AN IRISH COUPLE IN OPEAK

EVEN THOUGH I HAD A two-week inactivity, I still consider myself physically fit and I could outwalk, outpace and outlast any wannabe twenty-five years my junior. I have completely regained my stamina walking the same trails on the Babag Mountain Range in Cebu City almost every weekend for eight straight years after I made a comeback in 2008. I believed  I am even now better than when I was 25.

My Thruhike of the Cebu Highlands Trail for 27 days in 2017 was life-changing or, should I say, a paradigm shifter. That walk was made for me. My destiny. I can count of only a few fingers on my right hand of contemporary Filipinos who tried and hiked a long trail in their own country in one straight journey. My stamina and my fortitude gave me success and my bragging right. Deny me not.

Cebu do not host many mountains that go above a thousand meters. What it has is a long and rugged sierra running along the middle axis of the island province from south to north. What it also has is a weather that tries to melt all your resolve. I tamed the two or, should I say, understood the challenges very well. But if you like to just hike up a trail to stand on a peak, that would not be difficult.

Try Osmeña Peak from Mantalongon, Dalaguete. You can instantly have a bragging right, climbing Cebu’s highest peak at 1,015 meters above sea level. Everybody does that nowadays. Take a quick selfie when it is not too crowded or roll in Facebook Live to your wall in real time. The view of craggy hills, the seas on both sides of the island, and the farmed little valleys are just amazing.

For me, I would not take that route though. To better appreciate Osmeña Peak, you need to climb it from the other side, in Badian. That is what I have been advocating since the time I returned there solo in 2013 after a long hiatus. I brought all my guests and friends to Osmeña Peak from Badian only. They could either continue to Dalaguete or go back to Badian. It can be done with just a dayhike.

On January 23, 2018, after the Sinulog, I got two guests. They are a couple from Ireland. The husband is in his 60s while the wife is in her middle 50s. Based on their ages, it would not be hard for me. Or so I thought. What is more, they would stay overnight at the peak. The only thing that got me worried is the two Silangan Rev20 tents that I would carry for their use and mine. Apart from that, I have everything under control. No big deal.

I fetched them at a resort in Moalboal where they were staying and introduced myself. They are Jerry and Gillian Dawson. Both are very fit than I previously thought they were and looked much younger than their age. They must have lied about their true ages but that is absurd thinking. Anyhow, I got to give them the best guideship service in this whole danged country, with my carabao English.

Seriously, I could now engage in an understandable conversation with foreigners which that ability was unthinkable when I lived in a cave. My English may not be perfect to an English-speaking national but to a non-speaking one, I can be mistaken sometimes as a native speaker. Sort of. Yes, many years ago I do not have the confidence to speak to foreigners but I overcame this fear as I learned on my own public speaking skills.

Lest you misunderstood me, I do not guide people to the mountains, like everybody else is doing. I am not a mountain guide. I am more of a wilderness guide. Even when the places I bring people to are not anymore wilderness, the methods and interactions I used and engaged for my guests lean more towards a wilderness setting. It is a different field and it is not for everybody to acquire or learn.

Now going back to the hike at hand, the Irish couple is ready and excited. The resort has contacted a tricycle to transport us to Badian. We pass by first to a fast-food outlet on the way and order nine hamburgers for the three of us. The couple did not prepare the food I advised for us but they have their own water. I brought my own water also and my Mil-Tec rucksack is heavy.

At Badian, we take another tricycle to the mountainous village of Basak and start our walk at 09:00, following the Malagaring Trail. The lower hills are hot and humid but the couple is fine. The rocky slopes are farmed with bitter gourd, squash and corn and farming communities dot the landscape. On the back of us, the coastline of Badian begins to be appreciated as we gained elevation.

After an hour, we were now at the community of Malagaring and taking a brief rest. From hereon, the trail will pass by uninhabited areas which would be where the treeline is. Despite my deliberate control of the pace, I begin to feel exhaustion and the backpack seemed heavy for comfort. I stop often to give myself a break and, at the same time, I would not remiss on my duties to entertain my guests.

My hard breathing cannot interfere with my conversations and it takes great control to do that. It is difficult to engage in such while walking and gaining elevation. Much more so with this Irish couple. On one of these breaks, I learned that they participate in adventure races in the UK and across the Channel. They lived an active lifestyle and their preferred diet are vegetables and fish. They have no choice with the burgers and they will burn it anyway.

