Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 was one of the largest eruptions in history. The Mount Pinatubo eruption and two typhoons that entered the area when Mount Pinatubo was erupting turned the breadbasket of the Philippines into desolate waste land. The damage affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and the effects of the ash cloud circled the earth. The social and economic effects are still being felt, but the natural healing is well on its way. The area is a contrast between the dust and lahars in the scarcely vegetated flats and river beds to the lush mountains sides with young trees and other cover.
The transition between the two is dramatic with signs of massive erosion and towering cliffs. For the last decade dedicated hikers could trek to the mountain crater. It involved either days of hiking or hours of 4x4 travel followed by a 2 hour hard hike. A couple of years ago a “trail”, called the skyway, was cut that would allow 4x4’s a shorter route to a drop off point to trek to the crater. The skyway opened up the crater to an hour and fifteen minute 4x4 ride and a 20 minute to 45 hour trek. The trek itself is not a stroll through the park but does not require any great physical fitness level. Seeing Photos of the crater with its lake can not prepare you for the stark beauty and contrasts that you will see in front of you. The sheer cliffs, the vegetation covered mountain sides along side areas of bare volcanic rock, The 2.5 Kilometer Lake that sits inside the crater with its shores sometimes gentle, sometimes rough.
