Mt. Naupa: An Adventure Indeed
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| Mount Naupa |
Ever since I started doing some nature tripping, climbing in particular, I’ve been hearing about the fun and spectacular offer of Mount Naupa in Naga City, Cebu to its locals and visitors alike. Plan to climb the mountain was set and since then I never gave up on pursuing it notwithstanding the unexpected turns of events beforehand.
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| Good morning to couple campers 🙂 |
From the supposed 10-people group to climb, the number lowered to 7 then 5 and finally to only four of us who went up last July 11-12, 2015. It really is an adventure as we went there by our own selves without a guide given that all of us are first timers of the place. We only relied on the direction given by a mountaineer friend Chad Bacolod Cordova, who is the first to climb Mt. Naupa, and who’s been monitoring us before, during and after the climb.
From SM City Cebu, we rode KMK Bus and drop at the corner of Tungkop, Minglanilla where we had our last purchase of goods. We then took habal-habal (motorcycle) to the jump-off at Cogon Chapel. Yes, there’s a trail just right behind the chapel but it’s already 7 p.m. so we decided to have somebody to guide us up. Luckily, two teenagers volunteered to lead us to the campsite for less than an hour trek. The weather also favored us despite storm threats.
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| Keeping Warm |
We directly pitched our tent, ate our dinner and had some drinks and card game before retiring to sleep almost midnight. Along with us at the peak is Tiger, the dog who followed us and spent the rest of our stay there. We also noticed two groups of campers at the other sides of the hill where we camped.
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| Tiger looking over us the whole night ’til morning |
Low and behold, I can’t help but smile as the breeze touched my face and the foggy, green mountain ranges and hills greeted me warmth, great morning. It’s just 5 a.m. and the sun seems so excited to welcome us to the peak and allow us to have panoramic 360-degree view atop.
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| Wake-up call from Mr. Sun |
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| Rise up as the sun is already shining guys 😉 |
Photo up followed so with a yoga session. Afterwards, we prepared our breakfast and food for lunch before leaving.
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| Peeking Sunshine |
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| Foggy Morning Dew |
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| Shadowing Hill |
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| Early morning stretch and meditation |
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| Morning meal |
Another good thing happened during our camp was the acquaintance we had with the other campers and some locals.
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| Neighboring campers (still owe them for their services 😉 ) |
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| Freshly picked coconut |
One group invited us to have some fresh coconut, literally handpicked from the tree, just below the campsite and the other is a couple, Kai and his Japanese wife, from Japan who are having vacation in Cebu. We also met Nang Luisa, the owner of the coconut trees and the house nearby.
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| Very accommodating Nang Luisa |
After breakfast, food preparation and with our backpacks on, we were ready to decamp along with the two mountaineers and the kids who helped us bring some of our stuff.
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| Mountaineer Kai and Wifey together with the charming kids |
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| Heading to jump-off |
We reached jump-off in 30 minutes at 11:00 a.m. and relaxed a bit for the next destination, which is at Tubod Flowing Water Resort in Minglanilla to take our lunch and have some refreshing bath before heading back to Cebu City. It’s around 5 p.m. when we safely arrived at our respective homes.
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| Sidetrip to freshen-up |
Indeed, another adventure had been added to my chest of memories for keeps.
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