Trip with Doria to Ifugao to hunt on Colonel William E. Dosser’s ranch. Interesting, strenuous with terrific heat and a very long ride on ponies from Marasat, Isabela to the ranch house. Doria and I motored to Balete pass rest house the first afternoon–3000 ft altitude–cold at night. Last time I went thru here was on horseback in 1920, with Beth, Virginia, General McIntyre and Don Serafin Linsangan–hence arose the impulse to build this road; a difficult bit of engineering which has since tripled the population of Nueva Viscaya and Isabela through immigration. Even today, there are numerous families with all their household goods in bull or carabao carts moving in, chiefly over the high mountains from the Ilocos country. Some also enter via the old Villaverde trail from Tayug–which was almost impossible by horse in my day. The road leading up to Balete passes thru a wild and beautiful camping country with clear streams rather like northern California–now settling up. The equal of a train load of goods for or from the valley of the Cagayan passes over this mountain road every day by truck. The second range of mountains–between Nueva Viscaya and Isabela–has only a one way road, with terrific zig-zags and much delay. There are numerous tolls for the permanent or temporary bridges, which makes the passage quite expensive.
At noon, on the 16th we reached the army post at Echague, where Lt. Dionisio is in command. Echague is still in a backwater in spite of the thru road. It appears to be dull, stale, flat and weary, and is still in the grip of Chino store keepers. There, Dosser and Lieutenant Beulan met us, and at Marasat after ten miles of hellish rough and dusty barrio road we met Lt. Baccay with his four soldiers from Miayaoyao. Were told we could not make camp that afternoon, and had to spend a typical barrio night in Marasat, surrounded by dust, noises, smells and filth–pigs, dogs, chickens and carabao–garlic etc. This finally put Doria and me off eating for the trip, and the rest of the time I subsisted on tinned milk–being ill anyway. The barrio teniente brought in a wounded eagle which he carried peacefully under his arm–with a cord on its leg. This bird stood with superb disdain and pride while the barrio folk inspected it–Dosser let it go later.