Pinatubo Trek Last August 26-27

I'm not a hardcore mountaineer, but I'm definitely the adventurous type. So when my officemates brought up Pinatubo trekking as one of our options for our August get-away, I was very excited. Too excited in fact that I volunteered to arrange the whole trip :)

Two noteworthy info here:

1.) The last time i brought friends for some beginner's mountaineering, we all got lost ^_^ That was partly my fault and partly theirs. My fault because I slightly forgot the trail goig down ;) Their fault because they did not bring flashlight at all even when I made it clear that it is important. :)But that was a fun climb not just for me but for the whole group. The ~30 min period we felt lost was the cherry on the ice cream.

*Had some "moments" with Arlene as well during this climb :) Mountain climbing seems to be a good idea to win a girl's heart ;) di ba ga? hehehe

2.) My officemates are not the mountaineering type as well. They are your typical city dwellers and to be away from civilization is something "different" from our normal gimiks :)

Anyway, details on what happened:

Sunday (Aug 26)

- the gang was complete by around 8 am. I drove. With me were Carlos, Mela, JB, Biane and Yan Mei.

- by 11 we met up with our contact in Capas, Tarlac. Wendell is our contact for the 4x4 that will take us to the start of the trail.
**Check out Wendell's site: www.mtpinatubowyne4x4.com I would recommend you get his services if you're planning to go there. Cheaper than the 2 others i asked and he's very accomodating.

- The 4x4 ride took around 30 min. We took the trapal top of the 4x4 down to have 360 view of the lahar area.


- We had a guide to lead us (mandatory). The trek up took us 3 hours. But we had a few stops along the way for picture taking and at one point we took a dip in the river. There was also some 15 min when we were already close to the crater that I, Carlos, JB and Biane got separated from the Guide and the rest :)


- We settled in the campsite sometime past 3pm. The view was just breathtaking and we were the only group there so it was like our own secret place.


- The water in the crater-lake was warm. If you get out from the water you'll freeze to death because of the occasional cool breeze. We swam some 1/3 of the whole lake which was really fun.

- Had some bonfire in the evening. Ate our fill from the stash of bread, canned goods and fruits :)Before we slept, of course, the usual, we had our camping stories, ranging from your horror stories, secret-sharing, jokes...

- It was raining the next day. While it was still pouring, we started our trek down at around 9am. The river had a stronger current than the previous day. Along the way, there was even a minor landslide that happened some 20 meters away from us :)

- Got to the town past 12. There is this spa resort in the town and we had a good massage before we left :)

See my multiply site for the pictures :) belemmans.multiply.com

I definitely recommend this trip to the adventurous out there :)