Journey to Middle Earth: Our Mt. Pinatubo trekking experience

While everybody was heading out for  beaches and swimming pools to escape the blistering heat of summer, our group of fourteen bravely confronted the  sun and dust one fine Saturday morning for the conquest of a lifetime - the crater of the still active Mt. Pinatubo.

We were only four in the initial list. It eventually grew to 18, which got trimmed down to 14 after a few backed out.  Guided by many blogs in the Internet on how to get there and how much it would cost us,  we pooled funds, backpacked and excitedly clambered onto an offroad jeep upon arrival at Capas, Tarlac.

It was a bumpy one and a half hour ride, traversing lahar-laden plains, studded by rocks and giant boulders here and there.  There were occassional streams that the jeep had to cross. We saw some native Aetas along the way - on a carabao sled, doing the laundry at a rocky stream, or just walking under the heat of the sun. 

At some point of the ride, the jeep had to negotiate a narrow uphill road, which the tour guide said was the same site where four foreigners fell at the height of typhoon Pepeng last year, and died. Scary, but never mind - the view  was amazing.   We stopped midway for the requisite photo op. We were in the middle of a scene straight from the Lord of the Rings, episode: fellowship with nature. Around us were  majestic formation of rocks and hardened mountains of lahar, jutting out of lahar-covered grounds. 

Many mountains were "shaved" at the side due to erosion, revealing gray-colored walls, a perfect contrast to the greens of the grass, bushes and ferns.

After taking pictures, we took the jeep once more for another forty-five minutes of  head-bobbing ride. And then finally, the drop-off point.  Around a dozen offroad jeeps were already there, indicating several groups got to the crater ahead of us, thanks to the monstrous traffic at the NLEX which got us delayed for an hour or so. More picture-taking sessions and then off we went for the 45-minute trek. 


The sun was shining full blast (it was almost 11:00 am) but the narrow trail was thankfully shaded  by the mountains. It was a mild  uphill climb. Rocks littered the trail but they were gratefully small enough to step onto and were not slippery.    There were streams of cool water along the way where we happily dipped our tired feet. The sound of gurgling waters from the streams was also soothing.  

The sign at the start of the trail said "15 minutes for the young age, 18 minutes for the middle age, and 20 minutes for the senior citizens". Whoever timed the trek for that sign must have been one of the Supers.We spent some 40 minutes for the trail. Or maybe we were just older than senior citizens. :)


When we finally reached the crater, we immediately forgot the aching joints, the sweat, the hunger, and the thirst.  The same crater that spewed fiery lava almost two decades ago - that buried several towns, that killed hundreds of people, that displaced thousands of residents - greeted us with her majestic grandeur, her cyan lake so calm, so quiet, so still, so beautiful.  A landscaping feat only God can accomplish. There is no other thing to do but to inhale the beauty and serenity of the place. And of course, more picture taking.

HOW TO GET THERE
If you're taking the bus from Manila, get on a Lingayen or Dagupan bound-bus and alight at Capas, Tarlac. From Capas Public Market, take the jeep or rent a tricycle going to Bgy. Sta. Juliana. 

In our case, we brought our own vehicle.  From San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan, we took the NLEX and exited at Sta. Ines. We then took the McArthur Highway until we reached Capas,Tarlac. Landmarks along the way: Camp O'Donnel, Capas National Shrine. Upon reaching Capas Public Market, turn left for Bgy. Sta. Juliana. Look for the Pinatubo Development Corporation  (PDC) Office. That's where you will register.

Francis, our contact person, met us at the Caltex station near McDonalds at Capas. With his scooter, he led us to the road going to Bgy. Sta. Juliana, the gateway to Mt. Pinatubo. At Bgy. Sta. Juliana, we were met by Ronald, Francis' brother who assisted us in registering at the PDC office and in paying the required fees. Then off we went to the bumpy ride.

