Yep, you read that right. Our Friday walking group decided to change things up and took a little trip out to a pleasant small town in Zambales province. Gary lives way out there and generously agreed to host our hike.
It’s about a 45 minute trip from Barretto (bottom right between Ologapo and Subic).
I’ve been to San Antonio a couple of times previously. Once, for a birthday party at Gary’s place, and then there was the time we got detained by the Philippine Navy. Nothing so dramatic this go-’round, thankfully.
We did almost 7K on mostly flat ground, not that we avoided hills, there just weren’t any. Still, it was very nice to get out of town and see something new while trekking. It’s a nice area but so far away from the bar scene city conveniences, I think it would be hard for me to live happily ever after there. I was surprised to see a sign that indicated a barangay was named Los Angeles. I was born in LA, and perhaps when the time comes I will move there so folks can say “he was born and died in Los Angeles. Eh, probably not.
Let’s tell the story of my day through photographs:
You can perhaps tell by this Google-eye view of our route that the topography is much different than hilly Barretto.Six total in attendance for this hike. We were limited by the five-passenger capacity of Steve’s car.A typical street scene in old San Antone…Got off the pavement and came across these boys playing in the creekbed…And then we were out in the wide-open spaces.See what I mean?Marching through an unplanted field. We did encounter some corn growing and what I guess is some type of beans or another…Trails were scarce in places, but we did our best not to trample any crops.No hills to climb, but we did have to scale this sandbag wall.The beach is on the other side of those mountains. We saved the ocean for another day.A river……and a river crossing. That bridge literally led to nowhere, no idea why it was built. And then we came to a fork in the road, so we took it. Then retreated and took a different one… But all paths seemed to lead us here. It really was the only viable place to cross the water. I was the first to reach this bridge, and regular readers know about my phobia for structures of this nature, but I really did want to make the attempt. Once I tested the handrail and noted how wobbly it was, I decided this would be a good time to test how waterproof my new shoes were. And I’m happy to report that they dried out well.So Gina took the lead and crossed first without any difficulty.Steve was next and he weighs as much as three Ginas. He made it safely too, but it was worrisome to watch.I guess all those years on a submarine made Gary the sure-footed creature he is today.Scott and I kept watch from the relative safety of the water below…We regrouped on the other bank and plotted our course homeward.We found our way through this small village in the middle of nowhere…The highway must be around here somewhere…And we made sure to give the Navy base a wide berth so as not to accidentally stray across its borders…We made it safely back to Gary’s place. One of the nicer houses I’ve seen, but man, the outdoor area is huge and quite beautiful. This flowering roof cover over the patio being just one example.Gary manned the grill to provide us a delicious hamburger luncheon.And the beer was cold and wet! A perfect ending to our hike.
You can Relive it here if you want.
By the time we got back to Barretto, it was too late to nap. I showered up and headed out to darts but changed my mind before I arrived. Instead, I crossed the street and had some beers with the sunset at Palm Tree. I made it an early night though. Came home for crockpot meatballs with a sweet potato I had bought from a farm woman on one of my hikes. It was all good.
And so concludes yet another hiking post.
3 thoughts on “Deep in the heart of…”
A good change of pace and an interesting change of scenery. Much of that land was as flat as Texas is known to be, but those huge mountains in the distance made it look as if you’d suddenly transitioned from Texas to New Mexico.
Ha, hadn’t considered that. I’ll have to look to see if there is a Santa Fe out there somewhere!
Who needs bars McCrarey. One of the pics shows they have JAM Videoke. Have a few San Migs then belt out some tunes. You can be the next Barry Manilow of San Antonio. Instead of singing Manilow’s” Time In New England”, you can sing “Time In San Antonio”. Peace Out!
A good change of pace and an interesting change of scenery. Much of that land was as flat as Texas is known to be, but those huge mountains in the distance made it look as if you’d suddenly transitioned from Texas to New Mexico.
Ha, hadn’t considered that. I’ll have to look to see if there is a Santa Fe out there somewhere!
Who needs bars McCrarey. One of the pics shows they have JAM Videoke. Have a few San Migs then belt out some tunes. You can be the next Barry Manilow of San Antonio. Instead of singing Manilow’s” Time In New England”, you can sing “Time In San Antonio”. Peace Out!