Monday, May 4, 2009

Mount Pinatubo 04: Beholding the beauty of the Crater Lake

From the jumpoff point all the way to the top, endurance was the name of the game. The 5-hour trek meant nothing anymore when I learned that I was already a few feet away from the crater lake. It was around two in the afternoon when I first laid my eyes on the lake. It was sensory overload.

I’ve seen so many photos of the crater lake prior to this, but seeing it for real and experiencing it was way indescribable. The lake was shimmering because of the sun. The vegetation around the crater was lush green. There was a subtle wind blowing from the east swaying the grasses as if they were dancing with glee. I took a moment before I started taking photos, exhausting all possible angles.

from the top west

From the top west side with the leafless branch and the crater wall framing the shot


top east side1

From the top east going down the long stairs to the lake shore

east side

From the south-western part

from the hole

From the hiker's area (from the back of our tent, to be specfic)

from the hole 2

From a hole that I accidentally spotted while looking for various angles

late afternoon

late afternoon with crater wall almost fading from the scene

late morning with clouds reflecting the lake

late morning with the clouds reflecting on the water

crater wall

The mossy crater wall

from the lake shore

From the lake shore

lake shore

Another look

lake shore

I am almost plunging into the cold water

turquoise

It's blue. No it's green. No it's cyan. It's turquoise!

--------

Crim, Etch and I watched the Pacquiao-Hatton boxing fight at the MegaMall yesterday. Crim and I both went from LB and we just met with Etch at the Cinema 10 way passed 8 AM. The undercard bouts were boring us to death so much so that Crim and I took the pleasure of superficially bashing the boxers. Some superficial nonesense such as how Gaudet would win solid to Soto if it was a beauty contest they were bouting for or how Matthew Hatton must have been "too energized" against his nemesis from Mexico, Ernesto Zepeda. Anyway, I decided that a swig of two shots of cappucino would perk my senses. It did.

During the main bout, it was just two rounds and the fight was over. After five minutes and some seconds, Ricky Hatton was knocked out! Jeezus. Crim and Etch almost lost their voices screaming inside the cinema. I was still in awe. "The fight was over? That's it?!"

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

it's been more than a month. but it feels like i was here just yesterday. hindi lumalayo.


Crim

Photo Cache said...

Five-hour trek eh? Let me think if I can handle the torture. Certainly is beautiful, way beyond beautiful. Is is still active though?

my gulch said...

@crim:
i guess too many great memories are hard to forget. in any case there's already the skyway and you can always come back, cutting the 5 hours into an hour and half.

@photo cache:
yes, it's an active volcano.its last eruption was in 1991, the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century leaving 800 people were killed and 100,000 homeless.

Andrea said...

kagula-gulantang nga ang photos mo, pero hindi ako nagugulat sa hitsura ng lake, ganun talaga yun. I prefer those photos without water glare, 3-4th photos yata yun. Kelan kaya dadating ang aking SLR?

pieterbie said...

This is beautiful indeed.
Well worth the 5 hour hike!

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