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Old 08-21-2006, 02:42 PM  
DWB
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DWB and the Volcano... Mt Mayon near eruption... I was there... PICS!

While on vacation in the Philippines last week, I was laying in bed watching the news (just banged out a hot little Filipina girl) and heard them say that they thought the full moon was for sure going to make Mt Mayon (8,070-foot / 2,460-meter peak) erupt. The full moon was tomorrow so off I went on the first flight to Legazpi.

I will spare you the details but will share some photos with you. Please excuse my shitty camera work, I don't know how to shoot at night or in low outdoor light while small rocks fly about and little gobs of lava spit about.

The police and military blocked off the volcano 6 - 8km from the danger zone. 44,000 people were evacuated. That was simply not going to do for me so I paid a few locals to take me to the action. Rumor has it that some deadly pyroclastic flow had come down and lava was flowing under it, spitting out of the sides trying to escape the pile of ask, rubble, gas and dust. Pyroclastic flow is way more dangerous than slow moving lava because it comes down at speeds (35 mph+) wiping out everything in it's path. This mixed with lava is beyond deadly. They had me at hello... we were off.

We hiked for what seemed to be forever through rice fields just to get to the military check points. Then we side stepped them and headed out on black ash trails into the bush...





I soon as I saw the ox and cows, I was on the hunt. The conditions were right for shrooms but sadly I did not find any.



Out of the fields... onto the black rock and ash road...



It was a cloudy day, but you can see My Mayon looming in the distant background. We have a long way to go...



This was carved out the last time it blew it's top. Killed 77 people. Mt Mayon was expected to blow and any time and here I stood in the middle of where the lava cam flowing down last time. Another dumb move.



Then we had to walk this carved path for about an hour or so...





Into the bush... but we still have a trail at least.





Uh oh. No more trails. We are on the side of Mt Mayon... there is no one around. We are deep in the danger zone. I can here a noise in the distance.... not sure what it is, but I have a feeling.



What the fuck is this? It is the giant wall of semi-dry Pyroclastic in the distance... But you really can't tell the size from here. The noise is getting clear. Sounds like rocks falling, hissing, and burning. I start to think if this was a good idea or not... I'm betting not at this point and think about turning back. There is a reason it is blocked off 6 - 8km from here.



More in a bit.....
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