BUSHCRAFT BUHISAN IV: Rainshower Tour

MY DISCOVERY OF A new and different route into the Buhisan Watershed Area on May 3, 2010 lead me to come back two more times on May 30 and on June 19 where, on the latter dates, I introduced bushcraft cooking to people who were with me. Those were statement events that made Camp Red a distinct outdoors group having its own identity.

For your info, Camp Red is synonymous with bushcraft and survival and nowhere else will you find another group doing this kind of thing in Cebu or, for that matter, the rest of the Philippines south of Subic Bay. Camp Red is an outdoors sub-culture and, so, is special.

Today, July 11, is the fourth incursion of Camp Red here in Buhisan. As usual, we start early in the morning from Guadalupe taking on Bebut's Trail, which route goes in a half-circle to Napo but, halfway trough, we stop by at a place we call the “Portal”. The “Portal” is a crossroads of sort where seven trails cross each other and one of these is the faint path to the wildest part of Buhisan.

Ernie Salomon is present, as well as new guy Marco Albeza who tow his three best students from the University of San Carlos, namely Rey, Roy and Clang-clang. Old Cebu Mountaineering Society reliable, Boy Olmedo, came along and, last but not the least, the top honcho of Jungle Wild Adventures – Wil Rhys-Davis.

Rain overtook us on “Heartbreak Ridge” of Guadalupe Hills. Roy, Rey and Clang-clang became children again and frolic under the cold strong shower. We watch and we remembered our childhood days. After twenty minutes, the rain stopped and the sun shone just enough to evaporate our wet clothes and the the now-slippery trails. I passed by Ricky Flores' house and parted away bread to his children.

The rainy season had made the vegetations thick and the indiscernible trails have become a challenge on my tracking skills. I groped under the sagging canopies and stepped over strange-looking mushrooms and sprouts. We use guy ropes whenever possible and the newbies accepted the challenge without complaint.

Finally, arriving at the creek bed, we were afforded the spectacle of cut trees, whose trunks fell on the wayside. It is obvious that mindless zombies left in a hurry after hearing our coming leaving their quarry, eleven trees in all, to our own investigation and consternation.

We prepare and take lunch in the middle of the catchment basin. It is hot and I put out my two hammocks to make our student-guests comfortable as possible. At least, this is the safest part of the basin and away from the wayward bullets of bird hunters which ran unopposed doing their thing here. Ernie do the honors of cooking pork adobo while Marco and me cook the milled corn.

After lunch, we lost our way and walk in circles and follow a dry stream bed until we reach the man-made lake. Then, it rained again. Hard! Automatically, I look for higher ground and lead the party to a safe area if, in case, a flash flood occur. There wasn't and I follow the old path to the tamer side of Buhisan.

Found our way this time and found the road and follow the asphalt road until we reach Punta Princesa. From there, we found PUJs for Guadalupe and ended our day at our favorite watering hole in V. Rama Avenue where we rehydrate and discuss our recent activity.

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NAPO TO BABAG TALES II: Kahugan Trail

I WOKE UP FROM the incessant vibrations and alarms that my Nokia emitted. It was four at dawn, September 7, 2008. Looking beyond my window, I could see the somber sky developing gray overcast clouds that parlayed of an ominous rain coming. I have to rise from my warm bed, brave the the cold water from the pipe and take a quick shower and, from there, embrace the cold wind outside.

Ah, another round of trekking the old trails from Guadalupe to Mount Babag (752 meters above sea level) is in schedule and I have to go on and meet Boy Toledo and Ernie Salomon. They were there with me on August 17 when we tackled the old route together with Glenn Lao. As in the previous trip, we would meet at the Virgen de Guadalupe Parish grounds at eight in the morning and start from there.

I arrived earlier, and was able to catch the 7:00 AM Holy Mass for the first Sunday of September. The Mass ended after an hour; Boy T and Ernie were already there plus Nathan Cannen, Myla Ipil and Harold Alcontin, the GPS Man. Good! Six is a good company. The rains started to fall but it didn't dampen our spirits one bit as most of us, except me (as always), brought rain gears. We stopped by a carenderia at the back of the church and bought packed lunch before proceeding by foot for Napo in Sapangdaku.

It rained hard on the asphalt road to Napo but it gave more meaning to the purpose and scope of our activity: the harder the climb the better! Reaching the community center of Napo, we treaded the trail down the Guadalupe-Sapangdaku River and crossed the creek hopping on a series of boulders placed midstream. We followed the snaking trail in and around the communities that lined the waterway and crossed it again on another shallow ford.

The rains never let up turning the trails slippery and muddy. We ascended slowly grasping at branches and twigs to keep our balance. At this juncture, I offered to be at the tail end of the group to assist Boy T in going up and guiding him where to place his feet on the slippery terrain. We passed by a flower-growing lot that was so steep and without a handhold slowing our pace.

We kept trudging on, walking uphill, resting a while to catch our breath. The cold wind blasting our exposed part as we shivered and cuffed our hands. Good thing nobody wore a pair of sandals else it would have been a waste of useless exertion and a heart breaker. We passed by again the same lone male goat munching from bound leaves suspended from above. It was deja vu for Ernie, Boy T and me.

