Day 1 was a 5- to 6-hour trek. Well, supposedly. Whoever timed that itinerary did not take into account that (a) we have cameras with us, (2) and a monopod, and (3) with every beat or movement, a shutter has to go off. All those -pretty much stretched things out to a couple more hours.
“Begnas di Bauko” is an annual cultural festival in the municipality of Bauko, commemorating and, This year, the 3-day festivities will kick off on March 12. A month before the actual Begnas, however, the Tourism Office of the local government unit of Bauko started things rolling with the Pre-Begnas Activity: Trekking, Camping and Lepas Fiesta.
(All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated in the captions.)
Our group of 13 set off from Km. 3, La Trinidad at 2pm on Thursday, February 19 (that was a non-working holiday because of the Chinese Lunar New Year). We pretty much occupied (to the seams!) one van. It was early evening, past 6pm, when we arrived at Abatan in Bauko, Mt. Province.
We spent the night in one of the homestays in town, and woke up early the next day to join the other trekkers assembled at the Municipal Grounds at 7am. We had a light breakfast of brewed coffee and steamed sweet potatoes (also stashed some in our packs to eat along the way). Finally, we pushed off towards the jump-off point, which is the Abatan National High School – Annex.
I’m not really the type to time treks or any other activity I’m in because I tend to get too immersed, so I’ll just be shooting estimates. I did say “immersed”, didn’t I? That means that, all too often, my objectivity is shot.
The folks over at the Tourism Office set up signposts to indicate where we are in the range. The first pit stop is the peak called Toktok-Allan, where we stopped for a bit for some viewing.
The wind is quite ruthless here, whipping up everything. Great view of the ricefields and the town of Abatan, though. And of Mt. Mogao. Also known as Mt. Clitoris. I. KID. YOU. NOT.
It is from this point where the “climb” part begins and we’re officially heading up the Spanish Trail. Yep. A steep climb. Until we arrived at Mt. Tabeo. (Not to be mistaken with Lake Tabeyo in Kabayan. I swear, I could get names mixed up because they sometimes sound so similar.)
After about 20 minutes, we arrived at the Kaman-eng area.
We also passed by the turn-off to the Layaan Cave. Unfortunately, we didn’t go to the cave itself; we just passed by the area.
It’s basically an uphill climb where, on the trail, you could look both ways and see mountains all around you. Like, from this vantage point, you could spot the area where the historic site, Tirad Pass, is. See it? Look to the right.
It’s the pointy one behind the mountains on the foreground. Tirad Pass is recorded in history books (and depicted in a film adaptation) as the place where the young general Gregorio H. Del Pilar made his last stand, warding off the enemies as then President Emilio Aguinaldo makes his escape to Palanan in Isabela, via the Spanish Trail, which is the trail we’re actually on, although we took the Bauko part of it.
This area had noticeably leafless trees. It’s quite high up, so the general theory is that lightning struck the trees. 🙂 It made for a good effect against the backdrop of the blue sky, though.
Along the way, the guides would point out various towns from afar, which can be viewed from the trail we were walking on. Like the towns of Tadian, Mt. Province and, of course, Bauko, where we started off.
This dead tree brought about no small degree of fascination. We were literally craning our necks, waiting to see if it’ll eventually snap and fall off.
There was a particularly challenging part of the trail, where we had to trek up at a steep angle, and it didn’t help that the trail was literally overgrown with dried grasses (and fallen pine leaves), making it slippery.
When you finally climb up and over, and literally walk-crawl your way around to the other side, you’d reach the crossing of the Spanish Trail, aptly marked Spanish+.
The Spanish Trail was first used by (surprise surprise!) the Spaniards during the Spanish occupation. It was then later used by the Japanese as well as the locals. It was established primarily to expand territorial reaches.
It is in this crossing where the paths meet: to Bauko, to Tadian, and to Besao, then leading to Palanan, Isabela. As you already know by now, we took the Spanish Trail via Toktok Allan.
It was in this spot where we were able to rest and catch our breaths for more than 10 minutes. The pic below shows the path forking off to the Tadian part of the Spanish Trail. It is also over that knoll where you can get another view of Mt. Mogao. And since we were already there, we might as well check it out, too, much to the teasing of our (male) company.
We then continued our trek. There were some areas where you’d be walking on a raised trail. Raised, I say, because on both sides are paths that are deeper than the trail we were walking on. If the guides did not point it out, we might have missed it, because they were almost covered by brushes and undergrowth.
These depressions or paths are noticeably wider. That is because they are meant for the horse-drawn carriages (or kalesas) where the Spaniards rode on whenever they used the trail. The raised path in the middle are for the humans (specifically, the servants and footsoldiers).
Another close encounter. Large mushrooms growing on trees. Someone said they are called ganoderma in English. This one was particularly huge. It is used by locals as decoration, where they carve names and designs and what-nots, then dry it a bit, then coat it with varnish before putting it up against the wall or something.
By this time, we were already feeling hungry, but the area where our lunch is set up is still quite aways at this point.
We passed two other signposts along the way: Kamalin and Bato.
Finally, we arrived at the lunch area, where locals set up a makeshift buffet table laden with rice, steamed cabbage, soup, pinikpikan and some pork. It is also here where I got another taste of water from this bamboo-like plant. The first time was during our trek in Tinglayan.
There were some nostalgic moments during the trek for me. Like these pitcher plants, for instance. I grew up with these in my Grandma’s place in Atok. These days, I don’t see them anymore, displaced by concrete roads and tire paths. It was refreshing seeing them again here.
And then we arrived at Mt. Bato, which marks the boundary of Bagnen and Poblacion. All throughout the trek, it was already normal to come across cow dung. They were huuuuuuuuge. But what bugged me the most was how we’ve been walking for hours, and kept seeing these “droppings”, but not a trace of a single cow. And how on earth they managed to take on this trail, which is mostly comprised of narrow pathways and slippery slopes.
Finally, I spotted two of these mountain cows. And again, my thought was, “HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET DOWN THERE.”
After what seemed like hours of uphill climbs, it is now mostly downhill. With great views to our right. Careful, though, because one misstep, and you’ll be slipping right down the side of the mountain.
After the signpost of Naipakda, it was another 20-ish minutes to the signpost for Mt. Kapuwaw, where we had another 10-minute rest at the summit.
Resumed walking, then passed through a slippery, muddy patch. We then ended up sitting down by the wayside in Cotcot-Aso. There’s a spring in the area where we had our water bottles refilled with fresh spring water from the mountain.
The last signpost, if I remember correctly, before we arrived at Bagnen Proper, is Bawi.
During the climb, I managed to remain dry. So it was all sorts of funny when, on the last leg, as we were nearing Barangay Bagnen Proper and we were passing through a residential area, I was all careful in navigating through another muddy patch. Then I got startled (more like someone startled me), my left foot slipped, and dropped…. onto running water.
Here’s the clincher: it’s not just any water. It’s water from a nearby pig pen. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.
I got a load of laughs out of that one. And a stinky left shoe. But hey, it’s stuff like these that put that “extra” in extraordinary experiences, don’t you think?