Lombok, Indonesia
Day 01: 29 June 2013
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| Jump-off Point |
I love volcanoes. I have to admit that because of Mt. Pinatubo, I got hooked on trekking.
A friend from Jakarta invited me to trek Mt. Rinjani when I visited the city to explore the active crater and sulfur vents of Gunung Tangkuban and also to wander at the World Heritage sites of Borobudur and Prambanan.
After a careful evaluation of the mountain through blogs and mountaineering reviews, I have decided to give it a try.
According to Wikipedia, Mount Rinjani or Gunung Rinjani is an active volcano in Indonesia on the island of Lombok. Administratively the mountain is in the Regency of North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (Indonesian: Nusa Tenggara Barat, NTB). It rises to 3,726 metres (12,224 ft), making it the second highest volcano in Indonesia.
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| Trail to POS 1 |
On the top of the volcano is a 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) by 8.5 kilometres (5.3 mi) caldera, which is filled partially by the crater lake known as Segara Anak (Child of the Sea). This lake is approximately 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level and estimated to be about 200 metres (660 ft) deep; the caldera also contains hot springs.
A massive eruption of Rinjani in 1258 CE may have triggered the Little Ice Age.
According to locals in Lombok, the best time to climb Mt. Rinjani is during the months of June and July. These months are the hottest in the island and the probability of rain is extremely low.
Moving out of my comfort zone, I flew to Jakarta and then to Lombok to scale the majestic volcano.
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| POS 1 at Sembalun |
I landed at Lombok International Airport at around 2300H, head on to Singgigi and checked-in at a nice lodge. From the airport, it took me around an hour drive to Singgigi.
I met the trek organizer, Mr. Harry Al Khayi at Singgigi. We had a quick briefing about the climb. He said that I should be ready by 0500H and travel to Sembalun village. Travel time from Singgigi to Sembalun village would take atleast 3 hours.
Early morning on the 29th of June, I traveled from Singgigi to Sembalun. Lombok is generally nice and peaceful. The roads are clean and there are many beaches and resorts. There were many foreign tourists at that time.
At around 0800H, I was at Sembalun village, took a nice breakfast and head on to Rinjani Information Center (RIC) to register. There were few climbers. At RIC, I was briefed again about the mountain. I also met my guide and a porter - 'Mr. Anuan and Mr. Abdul'.
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| Mountain Guides and Porters |
I admired the guides and specially the porters at Mt. Rinjani. They are not just good guides, they are good chefs and medics as well.
At Sembalun, I met a fellow hiker from India, Mr. Vivek, whom I shared porter and guide with.
We started our ascent to Mt. Rinjani from Sembalun village at exactly 1000H. The weather was so nice. The sky was blue and clear.
We walked through rice fields and then through a green open grassland. The trail was so nice. It reminded me of the trail at Mt. Cinco Picos.
We reached POS 1 (Position 1) Pemantauan, a resting area, at around 1045H and had a quick water break. The view of Mt. Rinjani from POS 1 is awesome.
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| Porters |
We continued our trek through an open grassland and at 1130H, we reached POS 2 (Position 2) Tengengean.
At around 1245H, we were at POS 3 (Position 3) Pada Balong. My porter, who is also a nice chef, prepared a tasty noodle soup with rice and a pineapple for lunch.
Along the trail, I spotted several monkeys, wild birds and trace of wild pigs.
We left POS 3 at 1300H towards the camp site at the crater rim called Plawangan Sembalun. We passed through a forest and then the trail gets steeper. It feels like climbing Mt. Pulag via the Akiki trail. It was a challenging part of the trek.
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| Camp Site |
After 4 hours ascending, we reached the camp site at around 1700H. From the camp site, I enjoyed the view of the trail leading to the summit and the blue-green lake below. Sunrise at the crater rim is simply amazing.
Comparing Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysia, Snow Mountain in Taiwan and Mt. Rinjani, Mt. Rinjani trek is more 'authentic' in my opinion. At Mt. Rinjani, there is no 369 Hut or Labanrata, but mountaineering tents.
Elevation at the camp site is around 2,639 MASL and it started to get cold. While my porter was busy preparing our dinner, I was busy preparing my jackets for the summit assault the following day. Lights out at 2200H.
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Day 02: 30 June 2013
There was a slight rain shower at 0200H the following day and we waited for it to stop. My guide said that they will automatically cancel summit assault when it rains for safety reasons.
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| Crater Rim Leading to Summit |
We started the summit assault at around 0300H. This is the most challenging part of the trek. The first part of the trail is a steep climb on loose rocks. At around 0400H, we reached the upper crater rim leading to the summit.
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| Massive Crater of Mt. Rinjani overlooking "Segara Anak" and "Gunung Baru" |
Trekking along the crater rim feels like walking on a sandy beach, steep with loose sand. At 0600H, I was still at the crater rim going up the summit and here I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunrise atop the mountain that I had ever seen.
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| Gunung Baru |
I reached the summit at 0700H. The view of the caldera from the summit is so majestic. Indonesians call it Segara Anak (Child of the Sea) because of the blue-green color of the lake and the new volcano that formed inside the caldera reminded me of Mt. Mayon and Taal Volcano. Indonesians call it "Gunung Baru" (New Mountain).
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| Gunung Rinjani caldera |
After taking pictures, I started descending from the summit back to the camp site. It was past 0800H. At 1000H, I was back at the camp site and had a quick breakfast and then head back to the jump off point at Sembalun Village.
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| Summit |
At 1430H, I was back at the jump off point at Sembalun village, tidy up and then head back to Singgigi.
Looking at the majestic Segara Anak and Gunung Baru and walking along the crater rim on loose volcanic sand for me, are few of the best things life has to offer atop the mountain.
My experience at Mt. Rinjani is certainly one of the best climb I ever had. Needless to say that the trek was very challenging but it was worth it.
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