Rinjani Volcano Trek

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The Volcano,

The day before we were suppose to leave for the volcano trek, we met 4 of the fittest guys I had seen traveling, they were all from England and played rugby, and there names might as well been Arnold, John Claude Vandam, Rambo, and Riddick. We had seen them a couple of days before working out on the beach. (We thought meatheads). So anyhow, these guys had just come back form the volcano, and were telling us how hard it was, and how it was the hardest thing any of them had ever done. They even showed us some video diaries of themselves almost crying, stating that they could barely manage to go on. There story was disconcerning, them being so fit and always working out, we had just been sitting on the beach and drinking for the better part of the last month. We were starting to have doubts about being able to do it. But we were going to try.

We got up at 7:00am to leave Gile Trawangan, and caught a local taxi boat over to Lombok, where we were suppose to get a car to take us to Senggigi to hit an ATM, and then back to Senaru where we would spend one night and start our trek in the next morning. Well, I think by now I would know better, that “What’s Suppose to Happen” and “What Does Happen” in South East Asia is always two completely different things. The car turned out to be two guys with motorbikes, which at first was ok with us as, they are faster and it’s kind of neat to see the countryside this way. They placed our big bags in front of them and we wore or day packs as we cruised through the countryside. On the way over to Senggigi the drivers stopped at a few view points and talked about his country, while we took some pictures. It was a little eerie when one of the drivers took our picture; “we were starting to think maybe he has never taken a tourist around before” (We were right).

After about an hour we were back where we started and had gotten the cash we needed for the trek, (there are only two town in all of Lombok with ATM’s, that’s why the backtracking. At thins point my legs are hardly working, they are so stiff from being on the bike that I might as well have been riding a horse all day. This is when I ask how much longer? (I broke one of my golden rules) - (Never ask questions you don’t want the answers too!!). Less than 2 hours one of the drivers says, OMG, ok I say, “we’re going to be needing breaks every 30 minutes then”. So we headed off and the drive was very nice, the countryside is so amazing here, and when ever we would drive through little villages the kids would run out onto the road and be waving and yelling “Hello, Hello”, I would wave to them and then they would laugh and smile really big. It was cool, I think that most tourist end up in cars so the kids never get to see them really.

So we finally arrive in Senaru, and check into our hotel for the night, the village is located in the foothills area of the volcano and our hotel, is basic with a natural garden of flowers and nicely kept trees. Almost looks like a grandma’s house.

We are briefly updated to how the trek will work the next day, and then told about some waterfalls that are nice to see in the area, if we wanted to right away. Ben and I opt for seeing them, and hired a local guide kid, (he was 20, but looks 15). The way down to the waterfalls is quite easy and we arrive at the first ones within 15 minutes, (there ok, but not amazing), we then headed onto the second set, where we were told we could swim. The walk is very scenic and is in tropical forest. One cool thing along the way was a channel that had been built to divert water to the village, they have it bridged right across a valley then it runs straight through a big hill. I ended up walking threw it on the way back.

So we get to the second waterfall, and its one of the coolest waterfalls I have seen to date. There is a nice area to swim at the bottom pool, and the mist from it almost nocks you over. I got as close to the big part as I could then thought I could swim under it, as the water hurts when it hits you. This wasn’t one of my smartest decisions in the last few months, as the undertow grabbed me and I had one hell of a time getting out. I was probably sucked under for a good 25 seconds, which seamed like an hour at the time. I finally surface and Ben is there looking at me in disbelief of my stupidity, my eyes are probably the size of golf balls. (Ok lesson learnt) .. so I go over to the other side were the water is quieter, and then look behind the falls, were I see a cave, and I climb in and stand behind the whole thing, very cool. We then swam around for a bit longer and headed back to our hotel before nightfall.

Day one - Volcano Trek.

We had to get up at 6:30am to eat a quick breakfast and then head just down the road to the trek center. The breakfast was one pancake, probably the driest one I have ever had (till then) with no syrup or jam to put on it. We scarf it down anyhow and head off. The trek center at first seemed rather unorganized and of the 8 of us going on the trek together everyone had been told something slightly different. Some people thought there big bags would be carried and others (like myself) didn’t know where our big bags would be stored. We got that sorted and everyone’s bags went in different ways, (I’m just hoping at this point to see mine again, as my passport and money are in the big bag) I thought they would have a proper bag storage area, with “I don’t know”, maybe a baggage claim ticket, not the case.

So by 8:30 we are all sorted and have been given walking sticks and are ready to head out. I think we were supposed to leave no later than 7:30. No problem. We started going up hill right off the bat, and within 8 minutes I am sweating uncontrollably. OMG what did I sign up for? The only thing going well at this point is that we are still in the trees with shade, and beautiful scenery. One thing I notice right away is the porters are carrying a crazy amount of supplies, with a bamboo stick with two large baskets on each side. They have it slung over one shoulder and are only wearing sandals. These guys are amazing, “They should make porter dolls for kids to look up to rather than GI Joe’s. Ben and I got in front of the rest of the group and were keeping a good pace, as we both didn’t want to be the slow ones. A French guy and his wife were also right with us. We ended up passing the porters, (which I mean is nothing to brag about considering there load), but then we catch up to the group that left at 7:30, OK maybe were doing alright, we timed it so that every half an hour we would take a 3 minute break, so that we could stay ahead, and keep up our pace.

