Mt. Pinatubo trek Feb. 2016

[katie23]

This part was a bit tricky, so watch your steps


Only a few more steps to climb

[katie23]

And then you are rewarded with this view

[katie23]

Again, there are enterprising individuals. You can buy juice, beer, soft drinks, instant noodles, etc.


But please, no littering

I'm glad to say that the place was very clean. There were trash bins & people disposed of their trash responsibly.

[Dapper]

I'd be smashing the arse out of that terrain on me weebuck


Great pictures, good thread.
Thank you Katie

[katie23]

The views are breathtaking and for me, totally worth the exertion & expense to get there. My pics don't do it justice.

[katie23]

@dapper - what is a weebuck? I'm afraid I don't know enough Brit slang.

To continue, the govt made a mini-park in the place, which is nice.


Many ppl vying for photo op on this sign. I took this in between group photos.

[katie23]

There are steps leading down to the lake. My group didn't go all this way to not reach the finish line, so down we all went!

[katie23]

Until a few years ago, you could hire boats to take you around the lake. Now it's not allowed anymore, so the boats have been retired.


Also, some years ago you could swim in the lake. Now it's also not allowed. Aside from safety reasons, the water is now more acidic (I think).

[katie23]

Close up of the ash-covered crater

[katie23]

Many tourists - mostly local. Some whites & Koreans.
I hope the Chinese don't come to this place to destroy the beauty & cleanliness.

[katie23]

After the ppl have taken their jump-shots, selfies, group-fies, etc for their social media profiles
I was able to take a serene shot of the lake.


The water changes in color from green to blue. Color also varies during the time of year.

[Davis Knowlton]

Well done, Katie. I've flown over the whole area in an ultralight, but never done it on foot all the way in. Nice to be young.

[Dapper]

Weebuck is Thai for Off Road motorcycle


Know what you mean about pictures not doing it justice.

A camera is a camera and the human eyes and soul are a little different.

Point is, YOU actually saw it

[terry57]

Some nice pics there Katie.

[katie23]

We had lunch by the lake. After ~1 hour of chilling, it was time to go up and head for the 4x4 vehicles.

[katie23]

Time for a group pic before leaving.

To be continued...

[crackerjack101]

Lovely thread Katie, Thank you.

[Baas Babelaas]

Awesome Katie. You were pre-destined to be a travel writer/blogger.

One day you'll be milking it - free first class flights, accommodation in all the best places etc.

I hope the Chinese don't come to this place to destroy the beauty & cleanliness

Agreed. Thankfully the Philippines is not a major destination for them, as the perceive your government to 'hate' them. I like it that way - they add nothing as visitors.

[callippo]

PI is left-hand drive (due to the Americanos).

it is true the Philippines drive on the right side, because of the Americans. Prior to the Napoleonic conquests, the Spanish always drove on the left side. The hated fascist foreign occupiers always do that. Hitler made the Czechs and Hungarians drive on the right side for the first time. The Argentines did the same when they were occupying the Falklands for 3 months too.

[fishlocker]

Refreshing to see they take the litter seriously. Far to many places get trashed by the man.

Your thread reminds me why they call it "the great outdoors." Funny that a few days ago I fell through the ice while exiting the pond. kinda scary as it was just me and the dog. I'm going back out today. Don't care what the GF says. Later, fish.

[Airportwo]

Nice thread Katie - well done!

Bought back memories! The last time I was up there was shortly after the eruption, I rented a trail type motor bike and went up there alone one afternoon, when I got up there I still remember thinking "what the hell am I doing here" there was no greenery, just desolate sand, and no other people!
The people I rented the bike from were not happy as the lahar? destroyed the chain and sprockets on the bike as it is very corrosive & they had to be replaced.

Another memory of the time was talking with the guys in the bar where we use to drink (Garfields) they were there when the eruption happened, being survival experts! (they were all ex military) they knew the essentials so they loaded up with water then went to McDonald's and bought everything they had and headed out of town - they all lived to drink another day, most are sadly not with us anymore having drunk themselves to an early grave!
Thanks for the memories!

[PeeCoffee]

Terrific thread Katie. Thank you for sharing your trek. Great pics.
If you enjoy volcano treking you might enjoy Mount St Helens ( Washington State, US) , the islands of Maui and Hawaii whenever you're visiting those areas...just to name a few. I'm sure Mt Kilimanjaro is considered a grueling volcanic trek.
It's great to be young at whatever age one feels young. Safe travels.

[beerlaodrinker]

You've just reminded me what a lazy barsteward I am, all those years I spent warming a barstool in Angeles (some of that in garfields)and I never bothered to go have a look see. After the eruption. Fantastic shots and good to see locals making a dollar from the tourism, Would of been a blast flying over it in an ultralight to.

[Davis Knowlton]

Would of been a blast flying over it in an ultralight to.

It was indeed. Like you, I was warming a bar stool and got chatting with an old mate I hadn't seen in a year or two..an Angeles guy. Turned out his newest venture was ultralights, and that he ran the local ultralight club.

So, off we went. I'd never been up in one before - in fact, had never seen one.

The desolation was staggering...just miles and miles. Hard to believe without seeing it yourself.

And a lot easier than hiking it, like tough gals like Katie.

[Headworx]

Another memory of the time was talking with the guys in the bar where we use to drink (Garfields) they were there when the eruption happened, being survival experts! (they were all ex military)

They were indeed all ex Military, Special Forces many of them too (John Hollis, Bo, Black Fred, George Buck, et al). I too use to enjoy a drink in Garfields, we'd go at least once a week to be knee-deep in grenade pins just listening to the conversations . Great bunch of guys though and unlike 90%++ of the "Special Forces" guys you meet in this part of the world, they were the real deal.

When Pinatubo tipped its lid I was living in AC, had a house in a compound. By sheer luck a few of us and our girls took off down south to a golf resort 2 days before the event. We planned on being away 5 days but it was about 3 weeks before we got home, we knew there was no power, water, or shops with stock so why the hell would we saddle up for home?. My house survived and turned into an evacuation center for some other expats in the compound whos houses roofs caved in. What was happening was the lahar was falling at a great rate, and there was typhoon grade rain falling at the same time. So the gutters would fill up with what equated to wet concrete then the water would run back inside the roofs so your best case scenario was everything in your house was water damaged, and the worst case was you had a flat-ish roof which didn't allow for run-off so it would cave in. Luckily, a few neighbors figured this out and pulled all the guttering down around my house (which had a high sloping roof) so the lahar would just wash off it.

Fast forward almost 3 weeks when we finally did get home - after something like 10 hrs in a mini van from Manila and ending up completely lost out the back of Mt Arayat at one stage - my house an contents were all ok but there was a 2m wall of lahar surrounding it that had a walkway shoveled out to get to the front door!. The house girl had fled on day 1 (and I don't blame her) but the people who'd moved in temporarily while their houses were repaired had taken good care of everything, and covered things like tv's and VCR's with tarps just in case.

I too flew over the carnage in an Ultralight from the flying club not long after and got a heap of photos. Jesus H, what a train wreck, one memory that really comes back was an Iglesia ni Cristo church that only had the top meter of the roof and the steeple above ground. Can't imagine what would have been in that area before the volcano but would have needed to dig down at least 5 meters to find out.

As for the photos, like nearly all the pics I took back then I'd post them to my Mum who's since passed away. They'd all still be in boxes of her personal belongings at one of my brothers houses and I must dig them all out some time.

Anyway Katie this is a brilliant thread and clearly, it brings back memories for quite a few members. So thank you for that.