Post by fots2 on Jun 13, 2010 14:09:36 GMT 8
(also called Government Ravine)
Here is a look at an area on Corregidor’s southern coast which does not get mentioned often. I took advantage of the dry season to walk from Battery Ramsay on Middleside to Government Ravine. As I made my way down the ravine, I stopped at all landmarks on the map and eventually ended up on the beach. From there, I later walked back to Bottomside.
About half the walking was on old roads. For the off-road parts, that was by choice as I was mostly taking shortcuts to points of interest. The roads were grown up but at this time of the year, they were very visible and generally easy to navigate.
Map of the Insular Government Reservation.
Coming from Battery Ramsay I enter the map view via the road at the top left. (The South Shore Road shown near top right is too grown up in many places for easy walking).
At Road Crossing #60 I made a slight detour to the left and went to have a look at a six inch artillery shell that The Phantom and I came across in February. It is planted nose first into the middle of the road which today is a hiking trail to the Wall of Caves. One of the Security guys told me that they had not had time to get rid of it yet but would do that in a couple of days.
To make sure they would have no problem to find it, I cleared the immediate area of leaves and small branches and even stuck a piece of white paper on a stick as a mini flag.
View looking up the road (Geary Road) which has trees growing out of it now. The ass end of the rusting shell is sticking up two or three inches.
Back at Road Crossing #60, I turned right and headed down the ravine. Close by are the remnants of two private buildings, the PI Treasury building and its guard’s quarters.
Pre-war photo of the Philippine Islands Treasury Buildings.
First stop was to see what remained of the Guards Quarters. Judging from the concrete pedestals, this building was constructed of wood and is long gone now. There is no concrete rubble lying around, only the pedestals.
All that remains of the Guard’s Quarters are four concrete pedestals.
The map shows a path down to the Treasury Vault so I took it down the hill. In one place you can see that it had concrete steps.
Batteryboy had told me that this Vault was totally destroyed by bombs. He sure was not kidding. There is not even a piece of wall left.
Part of the Treasury Vault foundation.
Some chunks of large and small concrete are lying around but not enough it seems for the buildings in the old photo. Perhaps the front building with shutters was wood however the rear building looks to be made of concrete. There must have been huge explosions here to scatter everything like that.
This huge chunk of concrete is as tall as me.
A short distance east of the Vault building you can see a “culvert” on the map. This was actually a good sized bridge. It obviously took a direct or very close hits as it is also totally destroyed.
View of the destroyed bridge. The stream is dry at this time of the year.
Another view of the bridge.
From here I decided to head over to Building 545 and Well #17. The ravine is quite steep here so I found the old road to be the easiest route. Visibility through the trees was quite good and I had good views of the surrounding terrain.
Along the way I noticed two man-made tunnels. The entrances were almost sealed by soil from above but they were open enough to look inside. I got down with my light and could see that they both go into the hill a ways and one of them may have a lateral to the left. It would be nice to get inside them someday. To do so would require some digging and scattering dozens of hermit crabs. I have never seen so many crabs in a concentrated area inside both entrances.
Entrance to the first tunnel.
Entrance to the second tunnel.
Just before Building 545 you can see a bridge across the stream. There is some water here is this dry season. At this point I am on part of the South Shore Road.
Bridge near Building 545.
today Building 545 is just a concrete foundation. It does have a concrete floor in places so I wondered if the well head was within the building. There was nothing else nearby that I could see.
Building 545.
Next on my list was structure #544 which is labeled as Civil Government Well. After a couple minutes walk down the stream bed I could see it through the trees on the left.
This building was worth a few minutes just standing back and looking. On Corregidor I have seen building walls with various amounts of damage and buildings completely flattened. Rarely do I find one so destroyed with its walls still standing. Hollywood could not create a better movie set than this one. There were even traces of small arms fire in the concrete. Hearing only the wind in the trees and the crackle of dead leaves under my feet, I can only guess what it sounded like 65 years ago.
Building 544. Large sections of two side walls are missing.
Building 544.
Building 544.
Building 544.
Building 544.
I never did find any well. If it was behind the building as the map suggests then it is now covered up by the hillside.
South of Building 544 is an area of very good visibility through the trees. I could see a few glimpses of Manila Bay at times. There is a zig zag trench line nearby so I headed in that direction.
