Hiking Mt. Pinatubo with Kids (and a Dog)
For Nouelle’s birthday this year, she requested that we hike Mt. Pinatubo together as a family. I was busy and my hands were full with a bunch of things so I said yes without giving it much thought. The kids seemed excited about the idea after watching some video on YouTube about it. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?
Saturday, October 21.
We all set our alarms to the ungodly hour of 5am. Nouelle said we should all wake up early so we’d all be tired and sleepy by 5pm—giving us enough time to sleep until 12am of the next day. We were set to leave Manila at 2am so we could get to Alvin and Angie’s place by 5:30am. If you know our family, we always aim to be early if not on time. 5:30am gives us enough time to settle down and check our lists before everything else.
Nouelle’s plan was to not book accommodation at Alvin and Angie’s. We were to park and leave the car at their place, hike Pinatubo, go back to their place, take a shower, and head to Clark where we booked an Airbnb for the next two days. The way she explained it, it really sounded like a cakewalk.
Sunday, October 22.
We left Pasig at exactly 2am and our first stop was already at Petron Lakeshore along NLEX (~70kms from Pasig) at around 3:45am. We had our regular pitstop for whoever needs to use the restroom including our dog, Charlie. Since McDonald’s didn’t serve breakfast until 4am, we had to settle with their regular menu. The last time I ate a cheeseburger at 3am was probably in college after a night of drinking.
We exited at Dolores as advised by Alvin and passed by New Clark City before getting onto O’Donnel Road. There’s a checkpoint along O’Donnel Road as you enter Colonel Ernesto Ravina Air Base so be sure you have proper identification with you. Nouelle brought her Driver’s License while I had my Philippine National ID with me. For minors, they don’t ask for IDs but my advice is to still bring some form of it just in case (we brought their IDs from their homeschool provider). Dogs, in this case, do not require identification.
We reached Alvin and Angie’s place at around 5:15am. There’s enough parking space for 10 vehicles so that wasn’t really a problem.
As we unloaded the things we’re going to bring with us on the trip, we saw guests coming out of their rooms. They were ones who booked accommodation the night or probably days before. Some of them were eating breakfast and having coffee when we got to the dining area which also served as the assembly point for everyone joining the hike.
I introduced myself to Alvin and asked if I could buy a cup of coffee a la carte and he quickly asked someone from the kitchen to prepare one for me. He handed me the cup of brewed coffee together with packets of sugar and creamer. “How much do I owe you?” I asked. “It’s on the house, Mike,” Alvin replied with a smile.
Going up
At 5:45am we hopped onto what they call a 4x4—basically a Toyota Land Cruiser from the eighties. We had a driver and the guide with us and they drove us to the registration area which was a couple hundred meters from Alvin and Angie’s place. They needed us to fill in and sign a couple of waivers prior to proceeding with the itinerary (a double waiver was required for Miguel who is 9 at the time). There were two kids with bamboo sticks who were selling it to us at P20 each. I wasn’t sure we needed it but we bought two and headed back to the vehicle.
We passed through the gate of Crow Valley Military Reservation at 6am and proceeded to pass through a mixed landscape of lahar and shallow streams. The ride was both bumpy and dusty, thankfully we packed neck gaiters and masks to cover both our noses and mouths. We saw maybe two 4x4s that broke down along the way. Alvin mentioned that it usually happens but there’s no need to worry as they will radio a replacement right away. How long it’ll get to you will depend on how far you are in the trip. We were lucky that our vehicle didn’t have any problems all throughout the trip.
Do note that there’s hardly any cellular coverage during the entire trip so keep that in mind in case you need to inform your family or friends regarding your whereabouts.
There’s a stopover at 6:30am for picture taking at what they call Toblerone Hills. We got off the vehicle to stretch and to walk Charlie for a bit as he needed to pee at this point. Aside from local kids walking around, there’s pretty much nothing to do here besides taking a couple of pictures. And so back to the vehicle we went and told both the driver and our guide we can proceed.
At 7:30am, an hour and a half since leaving Alvin and Angie’s place, we reached the parking spot for the vehicles. This is also where the hike going to the crater technically starts. It was mostly lahar-filled valleys with a mix of gravel and river crossings from here. If you’re used to walking on uneven and badly maintained sidewalks in Metro Manila, you’ll be fine. As for me, my already-bad lower back was just grateful for those bamboo sticks we bought earlier.
It was still early in the morning so the weather wasn’t that hot just yet. There were a couple of huge boulders that served as rest stops and we took some time to hydrate and eat some of the sandwiches we packed. Our guide proceeded to chain-smoke every single time we stopped to rest.
We spotted the first decent rest room at 8:30am. Nouelle is notorious for having a very small bladder so this was a godsend to her. Charlie, who was inside the sling the entire time, had a chance to walk and roll over on the grass. There’s a rest stop where you can buy snacks and drinks here. One 1-liter bottle of drinking water costs P100—enough margin to cover the logistics of bringing it up here on foot.
