Lockdown Walks Down Memory Lane: Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

Not quite 82 summits but the 40th birthday of another dear friend of mine did lead to a mini adventure which I would like to share on today’s lockdown walk down memory lane. That one also fits a bit better into our allocated time window not necessarily leaving much room for a feat such as Liv’s, obviously the main reason why we’re not following her footsteps, …along with the fact that I do like my toes the way they are. There might be a somewhat feet related issue coming your way as well, but before you turn on your heel, I can assure you it’ll be more funny than painful. So, come along, let’s hop over to the Philippines real quick and check out Mount Pinatubo.

Having explored mountains and beaches down under, ventured through fairy-infested woods and strolled through some quirky cities, I thought why not shake things up with a volcano stroll? If you’ve been following along from the start, you might say, “We’ve already been to a volcanic site?!” And you’re absolutely right, our very first location, the Giant’s Causeway does go back to volcanic activity — brownie points for paying attention. Such rock-forming activity happened millions of years ago though, before Finn and Angus redecorated everything of course.

Today, we’re venturing up an active volcano, such daredevils. Truth be told though, the volcano itself might be the least of our worries since there’s another mythical creature awaiting us. But I’ll tell you about it on the way, no turning back then. Let’s get going if you’re up for a bit of excitement:

Welcome to the Philippines, the Zambales Mountains to be precise, which are located on the tripoint boundary of the provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga, on the northern island of Luzon, about 87 km northwest of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Mount Pinatubo, today's destination, is an active stratovolcano, notorious for its eruption in 1991, the second-largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century after Novarupta in Alaska in 1912.

As if an eruption was not enough, the arrival of Typhoon Yunya created a lethal mix of ash and rain destroying surrounding towns and cities, a devastating event that seemingly still weighs heavy on the sight as you pass through dusty lahar fields it left behind.

From 1992 to 1993, minor dome-forming eruptions continued inside the caldera, the place where we will have our lunch stop today -- I did promise some excitement...

A few more words on stratovolcanoes (aka composite volcanoes), they are the conical kind most of us associate with the word 'volcano,' which are built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra.

Unlike shield volcanoes, the ones I learned about in Hawaii when desperately looking for something elevated, stratovolcanoes do have a steep profile with a summit crater. Some have collapsed craters called calderas, Pinatubo being one of them as you can see on the sign depicting its beautiful crater lake. Let's see if the inviting image matches reality...

...after saying Hello to some of the locals, who truly know how to strike a pose!

And so does this gorgeous creature! . . . But enough distraction, the caldera awaits, and potentially something else...

...a bit of climbing still lies ahead though with Pinatubo being about 1,485 metres and the caldera lake between 820-840 metres above sea level. Sounds a lot at first...

If we think back about the inviting cobalt blue picture, not quite the same in front of us, but somewhat convenient as swimming is prohibited in the lake anyways -- sorry guys!

After all that walking though, you do deserve a little break...

...or just enjoy the view, which does look a bit gloomy today, don't you think? . . . Having rested a bit, maybe that's the right moment to tell you about Bacobaco?

Suggestive of earlier large eruptions, there’s an ancient legend about a vicious spirit of the sea able to metamorphose into a huge sea turtle and throw fire from his mouth. When chased by spirit hunters, Bacobaco escaped to the mountain, dug a hole in the summit thereby showering the surrounding land with rocks, mud, dust and fire while howling at the top of his lunges shaking the earth for days.

Ready to go back home you say? So are we, not being too keen on testing our luck today given the gloomy colour and atmosphere.

Despite its mythical and tragic historical past, Mount Pinatubo is still a rather beautiful sight to behold...

1of20

Welcome back guys! I’m glad you escaped the clumsy claws of Bacobaco, or shall I say flippers? Apparently, that’s what the hands and feet of sea turtles are called. Perfect segway to address the feet related issue I hinted at in the beginning (in case you recall).

*The birthday girl, who can have the shirt off my back, or rubber band out of my hair, anything really having introduced me to my very first real-life sea turtle, among many other wonderful things.*

It might be a bit anticlimactic given the volcanic facts so far, but is still somewhat related as one of my hiking companions suffered from a gear malfunction on our way back. In the heat of the moment, and potentially of the ground we walked upon, one of her hiking sandals decided to disintegrate.

Despite the gloomy atmosphere, it turned into a rather comical moment lightening the mood and boosting our Solotravelless egos as we MacGyvered our way through the situation. We talked about travelling on a shoe string before — when it comes to Betta and myself, we even sometimes hike on a hair tie.

I feel like we deserve some creativity points for that one, what do you say? Not really? Well, we were terribly proud and a had few good belly laughs when reminiscing about yet another adventure leaving bodies and pride mostly intact.

Thinking about it, our reunions tend to involve some kind of hiccup, be it punctured tyres, border crossings on foot, or the time she forgot to mention I was supposed to study for my diving theory test scheduled for the day after my arrival. Gotta love that woman, so surely more stories coming your way.

Time to wrap up for the day though. Hope you enjoyed yet another anything but locked down walk?! See you again next time, the last virtual stroll abroad for now! 🌋🎒🙋‍♀️

When was I there? 16 July 2017

Share me on the world wild web 🙂

02/02/2021

No Comments

Tags: Asia, Hiking, Travel

The SoloTravelless

Lockdown Walks Down Memory Lane: Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

When was I there? 16 July 2017

Leave a CommentCancel reply