A Serendipitous Wednesday Hike in Cebu City's Highlands

Hello, fellow outdoor lovers!

It's the middle of the week, and I can't wait for the weekend. Yay! It's crazy how, even as an unemployed and bored individual like me, when Wednesday arrives, Thursday and Friday seem to pass by in a flash.

Being unemployed gives me the time to do the things that I couldn't do when I was working from Mondays to Fridays. One of those things is going on spontaneous weekday hikes. It's such a joy to explore the great outdoors on a Wednesday, away from the crowded trails and weekend rush.

On Monday, my hiking friend James messaged me and invited me on a hike. At first, I hesitated because I knew they were planning to hike the 6 Towers Trail to Manggapar. I'm not really fond of this trail when ascending since it's steep, and I won't lie, I'm getting older and my knees can't handle it anymore. HAHA

Luckily, we didn't end up taking that trail. Instead, we opted for a different route to Manggapar.

On Wednesday, I woke up at 4 AM to prepare for the hike. Our meeting time was from 5:30 AM to 6:00 AM at Guadalupe Church. I arrived there at 5:20 AM and had breakfast at the nearest karenderia while waiting for James and Hive account@ybanezkim26 to arrive. By the way, it was just the three of us hiking on a Wednesday.

Afterwards, we departed and hailed a motorcycle taxi to Sitio Napo, Brgy. Sapangdaku, Cebu.

This Wednesday adventure started at Sitio Napo Chapel, which is also the usual jump-off point when we hike to Babag. Our goal was to find the trail leading to one of the towers in the 6 Towers Trail that is near Camp Adela.

While walking on a slippery cemented road towards Kahugan Chapel, I suddenly remembered that there was a nearby waterfall. We approached some locals and asked for directions, and they kindly pointed out a trail that led to one of the tiers.

Going down was not a walk in the park. We had to duck and squat, but it was worth it. We were amazed at how clear and strong the water in the waterfalls was.

We stayed for a couple of minutes to take some pictures, and then we continued our hike to the chapel.

We rested a little bit on the bamboo benches outside the chapel and then proceeded with the hike, looking for the trail that would lead us to the tower. However, we found a dead-end on the trail where there was a house. We asked one of the locals for the right trail going to the tower, so we had to go back a few steps to where a small trail on the left was located.

The local instructed us to follow the trail, which would cross a small stream, and to keep left and follow the direction of the tower.

True enough, we followed the direction of the tower and passed a hamlet that sells plants.

We also passed by a local herder tending to his cows. After a few more meters, the tower came into sight. However, we realized it wasn't the tower that led directly to Camp Adela. We still had to ascend on an open trail to reach the next tower.

I could already feel my knees shaking, which was the result of the long rest we took while talking to the herder. Haha.

James was already sprinting ahead, searching for some shade, while Kim and I were already whining about our aching bodies—well, maybe it was just me. Haha.

We passed Camp Adela and continued walking to Plateau de Laborte. We stopped there to take pictures on top of a mango tree that had a platform, offering a great view of the city.

I decided not to climb the platform because I was afraid the tree might be uprooted due to my weight. HAHA.

We were already craving something cold to drink, so we decided to continue walking to Bagsakan Outpost in Pamutan. However, we stopped by a store near the road to buy cold soft drinks first.

Afterwards, we proceeded to Bagsakan Outpost, hoping we could buy our lunch there. Thankfully, there was some food on display, and we managed to buy pancit bihon. We decided to have our lunch somewhere along the Spartan Trail.

It has been months since the last time I was on the Spartan Trail, and during my previous visit, the trail was still challenging due to fallen trees caused by Typhoon Odette in December 2021.

I can only count the times I have been on the Spartan Trail in reverse, from Bagsakan to Banawa. I prefer this direction because it has more descending parts than ascending.

However, going down was still not as easy as we had thought. We expected the fallen trees to have been cleared by now, but we were wrong. It felt like a parkour trail going down, but fortunately, the weather wasn't too hot.

As we neared the river, we were shocked to see a newly constructed set of cemented steps that wasn't there before. We continued our hike towards the waterfalls, where we planned to have our lunch.

James couldn't resist taking a dip in the falls, which made me envious, but I tried to suppress the temptation as I didn't want to get wet for the journey back home. We had our lunch there and stayed only for a few minutes before continuing our hike towards Banawa.

We had thought the river trail would be as calm as before, but once again, we were mistaken. Due to ongoing dike construction along the river, we faced difficulties crossing without getting our shoes wet. We also noticed an unpleasant smell and bubbles on the surface of the water near the dike.

Finally, we reached the part of the trail where we had to ascend to the water source. I enjoy this section when going downhill, but going up was a different story. I took my time, resting whenever I felt tired, until we finally reached the water source.

Just one more ascending part, and we'll be done. The more I realize we're almost there, the more my body aches and the more tired I feel. I keep cursing with every step until we finally reached BossKafe sa Huya. However, since they didn't have any cold drinks available, we decided to head to Kofi Ben instead.

At Kofi Ben, I indulged in my third soft drink of the day. NYAHAHAH. This is probably why I never lose weight. We reached Paseo Arcenas just before the rain started pouring.

I've missed this kind of hike, the spontaneous ones. The excitement of discussing with friends where to exit, the sense of adventure in exploring new trails and discovering new camping spots, and engaging in meaningful conversations with locals. Until my next adventure! 😉🍃

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