Balincaguin Conservancy Grotto

On 29 May-1 June 2009, BC fulfilled its promise to explore the caves of Brgy. Asinga Via Hot Springs, which was originally scheduled during the Baggao Cave Guide Training but two days of rain made the roads impassable. Brgy. Captain Samson R. Ballesteros was very disappointed and had offered to shoulder all accommodations if we would return. A second purpose of this trip was to go to Brgy. San Miguel to attend their fiesta and deliver two tarpaulin maps of the Duba Cave survey which was performed during the cave guide training. One map will be posted at Baggao’s Tourism Center and another at Brgy. San Miguel’s bulletin board.

Although we brought our tent ready to camp out, Capt. Samson let us use one of the four cottages that they rent in the campground. Each cottage has a double size bunk bed and its own bathroom with spring fed water source. At night a generator is used to light the cottages and common dining/kitchen area and to charge all the cellphones, cameras and laptops of the staff and visitors. This was luxurious for backpackers like us!

It’s only a 50 meters walk from our cottage to the Nancian River, which is a tributary of the Pared River that is connected to the Cagayan River. The cascading water and various rock formations are excellent subjects for photos. Along the southern bank are the several sources of the hot springs. The water has been measured at a hot 74°C (~165°F) but it’s comfortable after it has mixed in pools with the cold river water.

While waiting for our sisssster club, Sierra Mt. Outdoor Club (SMOC) members to arrive, we held an impromptu workshop on the basic techniques of a compass, clinometer and tape survey. After a lecture, the trainees were tasked to run a compass course that we setup in the campground. The course was a loop in a sinkhole with the last station being the first station. They ran the course forward and backward then their data was input into Walls cave survey software and it was interesting to see that their backsighting was more accurate (the loop almost closed) than their foresighting.

After lunch the training was moved to Snake Cave, which is on the north bank Nancian River directly across from the hot springs. This cave was perfect as a training cave because it is short, horizontal with an easy passage. The average height of the passage is 6 meters and shaped like a candle flame with a shallow running stream at the base and the top converging mostly to a point. The mid-heights are either a smooth concave or lined to small ledges. There are small rooms but no large chambers with breakdowns to complicate the survey training. The cave ends at a sump 229 meters from the entrance and only the last 30 meters had significant details needing to be sketched. The cave did meander back and forth, hence its name “Snake Cave,” so distances between stations were short.

At the sump, our guide, Leo, related a story about being a part of the recovery team of four treasure hunters who died at the sump back in the 1980’s. The hunters wanted to go beyond the sump and used an internal combustion engine to power their digging tools. Unfortunately, the engine used up oxygen and exhausted carbon monoxide and dioxide. He pointed out the debris piles and chiseling marks in the ceiling that the hunters made before they suffocated. The only other input of air into the cave besides the entrance is a small skylight about 40 meters from the entrance.

The next two days involved surveying Alab Cave, which is a 1½ hour hike (2.8 kilometers) from the campgrounds; luckily the first part of the hike is on the barangay road and only the last 500 meters requires climbing and boulder hopping along the Alab Stream.

We easily covered just over 200 meters on the first day until we reached a 5 meter vertical climb that we found difficult but some of the trainees found it easier to climb barefooted. The passage in the first portion was wide and dry but with a muddy floor and a ceiling slanting consistently at about 20 degrees. We decided to stop the survey and continue the next day if we can get a ladder.

During a rest break, Rawen and I climb up a possible lead and found one passage was choked, squeezed through another passage going higher with a small skylight and another tight passage going down vertical. Unfortunately, we had to get back to the survey but this lead can be explored further in the future.

At the bottom of the climb down from the cave we took a side trip to an area where the stream has carved a small canyon in the exposed bedrock. Although the stream was dry there were some standing pools and the canyon turned out to be great for photo-ops. We’re sure it would better during rainy season when the stream is flowing.

On the 2nd day into Alab Cave, our guides built a ladder from leftover lumber planks so the survey continued past the big climb but at a slower pace because the passage opened up and widen. There were more formations to sketch, branches that returned to the main passage; the survey was getting more complicated. So we decided to stop the survey because we had to catch the last passenger van to Tuguegarao at 4:00 p.m.

Thanks goes to SMOC (Francis, Esting, Bembo) for arranging the logistics of this trip, Capt. Samson and his guides for their Hot Springs hospitality and Val Gonzales (incoming BC member) for his photos! We again promised Capt. Samson that we will return and again he promised to accommodate us. YEHEY!

By Jerry Rendon