and am most happy to have them embrace the forgotten art of bushcraft which rural guys excel at. These few seek challenges outside of their usual realms. They are prepared, to a certain extent, any SHTF scenario and I have confidence in their abilities to survive and overcome adversities and disasters.

It is really an honor for me to be invited to talk before the SHS-Ateneo GSP Council and I thank Ms. Ann Castañares for this. I came fully prepared so I could leave an impact upon our youths. Coming with me is one of my underlings, Jenmar de Leon. He has just taken a board examination for teachers. This would be a good exposure for him once he passes that exam and gets his teaching license.

But what really is bushcraft? For starters, bushcraft is a term coined by an Australian, presumably, to describe his activity which really is similar to the ones done in other places and it is known there as woodcraft, fieldcraft, woodlore or primitive-living skills. It is a lifestyle and it is a hobby, depending on which side of the place you are. Actually, it is a way of life for the indigenous people so they could survive on their harsh environments.

What was a way of life for natives was adopted by outsiders (foreigners) in order for them also to survive and make a living in the same environments. These are the hunters, explorers, travellers and homesteaders. Civilization improved the way of life for all people through the years yet there are still spots of wilderness left which bushcraft is still useful. In fact, it is still useful in modern day-to-day living, even in urban areas. 

Modern native peoples here, now collectively known as Filipinos, forgot about bushcraft because living now is not that challenging anymore. These are the people who lived in urban centers and those who populate most of the coastlines and where roads exist. The frontcountry. These are the places where people mostly travel, make a living and engage in recreational activities.

The backcountry are the places where people practice bushcraft in all their lives. On these places, solitary houses exist, so far away from their next neighbors. Many of these are homesteads. They carved the wilderness into farms for their main source of food and to hunt the forests for protein and herbs. They have adapted with their environment well and learned primitive living skills by studying the habits of nature closely.

The only tool that they relied so much for their survival is the blade. They took care of this vital equipment and, from this same equipment, they manufacture other tools sourced from nature designed to do other tasks and chop wood for firewood. They have mastered the making of fire with just one matchstick to light a tinder bundle. To save matches, they keep the embers always burning.

Because they are closer to nature, they know the qualities of all plants found in forests and jungles and that made a big difference in how they treat themselves when ill. Plant identification and foraging is the most important of all skills in bushcraft. You cannot move your way around harsh environments without knowledge of plants. These same plants lead them to their best food: meat from animals.

It was an opportunity for me to demonstrate knife safety to the Girl Scout without the necessity of them holding one. These are sheltered kids who grew up in a politically-correct home environment. Their parents always has the last say on what to watch and surf in the internet and what company of friends or individuals that they should be with. Knives are the last things they would touch unless it is used to harness cooking skills.

With adult supervision. Maybe. But they are just too many and I only have Jenmar and me to look after them if we go through a knife dexterity session. The demonstration would suffice, repeating it twice or thrice for emphasis and memory retention. With the same knife, I let them crowd around me in a circle and showed them how to make an improvised pot made from a bamboo pole.

I also showed them how a thick stick could accomplish the task of making a bamboo pot easier for the knife. I am showing to them another tool to pair with my knife. What it lacked now is something to cook and a fire. Fire is another thing that is off-limits to these kids at home. It needed close adult supervision when striking a match and a lighter or turning the knob of a gas stove in kitchen or home premises.

But, today, they do not need any. They would ignite fire from a ferrocerium rod. It is the first time that they see one and everyone’s attention where now on me when they saw sparks of flame streaking down the ground when I scratched steel on a rod that got caught by a downy material which burst into a flame. Slowly repeating my demonstration, sparks get caught by the same material.

Distributing four sets of ferro rod and the downy material among the girls, the covered stage soon became a workshop of sparks and smoke. For a full 20 minutes, the ferro rod sets changed hands in tight circles, providing the girls a personal experience of non-conventional way of making a fire. Gaining knowledge from this, the girls appreciate better how fire works and how it is done safely.

 

Since it is an afternoon affair, my presentation ended at 15:00. Jenmar and I were recognized by the SHS-Ateneo GSP Council with certificates of appreciation for our wholehearted commitment and judicious efforts to introduce their wards towards bushcraft. It was a very productive afternoon and, for my part, it warmed my heart to be closer with these future leaders. I just wish that we have more time.

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