Soon I was standing on the edge of a series of concrete trenches. They are in very good condition and appear to have been covered in leaves for two years, not two generations.
Zig zag trench line. You can see blue water through the trees.
Zig zag trench line.
Zig zag trench line.
Zig zag trench line.
Zig zag trench line.
Zig zag trench line.
From here I wanted to get up to Strategic Material Store House Number 10 (S.M.S.H No.10). The direct path had a lot of bushes and trees so I went back to 544 and up the hill from there.
Some of these storehouses were not very elaborate and constructed only of wood on top of concrete platforms. This appears to be an example of one these structures. Metal bolts in the concrete would have anchored the wooden wall posts.
Concrete foundation of SMSH No.10
The storehouse is very near the edge of a steep slope fifty feet down to the beach.
Here is the view across the southern beach towards Caballo Island. On the horizon to the left is Hooker Point on the eastern tip of Corregidor Island.
Quite close to SMSH No.10 was this near buried structure. It has a small room inside.
A short dirt trench from here leads to the rear of a semi-circular concrete machine gun position called VI-M-2 (Sector 6, machine gun #2). I assume the near buried structure was its magazine.
The machine gun position of VI-M-2. It is located at the top of a slope 40 feet above the beach.
The South Shore Road was quite good walking to my next destination of the 36” Searchlight Shelter. The area is quite open and I only see a flat area beside the road. Nothing else remains.
A very short distance away is VI-S-2 (Sector 6, Siege gun #2). Near the coast the vegetation increases rapidly but it was easy to get down to the gun position.
Gun position of VI-S-2.
View to the left of the gun position.
View to the right of the gun position. Lots of battle damage can be seen in the concrete wall.
My final destinations were inland from Breakwater Point so I continued west along the South Shore Road.
Here is the view of the little ravine between VI-S-2 and VI-S-1 taken from the road crossing.
The next stop was VI-S-1 (Sector 6, Siege gun #1). This structure was my punishment for having such an easy hiking day so far. Being so close to the road and cliff I expected it to be an easy find. Vegetation here was very thick and for a few minutes I thought the position had disappeared over the cliff. After making a couple forays at different places into the tangled mess, I noticed some concrete ahead of me. It took a few more minutes of cutting to get close. The concrete turned out to be a rectangular air vent so I knew I was on top of something.
Concrete air shaft.
From here on the going was even slower. I found the gun position with heavy damage near its rear. Small trees and vines prevented me from actually getting down into it. I could not move without having to cut away every footstep.
Due to dark clouds on and off the available light was low for photos. When I used flash, the closest vines and branches lit up like lightning bolts. There was no place to set a mini tripod so I gave up.
It took awhile to find a way to get between the gun position and the cliff. Grasses here were thick but not difficult to get through. Here is a photo of the wall in front of the position.
The view taken from in front of the gun position looking towards the eastern tip of Corregidor Island.
On the way back to the road, I found the destroyed entrance to what I assume was an underground magazine below the air vent I had seen earlier. Only a slit was open to the interior so I grabbed my flashlight. The inside roof is mostly caved in but I could see that it definitely was a concrete room of some sort. I cannot determine if this structure is connected to VI-S-1.
As for photos, the light was better so I did not use flash. With all the trees it still does not look like much. The slit entrance is the dark area at the bottom.
Back at the South Shore Road I continued west. After walking only 100 feet or so there was a wall of soil and vegetation in front of me. Landslides blocked the road completely plus high grasses and small trees meant I was going no further.
On the map I noticed that I was now standing inland of the mid section of VI-F-4 (Sector 6, Field gun #4). I could make out the land mass of Breakwater Point. The trees were not too thick so I could see a little plateau at the top of the Point. Grasses were everywhere down there. At the western side of the plateau I thought I could see concrete. A few minutes later I found a route down to the plateau that was covered with blown over dead grasses. It felt like I was walking on a 1½ foot thick sponge.
One thing I can say for sure. If this place is hard to find now, it would be impossible to see in the rainy season. The “thick sponge” was everywhere.
View looking from the mid point of VI-F-4 looking towards the gun #2 position. Notice the vegetation covered hump?
After clearing off the right side corner of the hump, you can see the left hand corner of the gun #2 position.
