The Friday group hike turned out to be an all day affair. Got home in time for a quick shower before heading out to the darts tourney. Alas, that gave me no opportunity to post about the nothingness of Thursday’s events, but as you can probably imagine, you didn’t miss much.
So, as I’ve mentioned before, the Friday group tends to seek out adventure, at least to the extent that we like to hike in places we don’t normally visit. Yesterday was no exception. We took the Hashmobile and traveled about 40 minutes out of town to Cawag, where we hiked up into the hills and back again. A couple of the folks with has had done this hike several years ago, but things change. Once again, we didn’t find the trail we sought and wound up having to blaze our way through the first climb of the day. It was tough going.
We did find the trail eventually and it made for a much easier trip back down the mountain. A few of us came down ahead of the pack because we were tired and hot. We all regrouped later at a nice little roadside cafe that was just recently opened that we happened to find by chance. And in an odd twist of fate, one of our hikers knew the proprietor and she was familiar with the Hash because back in the day, her now-deceased husband had hosted several On-Home gatherings at his house. Small world, eh?
Let’s do the pictures then:
The view of our hike from outer space. What I found most impressive was how much different the landscape was from what we find in Barretto. Almost no trees or foliage on the mountains out here. Lots of fucking thatch grass though…In the truck and on our way…13 hardy hikers made the journey to Cawag…Let’s get started!Our first decision point of the morning–turn left or go straight? Those boys adopted us as tour guides and indicated going straight would lead us to the pool we were seeking. We chose to take the path to the left. Unwisely as it turned out.Because instead of a well-used and easy-to-navigate trail, we had to maneuver our way through fields of boulders.A rocky road indeed!But we made the best of it and continued onward.The first of several stream crossings…Forgive us our trespasses…The scenery was different and that was what gave the hike a special feeling somehow….And eventually our perseverance paid off……we found the pool we were seeking!Judging from the litter-strewn about, this must be a popular picnic spot. We took a short rest before continuing on to the second part of our hike–the climb.Our trail was allegedly on the other side of the stream…But what we thought was a path was not. So, we were forced to blaze a trail in hopes of finding one…A mountain view…A view of Linda, Max, and me taking in the view.What’s everyone looking at?We eventually found our trail and came across this “waterfall”. Max refilled his water bottle here. I asked if that was a good idea and he said he didn’t see why not. Okay by me!This is Max an hour later after puking his guts out…Time to head on back to the truck. Our shoes had gotten muddy from the water on the trail, so the stream crossing served as a good opportunity to wash them off.The final kilometer for your intrepid reporter…But we had the good fortune to find a place serving up the liquid refreshment we were craving. Some of the guys ate burgers as well…Our gracious hostess who was married to a Hasher back in the day…Chillin’ out after a good day of hiking…And that’s it for this outpost…
I’ve got to rush out now for my singles league match. I’ll bring y’all up to speed on the rest of the doings and goings on in these parts tomorrow.
You didn’t think you’d get away without having to endure a bad pun, did you?
4 thoughts on “Lucky thirteen”
Max is lucky that all he did was puke. He didn’t have any water-purifying tablets or a nanofilter like my Grayl? Yikes. For short hikes, I’ve discovered the easiest solution is just to carry enough bottled water for the trip.
Anyway, it looks to have been a good hike, even if it involved a lot of trail-blazing. Why didn’t you guys follow the kids’ advice and head to that “pool” more directly?
Yeah, he had exhausted the 1.5 liter bottle he carried and chose to refill with stream water. Hell, I don’t even drink tap water in this country. I think he learned his lesson!
Well, I guess the guys who had done the trail a few years back had more confidence in their memory than they did these kids. In other words, ego.
I noticed you put “pool” in quotation marks. Good call, when they were talking about a pool I’m not sure what I pictured, but it for sure wasn’t that greenish backwater.
Yowza! I would almost have to be on deaths door to drink out of a stream close to sea level, especially in a place like the Philippines. Maybe he should invest invest in a LifeStraw? (I know, I know, closing the gate after the horse is gone and all that)
Is the Hashmobile owned by a hasher or something you rent?
(Be careful out there. Story recently in the States about a Ford Expedition that had 25!!! people in it and managed to get t-boned by a gravel truck. As you can imagine, the gravel truck won the matchup.)
Yeah, I doubt he’ll be making that mistake again! I think the locals have developed some resistance. The water was running free and quick through a small pipe, so it appeared it was intended for drinking. When I first started visiting the PI it seemed like every trip I’d get a case of the runs after a couple of days. I think that was from brushing my teeth with tap water.
The Hash itself owns the Hash truck. And I agree, riding in that thing is probably the most dangerous part of the hike. It’s uncomfortable too.
Max is lucky that all he did was puke. He didn’t have any water-purifying tablets or a nanofilter like my Grayl? Yikes. For short hikes, I’ve discovered the easiest solution is just to carry enough bottled water for the trip.
Anyway, it looks to have been a good hike, even if it involved a lot of trail-blazing. Why didn’t you guys follow the kids’ advice and head to that “pool” more directly?
Yeah, he had exhausted the 1.5 liter bottle he carried and chose to refill with stream water. Hell, I don’t even drink tap water in this country. I think he learned his lesson!
Well, I guess the guys who had done the trail a few years back had more confidence in their memory than they did these kids. In other words, ego.
I noticed you put “pool” in quotation marks. Good call, when they were talking about a pool I’m not sure what I pictured, but it for sure wasn’t that greenish backwater.
Yowza! I would almost have to be on deaths door to drink out of a stream close to sea level, especially in a place like the Philippines. Maybe he should invest invest in a LifeStraw? (I know, I know, closing the gate after the horse is gone and all that)
Is the Hashmobile owned by a hasher or something you rent?
(Be careful out there. Story recently in the States about a Ford Expedition that had 25!!! people in it and managed to get t-boned by a gravel truck. As you can imagine, the gravel truck won the matchup.)
Yeah, I doubt he’ll be making that mistake again! I think the locals have developed some resistance. The water was running free and quick through a small pipe, so it appeared it was intended for drinking. When I first started visiting the PI it seemed like every trip I’d get a case of the runs after a couple of days. I think that was from brushing my teeth with tap water.
The Hash itself owns the Hash truck. And I agree, riding in that thing is probably the most dangerous part of the hike. It’s uncomfortable too.