The forest, or what was left of it, in the back country of Cebu City suddenly came alive during the rains and I could not help but sulk in the warmth of its gratitude and silent praise to a higher being above the heavens from where these liquid graces came forth. Oh, it's good to be a part of the earth again, soaked to the ankles, muddy and exposed to the elements that reminded me of my childhood years.

We reached a hill where a lone house stood at and rested there for a while as a little boy offered his humble abode to us. I promised him a pair of shoes the next time I will pass by. We bade goodbye to the kid and went downhill and crossed some upper part of the Guadalupe-Sapangdaku River and climbed again another uphill stretch.

Here the trail was quite steep, loose and slippery. I improvised in ascending the difficult trail by using a broken branch as my staff as my “toothless” and pre-owned pair of Columbia shoes could not give a respectable performance. In between, I have to push Boy T up so we could move forward a little bit and hopefully, reach the summit by noon.

At 1:15 PM, we finally had enough tackling the trail with a hungry stomach, so we took lunch just two hundred meters away from Mt. Babag. After ten minutes, we finished the remaining length and made a U-turn back to where we came from – Guadalupe. We took a different trail this time passing by Kahulogan (or Kahu'gan).

The trail led us downhill, crisscrossing mango tree farms and brooklets and huge boulders. We crossed by small rivulets of water that came alive during the onset of rain and splash our way over small ponds along the trails and small waterfalls appeared making our downhill trek enjoyable. But we have to be back at Guadalupe by 3:00 PM as we have to attend a membership meeting of the Cebu Mountaineering Society (CeMS) at four.

Harold put up a torrid pace, then was followed by Boy T, Nathan and Myla while Ernie and me lagged behind. Ernie and I found at our wit's end wondering where did Boy T got that sudden surge of energy when, the last time we knew, he was gasping and crawling the last two hundred meters of our ascent at Mt. Babag and we thought he would give up at Ernie's trail. Half-running, we tried to keep up the pace and close the distance between Boy T and us, but, Boy T became Speedy Gonzalez that day!

I could just imagine how Boy T's Oakley hiking shoes would screech and careen over bends and turns of the snaky trail as a trail of vapor would follow his wake hurrying to reach Napo by three in the afternoon. Ha...ha! Boy T, you never cease to amaze me and, by His good graces, you seem to be on the way to a recovery. God be praised!

We arrived at Guadalupe at 3:20 PM and all hopped happily inside Nathan's Isuzu Crosswind for the CeMS meeting. Gladly, even as we were half-wet, we were able to make it to the meeting and there was a lively quorum. We even inserted our just-concluded trek and made a post-climb report to all present.

It was the second time for me to pass by and follow Ernie's trail and, I know, it will be a busy trail soon. The trail is a good training ground for aspiring mountaineers and a perfect complement in preparing future CeMS climb and only a few have tried it. It will be a trail that I will tackle repeatedly alone or with a group in the coming weeks. I would be glad to share the trail with you if ever you would want to go with me.

“Oh, the freedom of unimpeded movement is most cherished by only a few daring ones.”

- Ernest Hemingway

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NAPO TO BABAG

IT WAS A PROMISING sunny Sunday and the clock fast ticking to six thirty in the morning. Already a Holy Mass at the Virgen de Guadalupe Parish is now past halfway to the “Amen” part as I passed by to take breakfast of two servings of sticky rice (puto maya) and a cup of hot steaming home-made chocolate at the back of the church here in Guadalupe, Cebu City.

Feeling refreshed, I went to the church parking area to meet three gentlemen who are all ardent outdoorsmen as I am. This was a scheduled activity of the Cebu Mountaineering Society (CeMS) to prepare us for the Mount Manunggal Club Anniversary Climb on August 23-25, 2008. Everybody were informed and invited but only four answered the call.

It was August 17 and it was now almost seven and present were Glenn Lao or “Glenn L”, a physical education guru at UC; Boy Toledo aka “Boy T”, a bank executive of BDO and Ernie Salomon, a retired banker from BPI. Me, of course, is the acknowledged king of nothing among the four. We were there to revisit the old trail from Guadalupe to Mount Babag, 752 meters above sea level and the highest point of the Babag Mountain Range, the site of the old RCPI relay tower now ringed by many steel transmission monoliths of commercial telecommunications firms.

The Holy Mass ended at 7:00 AM and we immersed with the throng of parishioners who went to and from the church and exited at the back and slowly walked the asphalt road that would take us midway to the back country of Cebu City. Carrying day packs, cell phones, drinking water and packed lunch we followed the road upward until we reached a basketball court in the lower part of Napo in Sapangdaku. From there, we crossed the upper part of Guadalupe River and climbed a rolling trail made slippery by yesterday's rain. The sun shone gloriously at that early morn and its heat is a welcome treat after waking up at five, taking an early bath and riding a public jitney exposed to the wind.

