Mount Pinatubo Climb

Here I go again, of to another climb or should I say walk…. a very very long walk. The dormant volcano became a popular climbing spot for the past 3 years and I got to have a go at it from a new route which was way long but was well worth it.

We started our trip by meeting at the Dagupan bus station in Cubao at 330 in the morning last Saturday which meant bye bye going out friday night. I wasn’t able to sleep anyways because I was too worried of missing the bus with my Habagat mates. We arrived at Dau at around 6am I think and had to wait for a jeep to transfer us to our 6 wheel truck headed for the jumpoff point. Thd 6 wheel truck was actually an ex military truck and the ride took 45 minutes to the jump off and a lot of dodging branches along the road being at the back and all.

So here we are at the jump off with last minute preparations going around not to mention an amazing view of Mount Arayat which I heard is another good climb. We got to meet our guides, 4 guides to be exact, Manong Jun, Manong Jason, Manong Manny, and I forgot the other one. We 4 guides because of our big group which was at 19. Alex, our teamlead, was giving last minute instructions to the team before we head out. I think we started at 9:30am.

So there we were, off to the campsite we go. We went through a series of canyons that was created by the lahar that the once powerful volcano inflicted in that area. Nice to see that greens are starting to grow but the land still looks barren. Now one conflict that I was going through was whether to wear my shoes or to wear sandals. River crossing is something that we have to go through the whole time and there are a lot of rocks and sand. I chose to go through with my shoes since I have a tendency to go hella slow with sandals because I don’t want my toes to get hurt(just got a pedicure). 

Stops along the way was necessary since the climb starts of with an incredibly long walk. We normally took stops every hour, we don’t rush things like most people think. We eventually made to to this cool looking passageway which kinda look like a small cave where we took our lunch. By the way, thanks to Mcdonalds for providing me with my packed cheeseburgers for lunch. Hehehe, how I wish it was free.

So off we go with less than half remaining going to the campsite. Things started to become harder with lot of inclines including climbing water rapids or whatever you might call it. But at this point the formations were amazing and not to mention the waterfalls which we were able to relax and take a swim in. Check out the pix.

Because our timing was a bit off we had to do changes with our itinerary and had to schedule the assault to the summit the next day. So we were able to swim some more and headed to the campsite which from the falls took less than 20 minutes.

The campsite was ok, it was actually the first campsite that I’ve been through that was sandy and it helps makes our sleep a lot more bearable. We arrived at around 4:30pm which was ok but we could not head for the crater since it takes 2 hours to get there.

For dinner we had sinigang and maling. Weird combination I know but when you climb everything you cook is good. =) I wish Candy was there to help out with the cooking. At around 8pm the team gathered around for socials and introduced each other while rum was going around. You should ask me about the jokes, some were hella funny. Lights out at 10pm since we had an early assualt at 5am.

Sunday morning and off we go to the crater at 5:30am. Now we were jumping of huge rocks and are now “climbing” so to speak. No need to worry though because we only had to bring a small water container and our cameras. Of course we were pacing ourselves and we made it to the top of the crater at around 8 I think.

With the long journey to get there, you’ll realized that it was all worth it. The crater was awesome! Maybe the next climb I might pass by the other so I could swim but right now even if we reach it we weren’t allowed to swim. The view from our side was nice since you can see the whole crater I just wish my camera had a panoramic mode but anyways, I can combine my pictures together.

Heading back down was faster and we were able to make to campsite at 10am. Packing things up and breakfast was priority. Since we still have a lot of food we were able to make french toast and corned beef. Yum for me. We were all ready to go down at 1130.

God must love our group because only headed down did the rain start to pour in. Rain was actually good since our tendency was to move faster. Useless that I placed sunblock thinking it was gonna be hot. It was really raining and if you check my pix I have a blue dry bag around me where my digital camera, cellphone, wallet, and MP3 were kept. I was so worried that it will get wet and also the fact that I slipped and fell in the water with the bag getting wet got me worried.

Finally, we made to to the cave passage way which was way harder to cross now with the water rushing faster and the water turning brown. We had to work as a team to get to the other side.

After that part the sun started to shine and we were almost done, my only complaint is that sand pebbles were in my shoes and were killing me. I was able to check my electronic goodies which were all working fine. We finally made it back to the jump off point at 4pm and headed back to Angeles city. My shoes almost did not survive the ordeal.

We went to a mini pool resort in the city and we were able to freshen up eat dinner and headed back for Manila. I got back home at 11:30PM Sunday. Need to bring my shoes to Mr. Quickie and get a much need and well deserved massage.

In the end, people ask me why go through all that. I’d just say “Well, what did you do the this weekend?”. I’m here to appreciate my country and what God has created.