Start the decade right | Spartan Trail, Cebu, Philippines

I don't know about you but I've always been obsessed with getting things right whenever a new year unfolds. The same obsession intensifies when a new decade spurted out two years ago.

It was the start of the new year and a new decade and before it could even begin, my friends and I knew we wanted to welcome it in the most meaningful way we could. My friends and I were trying to figure out our first-ever activity of the decade. We had a few things on our list but we narrowed it down to trekking. It was a subtle attempt to start living a more healthy lifestyle in the years to come. We called an old college friend who knows the trail; he came to the rescue!

Cebu City might be the center of industrialization in the Visayas but we're equally bombarded by treacherous mountains and dazzling beaches all over the Province. There's no need to go far, if you want a damn hike, Cebu City has it!

Respect call times

It was a sunny Saturday morning. We were scheduled to meet at 6 am at McDonald's in Paseo Arcenas in Banawa. Everyone except one arrived on time. I hated Rolly for coming in late without breakfast, that means we had to wait for him until he finished the meal he ordered in McDonald's!

I tried to be cool about people being late but deep inside, I was fuming when we left McDonald's; it couldn't be denied we wasted one hour or so and that we had to deal with the scorching heat of the sun. We were supposed to start early and arrive at our first stop before lunch! 😡

We passed by houses and subdivisions until we reached the hilly part of Banawa where the ever-famous The Good Sheperd, a pilgrimage site, is located. Pilgrims from all walks of life gather here during the Lenten season. We didn't explore further The Good Sheperd tho. Maybe next time!

At this point, I remember being amazed by what I saw. Huge green trees lined up making the walk refreshing. We were on an elevated part of Cebu so the city could be seen from here already.

We kept walking until we could finally see the mountains that we had to surmount that day. It looked small from where we stood.

Up the hill!

Okay, I was wrong in all ways possible when I told you earlier that the mountain is small. It did look small but in actuality, it was huge that in the first fifteen minutes alone, we stopped more than three (3) times. But halfway through the first mountain, the view invited us to stop for a while and just stare at Cebu City's view with all the tall buildings and a glimpse of Mactan Channel and Mactan Island across us. We don't get to see this view every day!

By the time we reached the peak of the first mountain, one of my friends, Ning, declared she was no longer pushing through with the rest of the hike. Her stomach hurt so bad and she felt dizzy. We told her we'd give her time to recover; we gave her water and assisted her until she fully recovered. Thankfully, she felt better after taking deep breaths. We're also blessed that there was a small tree where Ning rested.

A few minutes later, we're back on track! Once you're on top of the hill, you'll see Cebu City. Everything in the city looks nothing compared to the huge mountains where we stood. The wind was warm just like how I like it!

Are we lost?

After making sure Ning's 100% fit to continue the climb, we decided to proceed with the rest of Spartan! Now the thing is Jesse, our college friend who was guiding us that day hadn't been in Spartan for months. Guess what? We found ourselves in the middle of nowhere! Lost, we're lost! Oh no!

That's funny because we just successfully survived a challenge and here's another one less than fifteen minutes! Are we doomed? 😥

After checking here and there, Jesse told us he found the right trail. He led the way and we willingly followed. The path was getting narrower, filled with tall grass that made the way difficult to see at first. I had a few scratches on my arms because of these grasses.

The trail widened now and we kept talking and walking and singing. We had to keep our spirits up! On top of that, it hadn't been an hour since we started the trek! It'll be a shame to stop now! 😎

We followed the trail covered with plants and shrubs until we found a clearing ahead. Ahhh, what a relief! That's when we knew that we were indeed on the right track. Jesse was more confident now that he saw some familiar landmarks on the trail.

Oh river!

We kept descending until we reached a dry river. I was sort of wishing we'd end up in a regular river, not this one wherein there's no water at all. Nonetheless, we enjoyed what Mother Nature offered that day. We rested here for a bit because Jesse was telling us that not long after this there will be non-stop assaults.

Now, this is the part when things got a bit challenging. We were still following the dry river we entered earlier. But as we moved forward, I noticed that more and more water gathered in the riverbed. We could still find some dry ground tho, It's just a matter of strategy. Some tall and old trees fell across the river; we had to go over or under them just to keep going.

At some point, we thought we'd always find dry land to walk on but when we were nearing the falls, there was no way but to step on the wet riverbed. We got our shoes wet! I hate it so much! I'm going to wear my hiking sandals next time!

Moments later, we heard water gushing somewhere near. Lo and behold, we reached the waterfall. Jesse was perhaps the only one among the six (6) of us who's actively been climbing prior to this trip as for the rest of us, we couldn't even remember 🙄

Jesse gave us two options. One is to climb beside the falls, which he highlighted was easier or two is to go to the right side of the falls where huge rocks pile one on top of the other.

I believe Jesse when he said Option 1 was easier. So I went for it. Watching him climb from afar looked easy and simple, but when I got there, my knees trembled and it was so hard to find where my feet should land and where I'll be holding unto. When I looked down, the fear crept in and I decided, I'm not risking my life for some kind of show! Lol! I took the longer route which was safer for my level.

I didn't expect this post to be this long lol! I'd tell the rest in the next part of this blog. Have you been climbing recently? Share a photo of your favorite hike in the comment section!