They never seem to tire. They carried day packs and in it were the burgers divided amongst themselves, cold-weather clothing, a liter of water, bottles of Gatorade, chocolates and bananas. Aside from the two tents, I also carried a 3-liter Camelbak bladder, a cook set, spoon-fork set, 250 ml of denatured alcohol, a Trangia burner, an IFAK, my fire kit, a Cold Steel Bushman, a Mora Companion and a Victorinox Trailmaster.

When you get in the treeline, the trail goes up and up and the weather changes from hot and humid to mild and cool. The path snaked in among craggy slopes and forests and there are always topics to talk about, if you just use your imagination, just to give yourself a brief moment of rest without letting them know that you need a break. But when the pressure behind me is too great, I would be honest enough to raise a white flag.

The constant gain in altitude also cooled my body and the chance of overheating due to overexertion is negated. We reach the most remote village of Patong and, good for me, there is a store here that could provide me a cold bottle of Coke. This is one of the luxuries of hiking this trail: there is always a cold Coca Cola near the end of the rainbow. It is like an ace in the sleeve.

Happy to have powered myself with sugared beverage and ten minutes of rest, I am now game to accept the pressure from their non-stopping pace. We arrive at the base of the peak at last and the couple proceeds to the summit while I remained at the only store selling softdrinks here. While enjoying the drink, I learned from the lady storekeeper that she owns the three small red cottages across us and it is vacant.

If I set up our tents, most likely it would already be crowded on the main and secondary campsites since it is a weekend. Besides, it might be very noisy on the campsite which might leave an ugly impression on my guests. Added to that is somebody from the side of Dalaguete who would be asking payments for camp use and garbage collection. Both Dalaguete and Badian claimed Osmeña Peak as theirs.

If you come by way of Dalaguete you will be charged a guide fee when it is quite idiotic to utilize a guide since the peak can be walked by yourself easily even with eyes closed. The lady storekeeper found the fees extracted by Dalaguete as unfair to both Badian and the visitors. They are taking advantage of this because of the easy access to Osmeña Peak from their side.

The lady storekeeper told me this because she happens to serve for a long time as the village chairperson of Patong. I understand her statement very well since I know, for a long time, that the peak had always been a part of Badian since the time I first visited it in 1992. That is why I always start from Badian because I honored their ownership of Osmeña Peak. I told you I am no ordinary guide. Besides that, I write for this blog.

When Jerry and Gillian came back, I mentioned to them the three little red cottages owned by the lady storekeeper and they were much happy when I also mentioned that it would be noisy on the other side. We would not have to set up tents and sleep in it. The Irish couple claimed one while the other was provided free for me, courtesy of the very kind lady storekeeper. She also provided a thermos with hot water and cups should we drink coffee.

We dined on hamburgers. They with Gatorade and water. I with coffee, Japanese miso soup and water. As is with this time of the year, the northeast monsoon brought winter colds of Siberia and Japan to the tropics and it would be cold, much more so with the wind chills. We opt to retire early but, once in a while, I would answer the call of nature outside. I did at 22:00 and at 02:00 and each time I still see people going up the peak.

When I woke up at 05:00 the following day, January 24, there is no shortage of visitors to the peak. I wonder how much money Dalaguete collects from these unwary people. It is indeed unfair. We eat the last of the hamburgers for breakfast and everybody had coffee. I keep the place as tidy as possible by burning all our small garbage last night and bringing the rest down to our next destination today.

We will be going back to Badian, taking the same route we did yesterday but, this time, it would all be downhill. We leave early at 06:30 and Jerry and Gillian loved the early morning walk when the birds are most active with their melodies. We walk lazily, enjoying the silent moments and keeping our footings as steady as possible. We meet no locals just like yesterday at the forested zones.

When we reach Malagaring, mountain life begins to be felt. We take a different trail and reach the Basak Elementary School. We hired motorcycles to take us down the highway. Once we are there, we board a bus bound for Cebu City. Jerry and Gillian would have to go back to their hotel in Moalboal while I would be going home. The Irish couple would be travelling to Palawan tomorrow and we parted ways when the bus stopped at Moalboal.

Document done in LibreOffice 5.3 Writer.