Following the snaky trail we met a herd of grazing goats who greeted us with their cacophony of bleats and by two guys carrying oversized baskets with oversized sacks of charcoal. Then after an hour-and-a-half of walking along her trails we crossed another shallow ford of this same river and we rested for a while to allow Boy T to eat a part of his lunch beside the waterway. We could not help notice the condition of the upper part of the Guadalupe River: they were very clear yet there were no fishes inhabiting in its water, a clear sign that plant chemicals are blatantly used here.

Thirty minutes later we begun our assault for higher ground. We climbed and passed by a flower farm lot and it was quite steep with just a few handholds and the sun was upon our back goading us to take a few more steps to reach shady areas afforded by mango trees found in between along the trails. We passed by an upland community and we rested for a while under the shade of several trees and watched a lone male goat munching from bound leaves suspended from above. It was deja vu for Ernie as he saw this same goat here a year ago.

We climbed and inched, albeit steadily, and reached another upland neighborhood and chatted with a resting charcoal transporter. Few people ventured outside their houses in theses places except for a few who tended household chores and it was pleasantly silent, unlike in the neighborhoods where we lived where blasts from a stereo next house or a sudden burst from a passing truck's bullhorn would jolt us from our dreamlike stupor on a Sunday morning. Life is simple here and I envy their laid back attitude.

After a while we proceeded on to our destination. Although the sun shone hot at this time of day, there were many trees in full bloom and the vegetation itself in around these places where the trail passed through seemed to have revived after years of being subjected to kaingin. It's good to see that people here have learned the value of maintaining a healthy environment and my heart is elated to see that, even if there are some charcoal-making spots here and there, they were able to manage and control their excesses so as to cause just a minimal impact.

We went a little downhill route and it was very slippery as we neared the most upper part of the Guadalupe River. The riverbed here is made of solid rock and the water flowed freely and clear but not that wide. Many birds abound in this area and we heard many bird calls. We crossed the river without a hitch but came again to several slippery parts of the trail and they were quite steep. We took time to take one step at a time, then rest, and then resuming slowly and surely.

Climbing on for more high ground we reached an abandoned hut and we took lunch there. Boy T, Ernie and Glenn L ate their grilled pork and rice while I ate my paklay and rice which we all bought from a carenderia behind the Guadalupe church. We cleaned the hut of food morsels and I left a token of two five-peso coins as our symbol of appreciation and thanks to the absent owner.

Revived again with a full stomach we set our sights above and we were now almost in the vicinity of Mt. Babag's shoulder. We climbed another steep trail but there was no problem for balance as trees and bushes provided us with handholds and it was quite shady except for some open areas that were rare.

From this vantage, we were able to see glimpses of the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapulapu as well as the towns of Consolacion and Cordova. Cebu Harbor was exceptionally blue to include the waters around Mactan, Olango, Nalusuan, Lava and other islets. Bohol Island loomed in the distance. The view from above here was refreshing and it afforded a different view of the sprawling metropolis in another angle.

We continued on our way and traversed through a steep corn plantation and a steel tower loomed from above us. We passed by in between a row of houses and flower plantations until we reached the fenced perimeter of what used to be called the RCPI tower at around 11:30 AM. We walked on ahead and there were more of these same steel towers each encircled around by their own protective fences and each emitted a humming sound produced by electric generators and cooling fans.

As we followed a trail we sighted a good campsite just a hundred meters from a dirt road. It was sloping and on a high ground and it was just right and perfect. It sits on an unfenced area and is in close proximity with a water source that we passed by a while ago!

We left behind the tower area and rested at a store up ahead and rested there drinking cold softdrinks, then we changed it to beer – five 1-liter bottles of San Miguel! We were in the middle of assessing our climb when Ernie suggested, and all agreed, that it would be productive for CeMS if we will revive the weekend day climb and hike, at least, twice a month, so as to fill in the gap of inactivity in between the CeMS monthly scheduled activities. This climb is a good start and there's no question it would become a regular activity irregardless of how many will participate.

We engaged in pleasant conversations up there in Babag not just by ourselves but also with the locals. After a while, Glenn L decided to leave early to hear Mass at Lapulapu City while we stayed for about an hour then the three of us left behind decided to follow the Babag to Garaje road. We passed by a very open area and took pictures of the metropolis sparkling its grandeur under the focus of a 4:00 PM sunlight.

We reached Garaje in Upper Busay and consumed one more bottle of San Miguel Beer Grande – a one for the road - before deciding to follow this asphalt-and-concrete street down for JY Square in Lahug. I've run this stretch of road several times before, 14 to 16 years ago when I was then strong as a bull, but it was my first time to just take a walk here. Under the shadow of a setting sun I enjoyed the scenery along this road and I never expelled an ounce of sweat.

We arrived at the vicinity of Santo Niño-PBN Housing and Boy T decided he had enough of hiking and all three of us boarded a downtown-bound public jitney and I parted ways with Boy T and Ernie as I disembarked at JY Square. It was a good start for me too after remaining inactive for two months right after my inclusion in the epic traverse climb of Mount Dulangdulang and Mount Kitanglad in early June. It is a good time also to flex and move my leg muscles again setting my sights, let's say, Canlaon Volcano in early November...

May be or may be not! That depends.

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