The view from Breakwater Point looking towards Bottomside and the eastern end of Corregidor Island. Malinta Hill is straight ahead.
Part of the centre wall. Gun #2 position is to the left. The view is across Manila Bay with Cavite in the distance.
Looking west past the right hand wall of gun position #1.
Standing in front of gun position #1 looking inland.
This is the view from the western wall of gun #1 at VI-F-4. It is only about 15 feet to an eroded cliff down to the beach. Looking over the cliff I see no trace of VI-M-5 (Sector 6, Machine gun #5) which should be a short distance away.
The South Shore Road from directly above me heading further west is impassable (for as far as I can see anyway). The steep hillside above the road has collapsed making a continuous slope down to the beach.
A 5x zoomed view showing a concrete embankment of the South Shore Road. Note the slope of the soil and vegetation on top of the road. I don’t know if the dark spot is damage or a tunnel. I could not get to it from where I was standing.
Three points of interest shown on the map were not found. (#1) The 70 GPM (gal/min) Springs and (#2) the 36” Searchlight Shelter do not exist anymore. The springs are buried under landslides blocking the South Shore Road. I can find no trace of the Searchlight Shelter. Being so close to VI-S-2 and the road, it should be easy to see but nothing remains. The area is fairly open and visibility is good.
As for (#3) VI-M-5, I am reasonably sure that it is gone too as I cannot see it down below the eroded cliff. If I can get around Breakwater Point at low tide some day I will confirm it one way or the other.
It was now mid afternoon and dark storm clouds were starting to roll in. The best way to get to the beach was to retrace my steps to SMSH No.10, make my way to the stream and follow it down to the beach.
Looking back at Breakwater Point. The tip of Cavite and the South China Sea are in the distance.
After walking for a few minutes here is another view looking south. I was standing roughly half way between Government Ravine and Ramsay Ravine.
Turning around, this was my view looking towards Bottomside including the whole east end of Corregidor Island.
A closer view of Bottomside south. The South Shore Road around Malinta Hill is very visible.
It was 3:58pm now and I still have a ways to go. When I get past the green building, I will turn left towards the Corregidor Inn. Another good day on “The Rock”.
Here is a look at an area on Corregidor’s southern coast which does not get mentioned often. I took advantage of the dry season to walk from Battery Ramsay on Middleside to Government Ravine. As I made my way down the ravine, I stopped at all landmarks on the map and eventually ended up on the beach. From there, I later walked back to Bottomside.
About half the walking was on old roads. For the off-road parts, that was by choice as I was mostly taking shortcuts to points of interest. The roads were grown up but at this time of the year, they were very visible and generally easy to navigate.
Map of the Insular Government Reservation.
Coming from Battery Ramsay I enter the map view via the road at the top left. (The South Shore Road shown near top right is too grown up in many places for easy walking).
At Road Crossing #60 I made a slight detour to the left and went to have a look at a six inch artillery shell that The Phantom and I came across in February. It is planted nose first into the middle of the road which today is a hiking trail to the Wall of Caves. One of the Security guys told me that they had not had time to get rid of it yet but would do that in a couple of days.
To make sure they would have no problem to find it, I cleared the immediate area of leaves and small branches and even stuck a piece of white paper on a stick as a mini flag.
View looking up the road (Geary Road) which has trees growing out of it now. The ass end of the rusting shell is sticking up two or three inches.
Back at Road Crossing #60, I turned right and headed down the ravine. Close by are the remnants of two private buildings, the PI Treasury building and its guard’s quarters.
Pre-war photo of the Philippine Islands Treasury Buildings.
First stop was to see what remained of the Guards Quarters. Judging from the concrete pedestals, this building was constructed of wood and is long gone now. There is no concrete rubble lying around, only the pedestals.
All that remains of the Guard’s Quarters are four concrete pedestals.
The map shows a path down to the Treasury Vault so I took it down the hill. In one place you can see that it had concrete steps.
Batteryboy had told me that this Vault was totally destroyed by bombs. He sure was not kidding. There is not even a piece of wall left.
Part of the Treasury Vault foundation.
Some chunks of large and small concrete are lying around but not enough it seems for the buildings in the old photo. Perhaps the front building with shutters was wood however the rear building looks to be made of concrete. There must have been huge explosions here to scatter everything like that.
