Derek Cave and Rock Cave: Found

Penablanca, Cagayan was believed to have more caves. There is a road which is called Penablanca Cave Road.

I was on to locate those caves. With, of course, my tour guides, Wilbur and Andoy, who suggested that I explore the Sierra Cave. However, Sierra Cave was a new cave and one will have to secure the authorization from DENR (Department of Natural Resources) to be able to walk around it. It was regrettable that I do not have the permit. And I was told that it will take days or weeks before DENR can schedule me for the Sierra Cave Spelunking.

So, Andoy, Wilbur and I decided to see the smaller caves (with Callao Cave as the reference for the comparison). From the view deck of the Callao Cave, there is a way going to the mountains of Callao. It was a root-filled ground.

Going up to see some more caves was not at all easy. It required me to climb thru rocks (or rock climb). This is the first ever real, actual rock climb experience. There are those I see in the mall or in resorts, but I never attempted. Now that I am already in this situation, to rock climb, there was no turning back. It took me so much guts and conviction. There I was, literally on top of a mountain.

From on top, I was able to peep through the biggest skylight of Callao Cave.

Not far from it is the narrow entrance to Derek Cave. An American explorer named Derek was able to discover the said fissure. So it was named after him. I did not dare to go through the down slope opening. Because I did not know what I was expecting down under, it was better to just not go. Fear ran down my thoughts as I wondered, what is inside the Derek Cave?

Under the scourging heat of the sun, we went on walking. The leaves of the cogon grass were like sword blades that smoothly cut into the skin of my legs. 

In just a few minutes, we were at the entrance of Rock Cave. Wilbur and Andoy were silent. It seemed that some “cave men” just left. And they left their equipment, sachets of coffee, used clothes, gloves, among others. It seemed that they were “caving” at night since there was lighting equipment. Some parts of the rocks were also thrown outside of the cave. I thought, were these “cave men” digging for gold? Is there gold in these white rocks? Hmmm. They were mining, I thought. Wilbur and Andoy’s faces showed disappointment. We did not anymore enter the cave.

We immediately left Rock Cave. When I looked at my watch, it was noon. Wilbur was whistling to call on for some wind. And there, a cold breeze came and rustled the cogon grass.

To motivate us to continue walking, we thought of lunch. Batil-Patong Pancit was all we thought of. We rested for a while under the shades of a tree while we looked down at Pinacaunan River and the City of Tuguegarao. That was a temporary alternative to fill in our stomachs. We shared a piece of orange that was inside my sling bag.

Then we started to think about the Batil-Patong again. So we stood and rushed to walk, headed to the riverbank, and went back to the other side through Jun’s boat. 

Wilbur got his brother’s single (motorcycle). And with no much further objection, I rode the motorcycle; Wilbur as the driver, Andoy and me, as the passengers behind him.

It was a 4-hour trekking, finding Derek and Rock caves on top of the Callao Cave. We all deserved a hefty serving of Batil-Patong.


And I deserve myself a tap on the back. (I survived!) and I enjoyed every minute of it.