HOW MUCH

These are the fees at the PDC:

Registration: P300/head

Rental for 4 x 4 jeep : P2,500.00 - good for five heads, max. If you are six in the group, they will require you to get 2 jeeps

Tour guide: P500.00 - one for each jeep

Skyway fee: P500.00 - for each jeep
Parking Fee: P50.00 (flat rate)

Add to these fees the bus fare, if you are taking the bus. Or the gasoline expenses and the toll fees, if you are bringing your own vehicle.

There are packages offered by tour groups. The lowest I saw in the Internet is P3,000.00,  including lunch. The highest is  P8,000.00. In our group (we were fourteen), each contributed P1,500.00 which included the  PDC fees and the gasoline expenses. We ordered lunch at McDonalds.

WHAT TO EXPECT

1. Expect not just a bumpy road but a super dusty road. Not advisable for people with asthma. We all ended up with sticky hair which took several sachets of shampoo to wash off. You can choose to take the shower at the PDC shower room for P100.00. Three from our group did just that. The rest had fun pumping water from the artesian well at the parking lot and taking a bath, probinsya-style, for free.

2. Don't expect much from the tour guides. I have a feeling that you get them just because they are part of the contract terms of the Koreans managing the PDC. We had trouble locating them when we were at the crater. They have very little knowledge about the place. I even overheard one guide feeding the wrong information to a local tourist. In fact, what I knew about the place, I got not from the guides but from persistent research in the Internet before going there.

3. Expect thirst. It's an hour and a half ride, under the heat of the sun. Bring lots of water.

4. You don't need an umbrella for the trekking :) Seriously, I considered bringing one. Thankfully, I did not. The mountains perfectly shade the trail. The sound of gurgling waters from the streams is also soothing.

5. The crater lake is breathtakingly beautiful. But heed the sign - swimming is not recommended.  The water is   enticing but I think I did not read enough blogs. The crater lake is also home to worm-like creatures! One of us spotted the worms on the shirt of another. I don't know what they are called, scientifically. They were small, one centimeter I think. Pinkish, some were reddish. For sure, they were not wrigglers because they were not as wriggly. I immediately jumped out of the water, called my son and inspected his shirt. Thankfully, he had none on his shirt. I had one or two. One of us had around 20 worms or more clinging on her shirt. They were alive, moving, crawling. I would have died. So don't go there for the swim, you might be disappointed. Go there to enjoy the breathtaking scenery and inhale the serenity of the place, and to bask in the pride of conquering an active volcano.

6. There is no comfort room up there. If you need to pee, pee at the PDC office before going up, or wait until you get back, which would be about three hours from the crater. There's a changing cubicle near the lake if you want to swim. The cubicle has a toilet seat which you will not want to use, promise. And only half of the cubicle has roof. I kept looking up while I was changing.

7. The crater lake is around seventy or eighty steps down from the end of the trail. Going down to the crater lake is easy. Going up is not. Peanuts if you are an experienced mountain climber. My idea of going up that high is through an elevator, or at least, an escalator.

8. Be prepared to eat on the floor. PDC has not yet thought about putting tables at their cottages up at the crater.There's a snacks booth up there at the crater but you have to shell out P70.00 for a Coke in can.

9. You will be hungry when you get back, even if you've had a hearty lunch at the crater. PDC has a restaurant but I heard the food is expensive. We opted for the sari-sari store/turo-turo just across the PDC Office. Why, Koreans were also lining up for a taste of isaw and tenga! Yummy. And the halo-halo was heaven after a long, hot and dusty day.

10. Globe, Smart and Sun are not everywhere. There's no more signal a few meters away from the PDC office.

11. The trail is closed  during the rainy season, especially after the tragic death last year of foreigners who braved typhoon Pepeng. Best time to go there is during the sunny months of March to May.

Lest I forget, our contact person's mobile number is 0927-9887277.

Have a safe, bumpy ride. Don't forget your camera. :)


credit: photos by Mervin Landingin