Mt. Pinatubo trek Feb. 2016

[katie23]

I liked the reddish hue of these rocks.


At last, the vehicles are in sight!

[katie23]

These little kids are siblings. They both sold iced sweets to tourists. At first, the lil guy walked along with F (who was a few meters ahead), then stopped and walked along with me. He was selling "ice candy" (milky iced sweets wrapped in plastic), and he begged me to buy one. At first I resisted, then eventually gave in. His winning line - so that he could have some money for school the next day. I don't usually buy from vendors, but I guess I'm a softie sometimes.



When we were near the vehicles, the girl asked if they could catch a ride with us (in the 4x4) back to the base camp. I agreed (since it's a 1-hr ride and if they don't ride, they would have to walk the whole way) but I said I needed to ask my companions first. Since all of them agreed, the kids hopped on the back of the vehicle. They were asleep on the way back. Cute kids.

[katie23]

It rained a bit in the afternoon, so the ride back was wetter (but not necessarily wilder).

[katie23]

Back at Sta. Juliana, it was very quiet when we arrived around 2:30 pm, as most of the tour groups have come & gone.


There are toilets & showers that you can use, for a small fee. Toilet use is P10, shower fee is P50.

Here's a small sari-sari store if you want to buy some stuff.

[katie23]

This is Wendell Mercado's store. According to a blog, he's the president of the Pinatubo 4x4 wheelers club. If you'll do a DIY trip and want to reserve a 4x4 (the vehicles can be fully booked during peak season or holidays), you can check out

www mtpinatubo4wheelersclub dot com.

Tel nos. +63 919 608 4313, +63 977 403 8271, +63 932 419 6814
The numbers were on the tarp so they're public knowledge. If it's prohibited to put phone numbers here, please delete it, mods.

[katie23]

This guy's work is done for the day...


Those were my trek buddies.

I think, by now, the 2 Spanish guys have finished Sagada & Kalinga (the north) and they're now in Palawan, enjoying the beach. F is back at work (but had a scheduled trek the weekend after the Pinatubo trek).

[katie23]

We hired a tricycle to take us back to town, back to where we started - McDonald's.





There's a Mini Stop (convenience store) and a nearby 7/11 if you need to buy goodies along the way. There's also a nearby Jollibee if you don't like clowns.

Most tour groups have a stop-over at McD or Jollibee for take-out (take-away/to-go) breakfast and/or lunch before they start the trek.

[katie23]

McD is right across a Caltex station, so you won't get lost.



By this time, the 2 backpackers had boarded a bus to go farther north (to Baguio), while F and I rode a bus to return south, to Cubao. There are lots of buses heading for Cubao or Pasay.

That's it for this Pinatubo thread. Hope you all enjoyed. Thanks for "watching"!

[Black Heart]

Nice thread, Katie.

[beerlaodrinker]

Fantastic loved this thread

[katie23]

Thanks for the bumps, BH & BLD.

I'm glad that I did this trek in Feb, when it was still cool. Now, summer has arrived and it would be scorching hot to do that trek. For those interested, it's best to do this trek from Nov-Feb, during the cool months.

If you're in Angeles City or surrounds, you can still join a tour group. You just need to specify that you'll come from AC and they'll arrange a pick-up point. Tour groups coming from Manila leave at ~3am from Mall of Asia, St. Francis Square or other meeting places.

If you don't want to join a tour group but would like someone to share the 4x4 ride with, you can just go to the base camp in Barangay Sta. Juliana in Capas, Tarlac during a weekend. I'm sure there are other hikers who are just "winging it". When my group went there, we came across 2 French girls (backpackers) who were looking for companions for the 4x4 ride.

Cheers!