The unexplained weight gain and sedentary lifestyle pushed us to do some real sweating while embracing nature. February 24-25, 2017 were two successive holidays for Cebu City and so it was time to gear up and hike.
Our group was composed of 10 people: 8 adults, 2 kids (13 and 10 y.o). We didn't have an info until we reach the habal-habal terminal that it was Brgy. Cogon Fiesta so as expected there would be lots of people in the place. All of us were first timers and just relied on the blogs and reviews we read prior to our meet-up. We were surprised to see the place so crowded people that we had hard time getting a parking space for the vehicle we brought along. Finally, good souls rescued us and got us a safe place where we can leave the car for the night.
Cogon folks call the Mt. Naupa's camp site as camping. As soon as we reach the chapel, there were kids who approached us and presented themselves to be our guides. We made sure that these kids really knew the trail and that they could be safe in getting back to their homes, and that their parents know they were coming with us. There were five (5) of them who volunteered, we got only three (3)
The itinerary we had in mind was this:
Feb 24, 2017
1:30-2:30 PM - assembly at Petron Gasoline Station, Inayagan, City of Naga
2:30 - 3:00 - travel from Petron to Brgy. Cogon Chapel (habal-habal at P50/each)
3:00 - 3:30 - prep for trekking
3:30 - start trekking
5:00 - arrival at campsite; pitch tents
5:30 - settling down; sunset watching
6:00 - dinner
7:00 - stargazing
8:30 - doze off
Feb 25, 2017
5:30 - rise up; assault to summit; sunrise watching
6:30 - back to campsite; prep for breakfast
7:00 - breakfast; clean up after
8:00 - break camp; hike down
9:30 - arrival at Cogon chapel
9:45 - travel to Petron Gasoline Station
10:30 - brunch
11:30 - home sweet home
We arrived at the campsite as planned, 5:00 pm and immediately pitched our tents and enjoyed sunset. Cool mountain breeze wrapped us as we exchanged stories and shared dinner. The galaxy treated us with clear view of its million stars. We enjoyed listening to each one's life stories that it was already past 11 pm that we finally dozed off.
We woke up early to the marvelous sunrise. We climbed the peak and savor the fresh air and warm peek of the sun. We took photos..lots of photos and capture the difficulty in our descent back to the campsite and before the sun could shine to its hottest glory, we were already on our way to the highway where we had our sumptuous breakfast :-)
We woke up early to the marvelous sunrise. We climbed the peak and savor the fresh air and warm peek of the sun. We took photos..lots of photos and capture the difficulty in our descent back to the campsite and before the sun could shine to its hottest glory, we were already on our way to the highway where we had our sumptuous breakfast :-)
