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 Tañon 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