This huge chunk of concrete is as tall as me.
A short distance east of the Vault building you can see a “culvert” on the map. This was actually a good sized bridge. It obviously took a direct or very close hits as it is also totally destroyed.
View of the destroyed bridge. The stream is dry at this time of the year.
Another view of the bridge.
From here I decided to head over to Building 545 and Well #17. The ravine is quite steep here so I found the old road to be the easiest route. Visibility through the trees was quite good and I had good views of the surrounding terrain.
Along the way I noticed two man-made tunnels. The entrances were almost sealed by soil from above but they were open enough to look inside. I got down with my light and could see that they both go into the hill a ways and one of them may have a lateral to the left. It would be nice to get inside them someday. To do so would require some digging and scattering dozens of hermit crabs. I have never seen so many crabs in a concentrated area inside both entrances.
Entrance to the first tunnel.
Entrance to the second tunnel.
Just before Building 545 you can see a bridge across the stream. There is some water here is this dry season. At this point I am on part of the South Shore Road.
Bridge near Building 545.
today Building 545 is just a concrete foundation. It does have a concrete floor in places so I wondered if the well head was within the building. There was nothing else nearby that I could see.
Building 545.
Next on my list was structure #544 which is labeled as Civil Government Well. After a couple minutes walk down the stream bed I could see it through the trees on the left.
This building was worth a few minutes just standing back and looking. On Corregidor I have seen building walls with various amounts of damage and buildings completely flattened. Rarely do I find one so destroyed with its walls still standing. Hollywood could not create a better movie set than this one. There were even traces of small arms fire in the concrete. Hearing only the wind in the trees and the crackle of dead leaves under my feet, I can only guess what it sounded like 65 years ago.
Building 544. Large sections of two side walls are missing.
Building 544.
Building 544.
Building 544.
Building 544.
I never did find any well. If it was behind the building as the map suggests then it is now covered up by the hillside.
South of Building 544 is an area of very good visibility through the trees. I could see a few glimpses of Manila Bay at times. There is a zig zag trench line nearby so I headed in that direction.
Soon I was standing on the edge of a series of concrete trenches. They are in very good condition and appear to have been covered in leaves for two years, not two generations.
Zig zag trench line. You can see blue water through the trees.
Zig zag trench line.
Zig zag trench line.
Zig zag trench line.
Zig zag trench line.
Zig zag trench line.
From here I wanted to get up to Strategic Material Store House Number 10 (S.M.S.H No.10). The direct path had a lot of bushes and trees so I went back to 544 and up the hill from there.
Some of these storehouses were not very elaborate and constructed only of wood on top of concrete platforms. This appears to be an example of one these structures. Metal bolts in the concrete would have anchored the wooden wall posts.
Concrete foundation of SMSH No.10
The storehouse is very near the edge of a steep slope fifty feet down to the beach.
Here is the view across the southern beach towards Caballo Island. On the horizon to the left is Hooker Point on the eastern tip of Corregidor Island.
Quite close to SMSH No.10 was this near buried structure. It has a small room inside.
A short dirt trench from here leads to the rear of a semi-circular concrete machine gun position called VI-M-2 (Sector 6, machine gun #2). I assume the near buried structure was its magazine.
The machine gun position of VI-M-2. It is located at the top of a slope 40 feet above the beach.
The South Shore Road was quite good walking to my next destination of the 36” Searchlight Shelter. The area is quite open and I only see a flat area beside the road. Nothing else remains.
A very short distance away is VI-S-2 (Sector 6, Siege gun #2). Near the coast the vegetation increases rapidly but it was easy to get down to the gun position.
Gun position of VI-S-2.
View to the left of the gun position.
View to the right of the gun position. Lots of battle damage can be seen in the concrete wall.
My final destinations were inland from Breakwater Point so I continued west along the South Shore Road.
Here is the view of the little ravine between VI-S-2 and VI-S-1 taken from the road crossing.
The next stop was VI-S-1 (Sector 6, Siege gun #1). This structure was my punishment for having such an easy hiking day so far. Being so close to the road and cliff I expected it to be an easy find. Vegetation here was very thick and for a few minutes I thought the position had disappeared over the cliff. After making a couple forays at different places into the tangled mess, I noticed some concrete ahead of me. It took a few more minutes of cutting to get close. The concrete turned out to be a rectangular air vent so I knew I was on top of something.
