I have always dreamed of climbing Mt. Pinatubo. Despite the catastrophic eruption in the early 90’s, it has since tagged as dormant and the once deadly volcano now became a world renowned tourist destination. I first stumbled upon the existence of this place back in 2008 when one of my FB friends posted their pictures of their then recent family trip and I was immediately awed by its beauty.
I wanted to climb it as soon as possible but I didn’t have the time back then. Fast forward to April 2012. Another friend of mine also climbed Mt. Pinatubo and she gave me the contact number of the travel agent who arranged their trip, Tripinas (visit their Facebook page ) so I contacted them and asked for their itinerary, I invited all my friends and before our travel date of April 22, 2012, 12 already confirmed. (My college buddy finess brought 5 of her work friends while I brought 5 of my CVG friends).
One of the “things to bring” is your happy self and we made damned sure we brought it. All of us can’t contained our excitement and as early as the meet up point at 3:00 am in Mcdo Quezon Avenue, we were so hyped up and “trek ready”.
All smiles during our 4×4 ride towards Mt. Pinatubo
Upon arriving at the base camp at around 6:00 am, we were assigned 3 4×4 vehicles and once we rode it, I knew it was the start of an uber tiring but uber fun adventure. The 1 hr ride was bumpy, there were no seat belts and the road we took was once a river but was now covered with lahar and stones which made the ride very dusty (fyi: make sure to bring a dust mask or cover your entire face).
Once we were at the start of the trek, I felt excited and scared at the same time. I was in no shape to walk an almost 10 km trek and I was soooo hungry (it was already 7am and I always eat 4-5 hr interval). It was one of the hardest and physically enduring 3 hrs of my life. It wasn’t a simple mountain climbing but it was a “death walk” full of stones, lahar and creeks. The only consolation that I felt was I would lose weight big time, I was in the company of close friends and I would finally see Mt. Pinatubo 🙂
We also found out that the climb to Mt. Pinatubo usually takes 30 minutes only. There was once a short cut called “Skyway” that would allow the 4×4 to reach up until the foot of the mountain then it would be the start of the hike. However since the Ondoy storm hit Tarlac and Pampanga, the skyway was destroyed so the trek was now almost 3 hrs long. (So it was Ondoy that made every ones’ life yet miserable—again!)
Don’t be fooled by the signage, I asked everyone and they timed themselves that it also took them 30 minutes just to reach the crater. (maybe because we were already tired)
They say that at the end of the rainbow there is a pot of gold or at the end of every suffering there is happiness.My take on this is that at the end of this 10 kilometer death walk, there is paradise. And Lake Pinatubo is indeed paradise.
No amount of words or no photoshopped images can give justice to this breath taking and picturesque view of the Lake Pinatubo. It surpassed all my expectations and it made me humbled myself to our Lord to create such heavenly wonder after a catastrophe.
I would love to take pictures as soon as possible but my stomach was grumbling like a volcano ready to erupt so I asked, actually I plead to everyone that we eat our lunch first!
After gobbling the food within 10 minutes I was back to my happy and hyper self and because of the heat, I just wanted to dip in the water and take a swim. I thought the water would be like a hot spring but of course it was an inactive volcano *facepalm* and to my surprise the water was refreshingly cold. I honestly believe that I was a mermaid in my past life because I see to it that every destination I go, there would be a body of water that I can swim. May it be the ocean, river or even a swimming pool and Mt. Pinatubo is no exception! I immediately jumped in the water and it took me 15 minutes to convinced everyone to swim. I was like a kid on her newly purchased kiddie pool, but mine was bigger.
Our stay at Lake Pinatubo was extended from 12:30 to 2:00 PM because there was an ongoing Balikatan Exercise and no one is allowed to cross Crow Valley until 5:00 PM. As much as I would like to have my stay extended and maybe camped for the night, it was time to go and so I bid Lake Pinatubo goodbye and even though I already know what to expect during the trek back, I was nervous yet again because I was already dead tired. Even though the route back was faster, it still wasn’t that easy and all of us were already exhausted and just wanted to drink a glass of Coke to quench our thirst. Just imagine our excitement when after 2 hours of walking, we saw our 4×4 and the drivers patiently waiting for us. I literally jumped for joy because I know we are about to go home.
True enough, as soon as we arrived at the base camp, we bought ourselves coke in cans and it was like our mini prize for a job well done *pats myself at the back*
I would never forget this experience. It made me love nature more and be thankful of this wonderful world that I live in. As tiring as it was, “maybe” I’d go back here someday. (Hopefully the skyway would be fixed at that time.) I can’t wait for my next summer getaway 🙂
And as the new Philippine tourism slogan goes…
little miss travel bug 