Mt. Pinatubo trek Feb. 2016

[beerlaodrinker]

Great thread as usual Katie, I recall after piñatubo blew the govt spent a huge chunk of money building a massive mega dyke designed to counter the flow of Lahar , I'm wondering if it worked ? Or will the locals have to wait for the next eruption to see.

[fishlocker]

Yea nice photo thread. Thanks for the.posts, interesting stuff.

BLD, Funny its not often that the words "blew" and "dyke" wind up in the same sentance. Queer that innit.

[misskit]

Never would I dream there is a place in the Philippines so barren. I too thought the flora would have recovered more quickly with all that ash and and rain. Very interesting.

Great thread, Katie!

[harrybarracuda]

Some background for your edificeration.

Lahars of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, Fact Sheet 114-97

[kingwilly]

great work on the thread Katie, I hope it continues.

[katie23]

Thanks for all the love.

@KW - yes, this thread will continue, but I need to resize & upload more pics. Is there any free software that can do bulk resizing?

@harry - thanks for the info, very edifying.

@BLD - I don't know abt the dike/dyke, if it works. I'll ask one colleague, as he's from that area.

@takeovers - you should do a pinatubo trek during your next visit w/ your family, while you're still strong and able. It's a relatively easy trek (1-2 hours) and safe for seniors who are fit.

@davis - Maybe you could bring your kids & family for a trek while they're still here (not yet in US for college) and you're still fit? Since your kids are athletic, I'm sure they can handle the trek and pretty sure that they will enjoy the 4x4 ride. You could also tell them about your experiences in Clark and etc. You could either get a tour agency (they usually leave at 3am from Manila) or you could bring your car & drive until Barangay Sta. Juliana in Capas, Tarlac, then hire the 4x4 & guide. Cheers!

@misskit, fishlocker & baas - thanks for the luv!

[kingwilly]

@KW - yes, this thread will continue, but I need to resize & upload more pics. Is there any free software that can do bulk resizing?

Often your email programme will do that. Select a bunch of pics and email them to yourself.

Or microsoft have a picture tool that allows that (I forgot what it is called)

[Baas Babelaas]

@KW - yes, this thread will continue, but I need to resize & upload more pics. Is there any free software that can do bulk resizing?

Fotosizer: Fotosizer Batch Image Resizer - Image resizing made easy

[beerlaodrinker]

Never would I dream there is a place in the Philippines so barren. I too thought the flora would have recovered more quickly with all that ash and and rain. Very interesting.

Great thread, Katie!

yes, it looked like a moonscape after that nothing but Lahar covering everything, quite horrific, the Aeta people that Katie speaks about are already in a minority and sadly they were mostly in the surroundings when she let go, don't think they can estimate how many died. I turned up 1 week after it popped heading to Angeles to see my mates but the plane still couldn't land in Manila due to to much ash in the air, got diverted to Cebu then went overland. Had 20 kg of prime Aussie steaks and about the same in sausages because I was planning on stayin a few months( still did) I gettisoned the goodies and gave it to the staff in the hotel, hope they got a grin out of that but for me I was simply on a mission to reach Angeles and didn't need to cart around my vitals, anyway. Bottom line got to AC and found my buddies all on the roof of the bar with shovels. At first glimpse I thought they had taken to many pharmaceuticals , but no it turns out that Lahar keeps raining sand and that roof was gonna collapse anytime, . Interesting times.

[beerlaodrinker]

You would probably have to be there to believe it,but that was some serious shit. Unfortunatelyt I all coincided with the base agreement. Sad state of affairs indeed

[Baas Babelaas]

Back in April!

[crocman]

Nice thread as usual Katie looking forward to the rest.

[katie23]

Thanks for the replies, crocman, kw & baas.

As BLD & Davis had mentioned, it was serious stuff during those days. I remember going out of our house in the morning and wondering why it was all white outside. At first I thought it was snow, and as a kid, I was glad that there was snow (have never seen snow by that time). Since then, I've experienced snow & winter. But anyway, I thought that it was snow, but when I touched it, it didn't melt and it was just ash! My parents turned on the TV and we found out that Mt. Pinatubo erupted and saw the devastation it had brought.

[katie23]

Continuing with the trek...

I wonder why this 4x4 was able to continue farther, while ours (and most others) were already parked. Maybe because the gals were in shorts?! lol



Need to pass some rocky roads

[katie23]

More rocky roads




A stream

[katie23]

At some point, we were on single file and I felt like we were doing the Bataan Death March. There's a death march memorial in the town of Capas, Tarlac.

[katie23]

From wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March

The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer Saisaih Pt. and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war which began on April 9, 1942, after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. About 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100–650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach their destination. The reported death tolls vary, especially among Filipino POWs, because historians cannot determine how many prisoners blended in with the civilian population and escaped. The march went from Mariveles, Bataan, to San Fernando, Pampanga. From San Fernando, survivors were loaded to a box train and were brought to Camp O'Donnell in Capas, Tarlac. The 60 mi (97 km) march was characterized by occasional severe physical abuse. It was later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime.

[katie23]

More views... during this time, there wasn't much talking, just trekking...

[katie23]

At this point (nearer to the crater), the stream was yellow, due to precipitation of sulfur from the volcano.


There was also a shack selling refreshments... at inflated prices

[katie23]

There were rock enclaves with some Aeta kids chilling around


As I've said, many tourists that day

[katie23]

More trekking


At last, I see the huts!

[katie23]

This is a rest area provided by the government or tourism board. The hut on the rightmost contains restrooms with western toilets.
No pic of the loo, sorry.


More refreshments

[katie23]

Where do you belong?


Time for a group pic.... (this was another group, btw)

[katie23]

On to trek the last km to the crater... single file again




Our group took ~30 min from the signpost, since there were lots of tourists and you couldn't go fast, even if you wanted to, because of the narrow trail.

[katie23]

Some wild fruits(?) along the way. Btw, this is supposed to be upright but I wasn't able to fix it before uploading to Photobucket.


Giant ferns