Canyons and crater lake

Pinatubo Canyons : Lahar canyons were created by erosion. The river bed was filled with lahar (mud, ashes and volcanic rocks). Hiking will also be an opportunity to see some unique rock formations. You will also cross several rivers.

Mount Pinatubo Crater lake : Why is it so blue ? The crater lake has an amazing turquoise color. This color is the result of the chemical reaction of the water's volcanic minerals with the lake's blue-green algae. Sometimes the color of the lake changes, it will go brown or green and then back to blue. Can we swim in the crater lake ? Yes, one of the highlights of the tour is enjoying the cool and refreshing water of the crater lake. And what better way to do that than to swim in its turquoise colored reservoir. It's also possible to have a boat ride and cross the lake to reach the other shore, which will allow you to have a breathtaking view on the entire crater.

Pinatubo Sky Tour

See Mount Pinatubo sans the trek. Considered as one of the largest and most deadly eruption of the 20th century, it has drastically affected world-wide weather patterns. Having been inactive for centuries, Mt. Pinatubo erupted on June 1991, ejecting an ash plume that spread across the globe. Have a bird's-eye-view of the turquoise crater lake, majestic ash canyons, and the remains of the volcano's lahar flows.

Flights depart out of Clark Field. Flight time is about 45 mins for 1-2 passengers, and will take about an hour for three or more passengers.

Package A - Mt. Pinatubo Sky tour (transfer inculded)
Inclusions:
round trip A/C van transfer from Manila
flight
service of a tour coordinator
Rates:
6-10 passengers: Php6,500/person
3-5 passengers: Php7,500/person
2 passengers: Php9,500/person
1 passenger: Php12,000

Type of plane used to fly over Mt. Pinatubo

The 1991 eruption

Pinatubo pre-eruption

In August of 1990, a month ater the July 16 earthquake, reports were made to PHIVOLCS by Pinatubo Aetas of roars, ground cracking and a higher steaming activity of the thermal area¹ of Pinatubo. The possibility of an incoming eruption was brushed off by the dispatched response team. They attributed all of the aforementioned activities to landslides caused by several aftershocks and also by the monsoon rains during that time.

Ancient Pnatubo - Credit : C.G. Newhall, U.S. Geological Survey

Steam clouds and ash emissions appeared April of the following year, Seismic activites indicated movements underneath the crater and the possibility of a volcanic eruption. Evacuation of several Aeta tribes living on the slope of the mountain started on June 8^th. The US Air Force initiated a massive evacuation effort to remove personnel and ther families living in Clark Air Base out of harm's way during and after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Most of them were relocated to Guam, Okinawa and Hawaii.

Pinatubo eruption

On the morning of 12^th of June 1991, a 20km-high ash cloud was created from a powerful explosion from Pinatubo. This cloud moved to a NW direction and covered the sky. Several explosions were reported during the day. Abundant ashfalls and ejecta reached Olongapo and Angeles as well as villages within 20 km from the crater. As the dome became more dangerous, thousands of people living around the volcano started moving out of the hazardous areas, while ashfalls had already blanketed hundreds of square kilometers. Another explosion happened the day after and the ash reached as far as Zambales, Pampanga and Tarlac. As fate would have it, a typhoon (international name Yunya, locally called Diding) struck the country on June 15^th. Pyroclastic flows poured from the summit reaching as far as 16km from it. Typhoon rains mixed ash deposits caused fatal lahar flows.

Pinatubo 1991 eruption - Credit : T.J. Casadevall, U.S. Geological Survey

Manila was affected, too. On June 18, the city was darkened during daytime and covered by almost half a centimeter of ash.

At the second half of June, the ash clouds has crossed the South China Sea and reached Vietnam and Cambodia. They continued to circulate westward and was reported to have reached Hawaii by July 1991.

An estimated 900 people lost their lives as a consequence of the explosion. Some were from the Pinatubo Aeta tribe as a result of their refusal to leave their houses. The rest of the fatalities were from the cities mostly from collapsed roofs, houses and buildings due to the weight of the ash.

Source:

1 Rantucci, G. Geological Disasters in the Philippines.


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