Osmena Peak - Kawasan Falls Traverse

Broke camp at 7 AM. Sun was shining and the skies looked promising. We're just six hours away from the waterfalls.

Going to that paved road.

Stopping by the water source for some cold water sprinkling

PawPaw leading our group of 5

Waiting for Paw's signal

Therese leading this time. Girl power.

Met the rest of the group in a chapel for lunch. Rested for a little while and proceeded hunting for cold waters. We took the other trail, the one that was not the half moon. I don't know what it was called. Feel free to let me know.

It was almost an hour walk from lunch site to the river. Just so you know, I am so in love with fresh water. Even the sound of it makes me so excited, I'm all smiles!!!

Fresh water in sight!!! Just a few more steps away. I'm feeling so jumpy.

Campers entering Kawasan Falls via back door. No entrance fee here unlike the other entrance XD

Kawasan Falls has 3 levels. I've been here a couple of times but not on this (3rd) level.

Swimming to that little curtain

SO COLD. My teeth hasn't chattered in a while. Photo by Julius.

Mini waterfall. Its size is dwarfed compared to the first level's but it's better coz you don't need a raft to go under it.

Cliff diving =) =) =) 

I looooooooove cliff diving!! We climbed onto that wall on the photo above, just around 15-20 feet. I wish it was higher.

Mini-trekked down to the rest of the waterfalls (love the river sounds) and onto the highway.

This is the first waterfall, and the largest among them, that you'll see when you enter Kawasan Falls via front door.

Took the 3-hour bus ride home. So much for semestral break.

Osmena Peak, Dalaguete

We took the bus which left at 10am from Caltex near USJR in Carbon. Php100 for a 3-hour ride. The ride wasn't that comfortable. Our knees were touching the seat in front of us and we sat next to live chickens and vegies but if you got good company, the chicken included, the ride won't really be a torture. It took us directly to Mantalongon Market, probably the highest wet market in the province. 

If you take the buses in South Bus Terminal, you drop off Dalaguete highway and take a 20-minute habal-habal ride to the market. I hear it's a fun ride.

On our way to those mountains

Adidas rock

It's an hour walk from the market to the campsite. If you don't feel like walking, you can take the habal-habal which will take you to the foot of the peak and walk for just 10 minutes more. If you plan to arrive at midnight like some of the guys in our group did, then this route will be best. Unless you really want to night trek.

 It was very cloudy when we got to the camp site. The hill on the left is Osmena's Peak.

Lots of campers that day. It was the first weekend of the semestral break. 

Foggy!!

View from Osmena's Peak. I wonder whose those other peaks are. Would be great if one of those is named after me.

With my pretty sister, F. It took a lot of convincing for her to spend the weekend with me.

Group photo by Tikboy

 With Jah who carried our tent the whole time. Looks like heaven! Photo by Julius.

Thought we were unlucky that day. It was so cloudy we couldn't see the sunset.

But then the clouds moved away and there you have it.

That time of the day when the colors play in the sky.

The night sky was a beauty. I hadn't seen as many stars ever--some shooting and falling, can't really tell the difference. We were lucky the sky was clear that night, not a cloud covering it, which also meant no rain. It was so cold already without the rain.
We didn't have any decent photo during camp at night especially of the millions of stars because Gerard aka Tikboy who had the only camera capable of capturing it was seeing other kinds of stars brought about by Tanduay and whatever it was they were drinking.
No bonfires. Just headlamps, layers of cloth on our bodies, music, food, cards, talking, playing and laughing. The only things missing were a guitar and a lipstick to paint the card game loser's face.And we had a firefly inside our tent! Lovely company.
You know what they say about people in the mountains. There's nothing much to do that's why they go to bed early. I guess that held true for the girls that night except that it was too cold, we found it pretty hard to stay asleep.
Woke up to this...

...and breakfast cooking. Packed up for a long walk to some cold fresh water.

Rappelling

At Campo 4, Talisay.
Rappellling off a bridge. Not that high. Just learning the how-to's.
Did this six weeks ago. I can't remember much of the details.

Before this photo was taken, that yellow multicab attempted to cross the river but got stuck along the way. The water was deeper than they thought. A dump truck had to pull it out.

ropes, harnesses, carabiners, gloves

• When a carabiner is dropped, it's considered broken even when it still looks usable. There could be small cracks inside of it. You cannot throw it away though coz someone might pick it up and use it. You can either keep it (but not use it), or have it x-rayed. The latter is too much of a hassle for a very small thing so they suggest to just attach it to your chest when you get a chest x-ray. XD
• You must not step on ropes. Rocks and glass from the ground or your shoes could get inside the rope and eventually cut the fibers.
• There are hundreds of ways to tie a knot.
• Just do it.

There were a couple more stuff (and terms) that I learned. I just cannot remember any more.

Not that high. Even if you fall you'd still be alive but with a couple of scratches and bruises.

A few cyclists passed (and some stopped) by.  

Dear Photograph

Suppose time is a circle, bending back on itself. The world repeats itself, precisely, endlessly.

-Alan Lightman, Einstein's Dreams

This photo was taken on October 16, 2011. 

The photo in this photo was taken on May 3, 1998.

