Friday, February 10, 2012

Pinatubo Experience - Riding 4x4 and Ash Trekking

It's a Mud Mad Ride
Thirty wanderers from all over the country joined one of the largest travel bloggers' trip ever assembled. Dubbed as "Mt. Pinatubo New Year Extravaganza", organizers Dong Ho and Robx have invited some PTB Bagets to visit one of the most beautiful and amazing place that came out of a devastation that has affected millions of Filipinos.

It was in June 1991 when the sleepy mountain/volcano of Pinatubo literally blew itself apart sending columns of ash and rock into the air. The mountain lost 300 meters in height and fine ash/dust particles as well as fist-sized fragments of rock rained down on nearby Angeles City, Clark Airbase and Subic Bay. It even reached my home city of Cabanatuan where ash was a constant companion of rain for months.

Compounding the catastrophe, a savage typhoon chose this moment to to lash northern Luzon, turning the ash into lahar or volcanic mud which flooded downhill from the volcano with dire consequences. The easily eroded lahar flows created a stunning landscape around the volcano that only now is starting to recover some of its vegetation. Continuous rains and flows have led to the formation of towering pinnacles of lahar, hanging valleys and canyons - spectacular views that you will see once you decided to go up Pinatubo.

Red and Blue 4WD Navigating the Unsteady Trail

Top Loading - It's More Fun in the Philippines

Lahar Canyons

Towering Lahar Mountains

The Wheel of Choice - The Only Choice

Trekking Streams and Boulders

Enduring a Two-Hour Treak Amidst the Heat

Passing Evolving Streams

Pinnacles of Lahar

Volcanic Rocks and What You Got


Soft Shot of Water Flows

I did it in Twelve Minutes :)

Lahar Landscape

Easily Eroded Lahar

One of the Amazing Views that Lahar Brought

If you throw stone at it, this formation will collapse.

More Lahar Landscapes

Feeling Small amidst Lahar Valleys

The Sign at the Crater
The journey up Mt. Pinatubo has evolved to be one of the Philippines' top adventure and can be done as a long day trip. There used to be an overnight stay at the crater but since the area has turned into a military reserve, overnight stay in the crater is no longer allowed. From the jump-off point of Santa Juliana, you can walk all the way up the mountain for two days or you can take a 4x4 wheel dride most of the way up then walk the final two to three hours to the crater.

The Mount Pinatubo crater, the lake and the wanderers on my next post.

27 comments:

  1. Looks like great fun to me!! Hope you have a great weekend, Oman!

    Sylvia

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  2. very very nice pictures, i really really want to go there!

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  3. naks! ayan na nainggit na ako! haha grabe ang dame pala sumama. great capturesas always Oman

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  4. great photos of the trip to pinatubo... which reminds me, i haven't uploaded photos of my trip there last year or even blogged about it. hehe!

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  5. wow! 12 minutes? that was fast.. Dahil diyan dun ka sa fetus age. hahaha! kidding. AKo kasi inabot ng 20+ minutes. hahah! Gurang lang. I love your shots. Namiss ko tuloy bigla ang Pinatubo.

    thanks for visiting my blog by the way. Ngayon ko lang naharap ulit. hihihi! Appreciate it.

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  6. I totally love the 4x4 off roading treat at this place. awesome.

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  7. i enjoy every single post about pinatubo. Ang ganda talaga ng pinatubo , who would have thought it's beauty can kill a thousand innocent lives. sniff

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  8. Agree! Ganda ng Pinatubo! Napakamemorable ng first mountain climb ko! Though kahit hindi Delta 5 trail ang tinahak ko, still... weeeee! Worth it talaga punta ko. DAVAO REPRESEEENT!

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  9. Hope the plan to climb Pinatubo this coming April eh matuloy na hehehe! Ganda... kaka-excite lalong magpunta.

    Great pics!

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  10. Awesome! This is some adventure! :) Great shot to capture the rough surrounding conditions and the vehicles driving through it.

    Alexander
    Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

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  11. incredible landscape. i want to see this. i wonder how long it would take me to get to the destination, prolly 30 minutes or more :)

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  12. beautiful indeed.. ganda ng shots nyo.. keep it up..

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  13. Those two guys riding topload in such a rugged terrain probably have a hefty life insurance and a no co-pay health plan LOL. Did they make it all the way without falling off the top of their SUV?

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  14. Very beautiful scenery. Not a clue that it once erupted ashes all over to countries as far as my country. Happy Valentine's Day.

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  15. Kung titingnan mo parang guguho anytime yung bangin. amazing!

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  16. I would like to go there. Mahirap ba ang trek?

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  17. haha. natawa ako sa comment ni sir bert. buti nlng pala i have a comprehensive health insurance. pwede pala akong mag topload! yey! lol. i miss pinatubo. but i doubt ill go back anytime soon. glad you had a great time. that mountain of ash can really get scary..

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  18. Ayos, 12 minutes lang. Sayang, di na pwede overnight. Ang ganda ng mga kuha. :)

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  19. It's Ash Wednesday as I read your post :)

    It's incredible to still see those lahar hills after all these years. Maganda. I do hope the volcano will sleep for good.

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  20. I always find tihs place amazing because of what mother nature did. Nice pics.

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  21. I wanna spend sometime in there. Wow.

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  22. Hi,
    I would like to go there.Your photos are so beautiful Do you have a guide or travel company to recommend? Thanks.

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  23. Uy naaliw ako sa pagbasa nito! You write great captions Sir Oman! Hehehe.

    At ikaw na ang nakapunta sa crater in 12 minutes!!! Ako ata more than 20. Hahaha babalikan ko to at tatapusin yun in 11 minutes!!!

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  24. What a nice place. This is one of the beautiful spots in the Philippines. I wish I could come and visit Mt. Pinatubo soon. Trekking will surely be a great exciting experience. With this kind of environment, every trekking enthusiast should carry his coldsteel knife to be used in case of emergency.

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