Backtrack # 10. Sibulan River Trekking to Tudaya Falls

One of the many reasons why Sibulan trail to Mt. Apo was the trail opted by extreme mountaineers was its almost one hour river trekking via the Sibulan River. From its main source Tudaya Falls, this river has been considered one of the cleanest in Mindanao. It also provides social value to the communities as several local inhabitants depend largely to the river for food, laundry and even potable water source.

Today, Sibulan river is no longer as pristine as it was five years ago. Still, a lot of people has directed to the river for survival. And with the coming of a hydro-power plant, change seemed to be just as inevitable for the river not very far from now.

Trekking Mt. Apo nowadays via Sibulan trail cancels the first day river trekking as there are already roads established along its sideways and as I reflected, it is no longer as pristine as before. Which also means that the usual four days climb can now be done for three days via the easier Baruring route.


The last time my group joined a river trekking was February 8-9, 2008 along with Ma’am Sonia Garcia of Department of Tourism, MFSM club members and other Davao-City based mountaineering groups. LOGSAC team was then composed of the following: Kiba, John Jay, Jonas, Tolits, Undal, Papong and this blogger. My Boss Camila was also present during the climb. Our target was to gather documentations of the river and Tudaya Falls before it would totally deformed and at the same time witness the culture of the Bagobo tribe in sitio Tudaya.


The climb actually marked also the start of construction of the hydropower plant which eventually caused some delay of the trekking. There were falling rocks and debris coming from the upper portions of the surrounding mountains attributing to the unusual strong river flows and water turbidity. Several trees within the riverbanks were cut down and the river vegetation vanished. We even saw a displaced snake somewhere in Cabarisan, proof of rapid obliteration of the area’s natural trait. It was also the last time we saw the gorgeous and tiny twin waterfalls located near the Tibolo-Baruring junction.

We were supposed to stay overnight at Tudaya Elementary School but because of the delay, we camped the whole night at Tibolo-Tudaya intersection, now the site of a hydropower plant office. On the second day, we proceeded to Tudaya Falls using the Tingting route while other members continued the more strenuous river trekking.

After enjoying the alluring experience at Tudaya Falls, the team stayed at Tudaya Cultural Village for almost two hours to witness tribal offerings. At that time, tribal leader Apo Adok was still alive and kicking in the place called “live-in”. Today, with the coming of the hydropower plant, “live-in” was relocated.

Although there was fun during the climb, my LOGSAC team was able to witnessed the many changes of Sibulan river brought about by industrialization. The tiny sting suffered by this very important piece of nature is very painful. It might be unhurried, but the sudden disappearance of Bagobo culture is excruciating. Tsk tsk…

A Remarkable day climb at Mt. Sinoron

As instructed by Local authorities of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur; our group was included to form part of an assessment and inspection team on January 17, 2012 to some landslide prone areas in Barangay Sinoron, a mountainous part located northwest of the municipality. Our main purpose was to document and conduct rapid field assessment of landslide prone areas in the barangay as parcel of the lined up activities of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

It was the group’s second attempt of the mountain, the first one conducted July of 2004 via the Tibolo route going to Mt. Libodon. This time, we took the more strenuous trail of Sinoron passing the Pilan River. We were accompanied by Barangany Captain Mercedita Rivera and former Barangay Captain Henry Lim, himself also a member of the Sinoron Tribal Guard Association.

It was during that climb that we discovered the vastness of the Sinoron mountain range. According to Mr. Lim, there were countless times that they saw a couple of the famous monkey-eating-eagle gliding across the huge forest of the area. Sinoron is also home to several endangered fauna like wild pigs and deers.

Our first stop for the survey was at Sition Pilan, just 1.5 kilometers away from the Barangay Hall. There we discovered two tension cracks in a farm lot owned by Mr. Romeo Cayamba. After our lunch at Pilan River, we proceeded directly to our second target area of sitio Bagon. Along the way, we passed through some minor assaults and found out adjacent mountains separated by Pilan River. Most notable of the mountains is Mt. Karawagan, a vast forested area located south of Sinoron.

