Mt. Pinatubo

We arrived at the campsite on the crater’s rim at around 8:30 pm, it was pitch black and our objective, our reason for enduring 5 hours of trekking with a heavy pack though tough unforgiving terrain, our prize, cannot be seen. We all knew it was there, and it would have soothe our aching muscles and gave some relief to the utter exhaustion we all felt, if only we could catch a glimpse of the Crater Lake. We have all seen it in pictures and on TV but it seemed like it was not to be and we would have to wait for the dawn’s first light.

There was still a lot to do. Simple things like pitching our tent, unpacking my pack, preparing dinner, and changing clothes. Simple tasks that seem all too easy but if you just endured a long somewhat difficult trek even the simplest tasks become very difficult. You know you need to get off your ass and start going through the motions but the sheer exhaustion weighs heavily and all I want do is just lie down and sleep. But I’ve been here before. I’ve hit the wall and reached my limit and still I was able to go beyond. Ok… I’m gonna do it. Get up and start going through the things I need to do. On my feet again, I threw a glance towards the Crater Lake, and there it was. Maybe I’ve regained some of my night vision, or the clouds have parted and some light from the stars is now being reflected by lake, or maybe the gods or spirits of the place heard my thoughts and decided to grant my wish. There it was seemingly in grayscale, I could see the outlines of the Crater Lake.

Mt. Pinatubo, the Crater Lake it self, and the whole way, starting from riverbed which served as the road and then trail to the mountain’s base was an awesome sight to behold. I am convinced that I would never be able to do justice to what we saw. Mere words are not enough nor will the pictures give a good enough account of what we saw. Riding on top of the jeep that brought us to the trailhead, one can see a majestic view of a land that seemed like a desert as far as the eye can see. I can imagine epic battles fought in the manner of Hollywood taking place in such a vast open space. Then there were the valleys carved out from the vast mountains of pyroclastic material deposited by the eruption of Pinatubo more than a decade ago. I imagined my self an explorer walking on an alien world, half expecting to see weird alien creatures to appear at any time. It was a place that skipped geologic time and was created in an instant in a convulsion of the Earth that was like the hand of God recreating the land.

The Crater Lake was emerald green in color and it was vast and pristine. It was quite a sight especially at dawn and even later on when the day’s first light broke through the gray clouds and touched the lakes surface pushing away the fog that lingered on the lake and all over the crater. It was an enchanted place fit to be the home of some long forgotten Anito or pagan God. We were visitors paying our respects. But we had no offering of food or gold but we paid our respects by taking pictures, and we took a lot, forever preserving the moment (or until the paper fades or the soft copies get corrupted).





There was a price to pay and lessons to be learned in this trip. I sprained my ankle at the start of our descent. I still had to walk back, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I normally would have simply wrapped my ankle with pro wrap and taped it with athletic tape, but since we were trekking half the time on the river it self that would not have worked. Instead I shaved my foot and leg and then taped it instead with Duct tape. This would later prove to be a painful decision because as I removed the tape it also tore a lot of skin off my foot, leaving it one ugly swollen mess. I applied a closed basket weave and double ankle hitch with the help of Jepoy, Norman, and Gino who stayed with me while the rest went on ahead. After my ankle was secured we started our trek back once again.



The trek back was long, hot, difficult, and painful even if they had relieved me of my heavy pack. Pride dictated that we keep a certain pace so that we wouldn’t delay the whole group. I was driven by my will and I drew strength from wherever I could find it. Determination and a dose of painkillers allowed me to keep placing one foot in front of the other till we reached our destination in good time, only to find that we had been left behind. But that is another story…

More lines...

Sometimes fear is kindled by doubt

Purpose is blurred and uncertain

and you just don’t understand why...

Lines from Matrix Reloaded

Morpheus:

Believe me when I say we have a difficult time ahead of us. But if we are to be prepared for it, we must first shed our fear of it! I stand here before you now, truthfully unafraid. Why? Because I believe something you do not? No! I stand here without fear because I remember. I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me, but because of the path that lies behind me! I remember that for 100 years we have fought these machines. I remember that for 100 years they have sent their armies to destroy us. And after a century of war, I remember that which matters most. We are still here! Tonight let us send a message to that army. Tonight let us shake this cave! Tonight let us tremble these halls of earth, steel, and stone! Let us be heard from red core to black sky. Tonight, let us make them remember. This is Zion! And we are not afraid!

Agent Smith:

As you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we're here. We're not here because we're free, we're here because we're not free. There's no escaping reason, no denying purpose - because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist.

It is purpose that created us,

Purpose that connects us,

Purpose that pulls us,

That guides us,

That drives us,

It is purpose that defines,

Purpose that binds us.

Merovingian:

You see, there is only one constant, one universal, it is the only real truth: causality. Action. Reaction. Cause and effect.

Choice is an illusion, created between those with power, and those without. Look there, at that woman.

You can see it, Neo, yes? She does not understand why - is it the wine? No. What is it then, what is the reason? And soon it does not matter, soon the why and the reason are gone, and all that matters is the feeling itself. This is the nature of the universe. We struggle against it, we fight to deny it, but it is of course pretense, it is a lie. Beneath our poised appearance, the truth is we are completely out of control. Causality. There is no escape from it, we are forever slaves to it. Our only hope, our only peace is to understand it, to understand the "why". "Why" is what separates us from them, you from me. `Why' is the only real social power, without it you are powerless.