It was a beautiful, cool morning when we started our trek going to the foot of Mount Mandalagan. Our jump off point is the dreamy and serene highland of Campuestuhan, with the less known trails leading to the bowels of dense foliage for avid hikers will lead to other new and unexplored trails, depending on the guide guts and knowledge of the forest glades. The majestic mountain seems to welcome us in its cold embrace and covers our trails with a whirling misty fog. When you look back, you could no longer see the path you left behind.
Visibility is quite difficult , all that you can see is the whiteness of the surrounding as if you are transported to a different world. It is quite an eerie feeling. As we walked along the hiking trail, we can see the mossy ground and wild ferns growing along side the crystal clear water which find its way among the stony path, the continuous rivulets of cool water was coming out from the side of the mountain.
The hiking trail passes through a beautiful meadow, with a beautiful view of the mountain ranges encircled by the fogs which crown its peaks like a halo. It was drizzling as we emerged in the meadow, the grasses were wet with the morning dew and was so slippery that we need to take measured steps to avoid slips and falls.
From the copse of trees, resonates sounds of birds and small animals, even a troop of monkeys scattered in different directions startled by our invasion of their territory. Yellow butterflies frolics in the sea of green, in spite that it was drizzling, they seems to be waiting for the sun to come out from behind the grey clouds.
As we continue following the trail through the canopy of trees which hides the cloudy sky, scents of decaying leaves and branches intrudes our nostrils, even the earth tones.
Looking around, we can see wild ferns, and green vines growing profusely, encircling the trunks and hanging branches of trees endemic to our areas. The mossy trees were like giants guarding the entrance into the depths of the forest.
In this hiking trip allow me to present to you, the crown jewel of the North Negros Forest Reserve, Mount Mandalagan, a striving and rich forest cover, with huge ang gigantic trees endemic only to our area especially the majestic almaciga trees, narra, malugai and bugnai which I knew.
The forest reserve was studded with clear, flowing rivers, hidden waterfalls, and an above sea level lagoon, the famous, “Tinagong Dagat.” The Tinagong Dagat is a two (2) kilometers wide plateau which become a lagoon during rainy season when there’s an abundance of rainfall. The locals testify that the lagoon had its high and low tides, just like the rising and waning of the sea waves. Although there’s no record of eruption, Mount Mandalagan is still recorded by PHILVOCS as a “potentially active volcano”, this could be, because of its most unique features which could had been created by some volcanic activities in the past millenia. Another astounding gem of this mountain is a field of mud pools and fumaroles, which was two hours away, east of Tinagong Dagat, known as, “Solfatara.” it derives its name from a Latin word, “sulpha terra,” which means, “land of sulphur,” This area has two distinct fields, the “Sulfur Dako,” and “Sulfur Gamay.” This unique place is easily accessible through the Campuestohan trail in Talisay, Negros Occidental which we are traversing towards the Tinagong Dagat, this hiking trail has lots of steep sections through dense forest, and the danger of encountering blood sucking leeches.
We have to go over tree trunks felled by previous storms that devastated our province, muddy trails that sucks you down like a magnetic field which makes our progress tedious and tiring. We have to stopped for water breaks many times. But it was a delight indeed, to be able to see the beautiful imagery displayed lavishly by nature, all that you need to have is an observant eyes and sense of curiosity about things around you. Surely, you will be awarded by exotic beauty of nature that your eyes can feast.
Sometimes along the trail, you will have a chance encounter of faunas and floras striving significantly as compared to previous decades that it comes to a point of extinction. Giant ferns, wild flowers, glossy armored insects, feathered friends and even snakes were quite abundant along the trails. Thus, a chance encounter of snakes lazily stretching across the hiking trail is a frightening possibility. But our guide is quite adept and responsible, so we’re confident that our adventure into the wild will be a safe and memorable experience. To my wonderful friends and family here in the community, thank you so much for taking the time to read about my experiences and may these words may also reminds us to help conserve our nature and its biodiversity.
“Take nothing, but pictures,”
“Kill nothing, but time,”
“Leave nothing, but footprints,”
These words were the battle cry of all friends of the wilderness, it always ring a bell to me, and somehow it becomes also my mantra whenever I am doing a journey to the mountains, to the wilderness. I hope that it will remind all of us who were the so called guardians of our posterity, that we might leave a better place for the next generations.
Have a great day everyone, and enjoy the wonderful experience of being one with nature!