Toby Falls
Philippines
We knew there was another set of falls north of La Diabla, the map showed some type of significant rock formation interrupting El Diablo River. We had tried before to reach this mysterious feature from the eastern side of the river but the only trail we found petered out to a mess of bamboo. We tried from the north but spent five not so very nice hours crawling through bamboo thickets up the side of a mountain with out any success. It was agreed that we might have another crack at finding the track to the missing falls, this time from the west, but if we hit any rough stuff like last time we would turn back. This plan soon went to crap as myself; Dave and Toby the wonder dog took an uncontrolled slide 200 meters down an almost vertical rock gully that was filled with dead leaves and loose rocks. From this point on there was no turning back. We linked up with part of an old logger’s trail but left it early, as we wanted to head further south than the direction it took. Here hell began. Grasping for dear life by holding on to tree roots as we nervously climbed along the side of cliff faces with straight drops. On our guts, crawling through bamboo thickets that seemed to never end. Fighting with thorn bushes whose creepers try to snare every part of your body and equipment. It appeared that every bastard ant in La Union was waiting on the trail to meet us. Hereto was our first introduction to a treacherous local grass that seemed to have what felt like fish hooks growing on it’s stems, every time you brushed past one of them you had to stop and remove them from your bleeding wounds. At this stage Toby decided to take a short cut: 30 foot straight down! With a thud and without a whimper he hit the deck, picked himself up and continued along his merry way. Wearily we reached the riverbed hours later, but first by having to climb down a tree to do so. The sight of Dave and I trying to assist a dog down a tree must have looked quite comical, though luckily there was no one in the audience.
It was then we found we had landed at the falls themselves. The two waterfalls were spectacular; we named them Toby Falls in his honor. The water level was low as it is the peak of the dry season but you could see the majestic grandeur the both would possess during the wet. There was a large scenic pool for swimming in below the first waterfall, but we did not have the energy to do so. Below the second set of falls the river had made a cutting through the solid volcanic rock that was even more impressive than the Devil’s Kitchen at El Diablo Rapids.
Our next problem was that both sides of the valley walls were almost solid rock so energy was being conserved till we found a way out. The GPS would not give us a fix due to the tight terrain so we headed southeast with nothing more than a hunch. Finally we got a lucky break and found a small trail used by the natives when they occasionally fished this spot for fresh water shrimps using their home made fish traps. A very slow but steady climb up the ridge line, which led us to the same track we used on our first try but at that time we turned back because we did not think it went any where. If we had pushed through on that first occasion we would have found the falls easily. We finally reached San Gabriel at around 4.30pm, well and truly resembling the walking dead. Our shirts were the dusty brown color of the mountain soil, our arms and legs covered with blood from the scratches and we smelt like we hadn’t washed in a month.
Worth it, you bet. We were 99% sure that we were the first foreigners to reach that location, knowledge like that makes even the most painful of ant bites in the most sensitive of areas worth while.
Take a look at the photo located at: http://www.hike.com.ph/weekph/iss21.htm and see for yourself if it was all worth while.
Sent to me by:
Todd Mazur of Guided hiking tours of scenic La Union province, Philippines.http://www.hike.com.ph