At around 1:45 PM, we had our rest stop at sitio Bagon (567 masl). From this point we saw the northwestern portion of Sinoron featuring the forest of Mt. Gisi and Mt. Landig in the eastern side. And when we reached the border of Bagon and sitio Sangay (645 masl) where we had our second survey point, we spotted the lush forest vegetation of Mt. Soroso.

Sinoron is indeed blessed with a green carpet. With the presence of its landslide-prone areas and major water body, one of the things to consider is to preserve its forest resources and to make certain rehabilitation efforts so as to avoid natural disasters to happen.

Many thanks to those who joined the climb: Pawiks, Jonas, Tolits, Chickay, Melvin, Dra. Raygene, Dandan, Jercpas, Jobel, Odik, Jake and Annie Rose.

2011 LOGSAC Yearend Report

Year 2011 is a colorful year for the Local Government of Sta. Cruz Adventure Club (LOGSAC), adding to its already splendid experience in the period of more than four years. There have been plenty of new climbs, new gatherings and new happenings that are of course worth writing of. This article will wrap up all the events and minor activities undertaken and participated by LOGSAC in 2011.

ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

• World Water’s Day tree planting at Sibulan River, Darong, Sta. Cruz on August as spearheaded by HEDCOR Sibulan, Inc.

• World Wetlands Day mangrove planting and clean up drive at My Paradise Resort spearheaded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources

• Environment Month tree planting at Darong, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur

• National Greening Program tree planting at Sinoron, Sta. Cruz

• Araw ng Sta. Cruz tree planting at Darong, Sta. Cruz

• Women’s Day tree planting at Tibolo, Sta. Cruz

• Sta. Cruz Pista sa Kinaiyahan tree planting and clean up drive to Mt. Apo

• 1st International Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge

• Mt. Apo Holy Week Monitoring of Sibulan Trail

ON CLUB ORGANIZATIONAL STRENGTHENING

• Attendance to a Refresher course on Basic Life Safety at Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur

• Participation to the municipal-wide Tourism Congress at Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur

• Participation to Advocacy Forum on Climate Change at Seagrass Resort, Island Garden City of Samal. This event was also in line with the celebration of LOGSAC’s fourth founding anniversary.

• Participation to Mountaineering Federation of Southern Mindanao (MFSM) Day

ON MOUNTAIN CLIMBING

Listed hereunder are mountains climbed by LOGSAC in 2011:

• Mt. Apo, Sta. Cruz Trail, Davao del Sur

• Mt. Dulang-Dulang, Bukidnon

• Mt. Kitanglad, Bukidnon

• Mt. Kanlaon, Guintubdan Trail, Negros

• Mt. Kinabalu, Malaysia

• Mt. Puting Bato, Samal Island

• Mt. Everest Basecamp, Tibet

• Mt. Ugo, Benguet

TRAVELS OTHER THAN MOUNTAIN CLIMBING

• Tagaytay City by Iris and Matet

• Baguio City Tour by Pawiks, Joyjoy and Papong

• Pangasinan Hundred Island by Pawiks, Joyjoy and Papong

• Caramoan Island by Julius and Papong

• Legaspi City, Albay by Julius and Papong

• Camarines Sur Watersports Complex by Julius and Papong

CLUB CITATIONS

• LOGSAC was cited as one of the most outstanding clubs by the Mountaineering Federation of Southern Mindanao (MFSM)

• Julius cited as one of the three Most Outstanding Club Presidents by MFSM in 2011

• Papong reaching the north base camp of Mt. Everest, the world’s highest peak

ON CLUB SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• Assisted the Local Government of Sta. Cruz during the rescue and relief operations during the flashfloods that happened in Darong, Sta. Cruz

• Facilitated in the implementation of Cash for Work Program for the development of Rural poor dwellers

• Participated approximately thirty fun runs to advocate healthy lifestyle and at the same time helping the organizers attain their respective causes.

The above-mentioned activities might be simple but the club thought EXCELENCE is an understatement. To all regular members, affiliate members, benefactors, advisers and friends of LOGSAC, thank you so much for making our 2011 fruitful and enjoyable.