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.