Same spot. Same angle. A decade's difference.

The cabinets, barometer, lights, picture frames are still where they used to be. The organ is now moved to a different spot; there are new shelves, books, photos and even new members in the house.

It's amazing how in just a single click a moment is captured and kept for years or a lifetime. They'd even make very lovely gifts. Sometimes it's the only memory one will ever have.

Back in the days when analog cameras were the only ones available, photos were more tangible. Nowadays they get stuck in the hard drive or the internet and a single virus could erase them all.

My dad told us that one day when we grow old we'll be thanking him for all the memories he's saved for us: photographs and videos. They get riper with age. I've come to realize the truth in those words not so long after he said that. Not that I've aged fast. It's just that I'm a schmaltz.

Print your photos. Write dates and captions.

-------

When I was a kid I used to play the keyboard during recitals, parties at home, and even during fiestas at the sports complex. It wasn't that fun. I didn't like the pressure and the attention. Even now, after 11 years, when I meet neighbors known to me or not, they'd still refer to me as the girl who played the keyboard the night Sweeney passed away.

Nearness of You (Cover)

CHOPPY. You'll hear my name somewhere. Clutter.

My originals are horrible.

The photo is inspired by Dearphotograh. It's a trip to memory lane. Reminds me of  the movie filled with so much nostalgia, Cinema Paradiso.

overly romantic, it's laughable

I want to make sure I bring all the stuff I need when I go out on a trip so I list down the things I have to pack. This is a list I made on our trip to Argao and I've been using it on the following treks I've had, adding whatever stuff I need.

One of the things I almost always bring with me is a book or any reading material and/or a notebook where I can draw or write stuff.  It's true what they say: boredom kills. And this is my way of hanging on to dear life. (Okay, that was cheesy.)

Packing for the recent trek I had was hurried. I was currently reading a thick novel but I didn't want to bring anything big and heavy so I grabbed this small novel (novella?) I had in my shelf: Bridges of Madison County.

It was so short at around 150 pages with huge font -- talk about stretching the length of the novel -- that I finished half of it during the frequent breaks we had. I had the impression that it was a good book coz the awesome Clint Eastwood made a film adaptation about it. I was wrong. It was overly romantic, too cheesy I thought some rats were trying to attack me. I hate the story. Wife of a decent husband falls in love with a stranger she met for four days while her family was away on a trip. She and stranger part ways and never meet again but their love never faded even until their death decades after. asdfjkl!!!!

Too sensational, too cinematic. I wanted to crumple the pages and burn the book. 

It's terrible. I'm no moralist but it amuses me that this book became so popular because they had an affair.

Unless you want to feel angry and dumb and wanting to poke your eyes for reading such horrible stuff, don't read it.

Budlaan River Trek

After plenty of turning down invites for the outdoors I finally had the time to join one.

I went river trekking and rock climbing in Budlaan Falls in Talamban on a cloudy/rainy/sunny Sunday. I first met these people at a Basic Mountaineering Course held last month. The weather was just fine when the group rendezvoused in the morning but when we reached our drop off at Baugo it started to drizzle and then it rained hard. Our guide/leader surveyed the area and tried to weigh between doing Kan-Irag or push through with the river trek.

We did the river trek.

My camera's LCD was broken so I was shooting through the viewfinder the whole time with no reviewing and stuff. I'm glad the photos came out good.

Some girl's feet swimming in coffee.

Because of the rain the water was brown. It wasn't really dirty. Just muddy. On normal days the river and waterfalls look like this.

There were lots of rocks and boulders and plants and insects along the way.

Sometimes we had to cross the river and the current was quite strong and along with that, some rock climbing and rapelling. There were lots of ropes involved. That guy on the left was our guide, Aaron. 

I don't know what's up with those strips of white shades on the photos. 

Mighty waterfalls. I have so much love for fresh water. =)  

I don't really know the names of the waterfalls. There were probably three or four that we passed by. This one was the biggest, it was majestic. Well, it wouldn't have been so if it weren't for the rain. Otherwise it would have looked like (this).

Those are water hoses. And that's Neeru. Or was it Jerson? I was only sure of one name among the people in the group:  Paw Paw who helped me bigtime.

Now, this is where the magic happened that day.

The ropes were extremely important. Someone said this is the part where you learn to appreciate your life. It didn't really apply to any of us until the "magic" happened. I don't want to talk about it. I just want to tell you this: think twice about river trekking if it's raining hard, ergo, when it floods. 

This is the part where I finished a quarter of a short novel I brought with me. The group was moving slow and there were lots of waiting time in between it would dry your eyes out. It was an ugly book I brought. So ugly I think I'll tell you about it later.

Brisk walking back to Baugo. Racing the sunset.

We were way behind schedule. We were supposed to end up in Busay but it was getting dark already so they decided that we just go back to Baugo where we dropped off. I love walking trails--at dusk at that. And I was practically silent most of the time. #shytype. I would have been the opposite if my trek buddy, Rochelle, went. She had other plans. I miss her a lot. Like a lot, a lot.

This trek was so cheap I only spent less than 50 pesos. And I got a huge ugly bruise as a souvenir. It's so colorful it's like I have a rainbow tattooed on my left knee.