Monday, March 11, 2013

Mt Lanaya: Reverse Traverse

minimalist camping 2

My running buddy was running a 50K trail run in Hong Kong so last weekend was an opportunity for me to do the activity I originally loved doing—camping!

I wanted the activity to be a fusion of my running training and minimalist camping so I once again took the challenge of Mt Lanaya Traverse (in spite of my doctor’s advice). I had already traversed the mountain twice but this time I did the reverse route starting from Minag-a and exiting at Tumandok.
Blue: Day 1
Green: Day 2
This trail is, for me, one of the best trails in the country in that it is consistently shady, clean and single-track from start to finish. And the locals you meet are very warm and nice. Misty wooded areas once spooked me. But last Saturday the misty woods of Mt Lanaya made me feel like I was one with it! I felt connected to the Earth! 
Eywa
the misty woods at 2 PM
But the bees at the bouldery summit did scare me. So I aborted the plan to camp alone at the summit.
the makeshift bench at the summit had been taken apart
Instead, I headed for the Windows campsite down below. This campsite is still one of the best I’ve seen! I couldn’t resist practicing some of the poses I recently learned in yoga while facing the sun-kissed TaƱon Strait. At the campsite I saw Tonton—one of my two companions in my first Mt Lanaya trek—with some of his friends. They would do a traverse to Lumpan the following day.
Tonton's group at Windows campsite (a.k.a. Tonton's peak)
A trek in Mt Lanaya is a dreaded one in Cebu because of its steepness. But my recent trek was mysteriously easy! However the Lanaya-saag is still the same—labyrinthine! The mist added to the challenge in finding the right trail amongst the crisscrossing vanishing trails in the area. I had mistakenly erased my GPS tracks of my first two ascents there so it was again a puzzle for me. But 
I was always ready for a camp at the Lanaya-saag area so I didn’t panic.
got stranded for a while at Lanaya-saag
The whole trek (including the final descent to Tumandok reading center the following morning) just consumed 2hours and 41 minutes of moving time and around 30 minutes of stopped time (excluding the time I used taking pictures and setting up my bivy system). And I was not running. It was a relaxed pace. This is the advantage of minimalist camping! And I don’t intend to brag nor take away the credit due Mt Lanaya. I’m just encouraging everyone to do minimalist camping or engage in trail running! Your feet will become more familiar with the trails and your stamina and cardio will greatly improve. That is while enjoying the views!
7.47 km shouldn't really be tough

8 comments:

  1. Very nice.. Hope to go there one of these days.. ^^

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  2. Sir nindot kaayo. Sir ask lang ko if g unsa nmo ug extract sa google map...thx...more power

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    1. sa google maps upper right corner naa nay pwede i-click nga Earth Satellit or Treasure...sa dropdown menu sa isa sa ilaha, pangitaa ang option nga terrain...whitish na nga map nga naay contours ang mugawas. Then i-plot na lang ang imuhang gpx file from you gps device.

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  3. The trees with the mist looks creepy, btw, great run! Keep up! Keep inspiring..

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  4. great post, sir. do you happen to know anyone that can guide us for a Mt. Lanaya trek?

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    1. i don't know a lot of local guides there. The ones who know the trails there are the kids of the man that owns the house near the Windows campsite. Well, that means you gotta get to the Windows campsite before you get a guide across Mt Lanaya. But among local climbers, I recommend Tonton (Anthony Perpetua on Facebook) He is a perennial visitor of Mt Lanaya.

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  5. sir can u send me the kml/kmz file of your gps track... thanks

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