For an amateur trekker such as I, the Pinatubo experience was indeed an arduous one, especially at my age where trekking should have been the least choice of physical activity. Nevertheless, it was an achievement, an experience I wouldn't stop talking about.

It was the last day of January 2004 when the Buhawi Mountaineering Club, where I was a guest climber, went off to Mt. Pinatubo, a destination to many mountaineers, since its destructive eruption 13 years ago. There were 11 of us who gathered together at the Victory Liner terminal in Pasay at 2:00 pm to set our journey to Capas, Tarlac. We arrived Capas after 4 hours where we took a passenger jeepney to Sta. Juliana, the barangay where the Tourism Authority Office is, to secure permit to climb and get an Aeta guide. It took us around 45 minutes to get there. At 8:00 pm, we boarded the same jeepney that brought us to Sta. Juliana to Bangantungul, the jump off point. It was an hour of bumpy ride in the dark. Though it wasn't a moonless night, it was too dark to see where we're passing. Cell phones were turned off for there was no more signal to call home anymore. When we set foot to Bangantungul, only then did we realize that there was a moon to guide us through our trek. Joel, our team leader, invited everybody for a group prayer and last minute instructions.

I had mixed emotions when we started, anxious if I can cope with these mountaineers who had the experience and the stamina. The guide, we call "Manong", added to the pressure as he was so swift with his steps. Several times during the trek, most of the ladies cried "Stop". We needed rest and gasped for breath. In between our journey, we crossed several streams of knee-deep, fast-flowing water, about a meter or two wide. But there were shallower and narrower ones that have warm water. The path, though really dark, was crisscrossing mountains of lahar deposits and rocks. There were spots when we cannot entirely see the way because the moonshine was hidden behind mountains. It was a bit scary. What if there were bad elements present in the area? During these times, the ever-ready mountaineers had to put their lamp on aside from the individual flashlights that we had that allowed us to see our way.

Our way up to the crater was hardly noticeable. I never felt that we're ascending except during the last 30 minutes or one hour when we climbed boulders and narrow passages of rocks and flowing water with little vegetation. Our guide was indeed an authority. Aside from being the head of the Aeta population around the vicinity, he knew how to play around by always saying "Malapit na." He knew that the ladies, especially me, needed some pep talk, otherwise we would have quitted and not made it to the top. I nearly gave up when we're just about 15 minutes from the crater. I never knew that we're almost there. I was given a choco drink and a choco bar to keep going plus one or two jellies to perk up the remaining energy I had, and, of course, a lot of encouragement from the group. "Mam, konti na lang, po, andito na po tayo" was what I heard, which made me feel that I was some sort of a burden to them. Without me, they should have been there early on. But I got more motivation when they said, "Talaga naman pong mahirap." (Notice how they keep repeating that polite word "po". I felt I was a senior citizen among these young, energetic souls. Ha-ha-ha!) Indeed, it was painstaking. If we're not walking on sand, we're hopping on rocks and boulders or crossing fast-running water.

Alas! We reached the campsite after 6 hours. As their usual activity, the mountaineers pitched the tents at once, set to cook, and prepared our supposed-to-be dinner at 2:30 a.m.! I never dared to help. Much as I wanted to, I was dead tired to move. I did not even bother to ask the particular spot of the crater. I will see that when the sun breaks anyway. These gentle mountaineers allowed us ladies to have our much-needed rest and they took responsibility of everything. At 4:00 a.m., we had our "dinner" and retired afterward.

It was 6 a.m. when we heard wake-up calls. These mountaineers must be crazy, we retired at 4 a.m. and there they were waking us up after 2 hours of sleep? Huh! We chose to ignore the calls but only to realize that it was not coming from our group but from another group of student mountaineers whom we disturbed when we arrived at dawn. They arrived ahead of us. "Gising na! Lalo na yung maiingay kaninang madaling araw." We cannot afford to get mad at them. Then, they followed it up with, "Walang pikunan, gumaganti lang." When we went out from our tents, they greeted us, "Good morning!" We smiled and greeted them back. After all, we went there for a common purpose and be with nature. And being close to nature is being at peace. We headed at once to see for ourselves the lake crater. It wasn't as breathtaking when I saw it on TV but, just the same, it's beautiful.

After breakfast, we spent the whole morning doing our personal hygiene, taking pictures, and exploring what we have around. Just before noon, we had prepared and took our lunch together. This time, I was able to help prepare and keep things. Shortly after lunch, we started descent.

Our daylight descent proved to be much tiring than the night ascent. Maybe because the sun was out and mightily shone on us. We had very little rest and our back packs seemed to become heavier each step. Added to these, we clearly saw our way which looked to be an unending journey back. I was bored with the trek down. All we see were pyroclastic flow and mountains of lahar deposits on both sides of the way. On the other hand, the view exhibited interesting formations. Some of us even had the chance to stop and bathe by a waterfall which we did not notice during our ascent. The rest of our time in going back was, to me, a boring experience. All I wished was for us to reach the point where we jumped off and say hello to home. I missed my children and, most especially, my precious other half.

When we arrived in Bangantungul past 5, an owner-type jeep picked us up from where we started but not the jeepney that brought us there-to the dismay of the gentlemen who had an uncomfortable ride back to Sta. Juliana. They were packed at the jeep trailer where they were powdered with dust along the way, not to mention the body aches they got from that even bumpier ride back. You can imagine how the dark-complexioned gentlemen became fair-skinned and how the fair-skinned ones became even fairer after all the powder they got all over. We were at the Tourism Authority Office before 7 pm. We took our shower and headed to Capas where we will have our dinner and take a bus ride back to Manila. Because it's a Sunday, we could not get a ride. There were plenty of passengers we competed with. It was almost 10 p.m. when we decided to take a private van that cost us a little over than the usual fare. Our trip back was a silent one. Each one took that chance to have a little sleep. I personally arrived home past 1 a.m. where my family eagerly waited for me.

This Pinatubo experience is an additional feather in my cap. I proved to myself once more that "there ain't no mountain high enough" when I set my heart to it. Of course, to my mountaineer friends, it's just another conquest and there are a lot to conquer soon.

True enough, we took nothing but pictures…left nothing but footprints…and killed nothing but time. I had the chance to be a mountaineer once and took part of the pledge that will sustain all life forms in every of the mountaineers' destination. We took nothing along the way, we left no rubbish but instead brought them down with us, we killed no flora and fauna, and felt great that we did so. We owe the next generation the chance to witness what we've witnessed and be able to help preserve nature that we hope to remain untampered through time. Great, isn't it?