You can take photos of the somewhat official sign of the Mount Pinatubo hike here. There’s also a signage saying how long it’ll take a kid, adult, and senior citizen from here to the actual viewing deck—20 minutes for the seniors. From here, there’s a noticeable increase in greenery which helped shield us from the sun. Water started to look much clearer too.
At 9:30am, we reached the Mt. Pinatubo crater—the viewing deck at least.
If you paid for the package, the guide will start distributing your packed lunches together with one liter of drinking water—all of which he was carrying with him the entire time. Food was okay but has gone cold by now. Microwaves, understandably, aren’t a thing here. There are a couple of vendors here where you can buy bottles of water or soda for P100 each—surprisingly not more expensive than the ones from earlier. There’s also a guy with who sells grilled hotdogs for P50 each; add another P50 for a serving of white rice complete with paper plate and utensils.
From the viewing deck, you can go down right to the crater if you want to take a closer look at the lake. There are steps you can access just right of the viewing point sign. Probably less than a hundred flights and you’ll be down at the shore. The water was eerily calm and had this blue-green shade. With the guide telling us not to go into the water, it had that radioactive vibe which was supported by having not seen any fish swimming in the water. The view from above was better, at least to me.
Heading back
Around 10:30am, we started heading back. It was the exact same path we took earlier and it took around the same amount of time: a 2-hour hike from the viewing point to the 4x4 parking, and an hour and a half ride to Alvin and Angie’s place. The sun was above our heads during the ride and since the 4x4 didn’t have a roof at the back, we all came out with sunburns not long after. I’d highly suggest an application of sunblock prior to heading back.
We arrived at Alvin and Angie’s place 30 minutes earlier as our driver went crazy and went rally mode on the drive back overtaking maybe five vehicles in the process. The place is deserted by now but they still served us with a pitcher of ice-cold water. We rested for a bit before taking turns at the shower (there’s 3 of them) and packing our things. We decided to get our very late lunch at a Jollibee on our way to Clark.
A tl;dr of the above
Mount Pinatubo Tour Package c/o Alvin and Angie
Contact: Facebook / +63 919 861 4102
Inclusions: 4x4 ride to and from Mt. Pinatubo, local guide, all mandatory fees, 1-liter bottled water per guest, trek meal, use of toilet/shower/parking facilities at Alvin and Angie’s place
Price: ₱6,600 (1pax), ₱3,450/ea (2pax), ₱2,650/ea (3pax), ₱2,450/ea (4pax); discounts apply for kids 10-years-old and below
Itinerary
5:30am - arrival at Alvin and Angie’s place
5:45am - registration
6:00am - 4x4 ride to parking area (1.5 hours)
7:30am - start of hike to crater (2 hours)
9:30am - arrival at Mt. Pinatubo crater; brunch
10:30am - hike going back to parking area (2 hours)
12:30pm - 4x4 ride going back (1.5 hours)
2:00pm - arrival at Alvin and Angie’s place
Learnings
It wasn’t an easy hike to be perfectly honest. At the same time, simply put, we weren’t that experienced. Our previous hikes consisted of beginner-types: Biak na Bato in Bulacan, Timberland Heights in Rizal, and Gulugod Baboy in Batangas. Mt. Pinatubo was levels harder than those three combined yet we were all surprised by how capable each of us were given our resolve and determination to tick this off our list. Not even the blisters which started forming in my feet midway through could spoil this adventure.
Take note however that this is considered an intermediate hike and probably not well-suited for kids with no prior experience. In fact, aside from RyRy (14) and Miguel (9), we saw no other kids during the entire hike.
As suggestions, I’d say wear proper clothing and footwear. Sure, our guide was wearing flipflops but he’s probably done this a thousand times already. You will cross rivers so best to wear sandal-type ones or at least those that dry quickly. Make sure to bring a neck gaiter or something to cover your nose and mouth for the 4x4 ride which can be dusty especially in dry season.
Bring snacks in the form of sandwiches and perhaps some protein bars for a quick bite on the way up. Sunblock for the ride going back. Lastly, bring a lot of water and hydrate every so often. If you bought Alvin and Angie’s package, your guide will bring a liter of drinking water for you or you can always pay a premium and buy your water at either resting areas on the way up, ka-ching!
If you’re considering hiking Mt. Pinatubo, we hope we were able to help give you an idea of costs and what to expect. We highly recommend getting the package from Alvin and Angie not only so you could take a lot of things off your mind but also because they’re really great hosts. If you’ve done it yourselves, congratulations! We’d love to hear about your experience and if you have some tips you’d like to share with our small community, please leave a comment below.
As always, thanks for reading and safe travels! ♥️