Concrete air shaft.
From here on the going was even slower. I found the gun position with heavy damage near its rear. Small trees and vines prevented me from actually getting down into it. I could not move without having to cut away every footstep.
Due to dark clouds on and off the available light was low for photos. When I used flash, the closest vines and branches lit up like lightning bolts. There was no place to set a mini tripod so I gave up.
It took awhile to find a way to get between the gun position and the cliff. Grasses here were thick but not difficult to get through. Here is a photo of the wall in front of the position.
The view taken from in front of the gun position looking towards the eastern tip of Corregidor Island.
On the way back to the road, I found the destroyed entrance to what I assume was an underground magazine below the air vent I had seen earlier. Only a slit was open to the interior so I grabbed my flashlight. The inside roof is mostly caved in but I could see that it definitely was a concrete room of some sort. I cannot determine if this structure is connected to VI-S-1.
As for photos, the light was better so I did not use flash. With all the trees it still does not look like much. The slit entrance is the dark area at the bottom.
Back at the South Shore Road I continued west. After walking only 100 feet or so there was a wall of soil and vegetation in front of me. Landslides blocked the road completely plus high grasses and small trees meant I was going no further.
On the map I noticed that I was now standing inland of the mid section of VI-F-4 (Sector 6, Field gun #4). I could make out the land mass of Breakwater Point. The trees were not too thick so I could see a little plateau at the top of the Point. Grasses were everywhere down there. At the western side of the plateau I thought I could see concrete. A few minutes later I found a route down to the plateau that was covered with blown over dead grasses. It felt like I was walking on a 1½ foot thick sponge.
One thing I can say for sure. If this place is hard to find now, it would be impossible to see in the rainy season. The “thick sponge” was everywhere.
View looking from the mid point of VI-F-4 looking towards the gun #2 position. Notice the vegetation covered hump?
After clearing off the right side corner of the hump, you can see the left hand corner of the gun #2 position.
The view from Breakwater Point looking towards Bottomside and the eastern end of Corregidor Island. Malinta Hill is straight ahead.
Part of the centre wall. Gun #2 position is to the left. The view is across Manila Bay with Cavite in the distance.
Looking west past the right hand wall of gun position #1.
Standing in front of gun position #1 looking inland.
This is the view from the western wall of gun #1 at VI-F-4. It is only about 15 feet to an eroded cliff down to the beach. Looking over the cliff I see no trace of VI-M-5 (Sector 6, Machine gun #5) which should be a short distance away.
The South Shore Road from directly above me heading further west is impassable (for as far as I can see anyway). The steep hillside above the road has collapsed making a continuous slope down to the beach.
A 5x zoomed view showing a concrete embankment of the South Shore Road. Note the slope of the soil and vegetation on top of the road. I don’t know if the dark spot is damage or a tunnel. I could not get to it from where I was standing.
Three points of interest shown on the map were not found. (#1) The 70 GPM (gal/min) Springs and (#2) the 36” Searchlight Shelter do not exist anymore. The springs are buried under landslides blocking the South Shore Road. I can find no trace of the Searchlight Shelter. Being so close to VI-S-2 and the road, it should be easy to see but nothing remains. The area is fairly open and visibility is good.
As for (#3) VI-M-5, I am reasonably sure that it is gone too as I cannot see it down below the eroded cliff. If I can get around Breakwater Point at low tide some day I will confirm it one way or the other.
It was now mid afternoon and dark storm clouds were starting to roll in. The best way to get to the beach was to retrace my steps to SMSH No.10, make my way to the stream and follow it down to the beach.
Looking back at Breakwater Point. The tip of Cavite and the South China Sea are in the distance.
After walking for a few minutes here is another view looking south. I was standing roughly half way between Government Ravine and Ramsay Ravine.
Turning around, this was my view looking towards Bottomside including the whole east end of Corregidor Island.
A closer view of Bottomside south. The South Shore Road around Malinta Hill is very visible.
It was 3:58pm now and I still have a ways to go. When I get past the green building, I will turn left towards the Corregidor Inn. Another good day on “The Rock”.