A Trek to Mt. Pinatubo Crater

Elevation: 1,485m (1,745m before the 1991 eruption)
Ascent/Descent Dates: 04 June, 2011
Entry/Exit Point: Brgy. Sta. Juliana, Capas, Tarlac
Climb Purpose: Blogger's Climb-for-a Cause for the benefit of Tahanang Walang Hagdanan
Organized By: Jonel Uy of Let's Go Sago in cooperation with Travel Factor and Sponsors

Satellite Map of Mt. Pinatubo

Full event in Photos:

Bloggers at the pre-event briefing in R.O.X
(photo courtesy of Alex De Vera)

The 4x4 jeeps transporting the hikers from Sta. Juliana, Capas to
Mt. Pinatubo's base

Body-wrecking 1-hour ride on lahar-muds going to the starting area of the hike

Lahar-hills formation found at the sides of the trail road, eroding as the hard wind blows through it or as the ravaging mud and water flows on it's base.

The start of the trek was introduced with light rain showers that gave us some spine-bending cold and the thought of lahar muds washing us out.

On my favorite Takbo.ph nightfest shirt and Royal Robbins
mountaineering pants (photo courtesy of Rodel "Argo" Cuaton)

Thankfully though, there was only a few centimeters rise of the waters that flowed through our direction.

Removed the leg pairs of my mountaineering pants converting it to trekking
shorts as it get soaked in water (photo courtesy of Rodel "Argo" Cuaton)

After the short rain, the sun peeked at us seemingly like it's verifying our existence, checking if we are still standing on the ground and continuing with our good cause.

After the stop-over at those green-roofed nipa huts, the second part of the
trek towards the jungles of Mt. Pinatubo begins with approximate time per
age group. (photo courtesy of Rodel "Argo" Cuaton)

From that point on towards the peak, we haven't really reached it in 15, or 18, or 20-minutes. Rather, the final trek upwards to the crater lake took us almost a good 25-minutes as we still took a good amount of time capturing the magnificent hues and sticking our gaze on the inviting nature-painted color of the natural environment from the rocks, pebbles, streams of water, and vegetations.

Then the prize of our trekking came into view as we reached the crater lake with its magnificently jade-colored lake water. The lakes' color was a surprise as I was hoping it would be a creepy-muddy brown-colored body of still and silent water with unknown creatures on its depth.

From here on, it was a fun-filled dipping and swimming with the bloggers and other hikers until our skin and flesh wrinkled from the cold water of the crater lake.

Argo on the loose while I watch how swimming should be done.
(photo shot by Maridol)

Other hikers camped for an overnight stay perhaps

As many would tend to shout due to the excitement and amazement
by the natural wonders of Mt. Pinatubo, this reminder serves as a
warning to help prevent soil erosion caused by noise vibrations.

The four runners at the time who joined the climb for-a-cause
(photo courtesy of Rodel "Argo" Cuaton)

With all the other bloggers and guest climbers
(photo courtesy of Alex De Vera)

On our way home, with still a few amount of time left, we managed to drop-by at Camp O'Donell where we also took some shots and read the astonishing sacrifices of the Filipino and American soldiers during the Bataan Death March in World War II where only about 45,692+ Filipinos and 9,300 Americans reached Capas, Tarlac on their gruelling march from Mariveles, Bataan.