We arrived at POS 2 where we were supposed to have an hour break for lunch. Because we gotten there fast it ended up being more like a 1:45 break as we had to wait for the porters to catch up and make us food. The food they made was really really good, maybe it was just the hunger, but I ate every last bit. Ben and I started off again and had no troubles the rest of the hike up to base camp for day one. Well we were still sweating and it was tough, but I mean that’s just a given for the rest of the trek. One good idea we had was to share the waters we had been given to carry, we each got 1.5L and rather than both carrying them the whole way (we didn’t have enough room in our bags) we drank one first, and then only had one left to carry between the two of us.

On a side note, I had bought a new bag just for the trek, thinking that I didn’t want to wreck my day bag, as I would need it for traveling for some time. Well this crappy bag I bought was in fact CRAP! By noon on the first day, both shoulder straps had started to tear, and I was getting really concerned about having to carry it. Lucky a girl in our group “Midory” had some needle and thread, so I was able to properly secure it to prevent more tearage. (Bring a good bag).

Base camp for night one was ok, We were situated up on a hill and it was really windy, which made it cold. We basically just ate supper, watched the sun go down and were off to bed. (Yes at 8:00pm). Stats: Climbed 1800M in 7 hours, over 8km. approx.

Day two - Volcano Trek

Ok so maybe because of the wind … maybe because of the time we left on day one … or maybe because we had a brand new porter that was always falling behind, but we didn’t make it to the rim on the first day like a couple of other groups had. So we had to get up at 5:00am. This wasn’t so bad as we had gone to bed so early anyhow. We had my second driest pancake for breakfast again!! We start up the volcano again, and again within the first few minutes I’m sweating. I would look up to see how much more we had to climb (bad idea) and it always seamed so far just to the rim.

Once we were at the rim, we were rewarded with one of the nicest view of my life, (that’s a strong statement) Inside the volcano, there is a lake, and inside that lake another volcano formed in 1995, you’ll see the picture. Wow.

Now for the crappy part, we descend into the crater, about two hours, down 600M, to get to the hot springs and have lunch. The crappy part is that when you’re on the rim, you can look directly across the crater and see at the same level, where you have to camp that night. There is no other way to the camp, so you have to go down then back up. I hate loosing altitude, when I worked so hard to gain it. I found going down way more painful on the muscles than going up, easier on the stamina though.

The hot springs were wonderful, especially after all the hard work. There actually authentic, unlike the commercialized one’s we have in the national parks back home. You’re in a nature pool, and you can see where the hot water comes out of the volcano. I made a joke “I wonder how the water gets so hot?” One guy in a different group started to answer seriously …. “I know” I say laughing. Ben and I had totally dropped the ball when it came to bringing soap and shampoo, and had to borrow some once we were there. We didn’t bring any towels either, but that was a choice we consciously made at the beginning. You didn’t need one.

The way back up the crater was just as painful as the first time we climbed up the day before and some of that morning. The second camp was way better and had some protection from the wind. It wasn’t nearly as cold that night. This is good because we had to get up at 2:30am to start climbing the final 900M to reach the tip by sunrise. We went to bed pretty early that night too.

Day 3 - Volcano Trek

So we get up at 2:30, I’m fully expecting my dry pancake, not the case…. No pancake … no nothing. Ok so we’ll eat when we get back. It’s really cold out so we all layer up. And then start trekking up the final portion. It starts out like most of the days, on a path, and climbing. We get the top portion of the rim, and its not so bad. It’s really dark, so we only have flashlights to guide us. When ever I look up, I can see others lights, miles ahead. Just keep going, I tell myself, as my legs scream at me for the last few days of abuse.

Then we get to the peak portion. This is were you see who you are, and what your made of. It’s a steady climb at about 45 degree’s (not exaggerating) for a good 500 meters, on what can be best described as loose, pebble sized rocks, resembling what railroad tracks are laid on. For every step up you take, your foot slides back one half of that. So your going no-where fast (slowly), you tell yourself that you have made it this far, and that you’ve done well. No shame in stopping crosses your mind. (Well there is shame in stopping) Sometimes you just have to struggle through it. You remind yourself of the 50yr old women from Slovakia that passed you ten minutes ago, and all the others still behind that will see you turning back. You just keep slugging it out. On top of it all, you’re so high up in altitude that the air is thin, you’re out of breath and its freezing cold, as the wind cuts through you. There were several people who either decided not to get up and do it, or had to turn back.

I reach the very tip at 5:40, there are only 8 others there at the time, I did well, considering the 40 that are making the journey. I have a quick glance around, the sun isn’t even up yet, and ask one of the others “is this the top” … “Yes” they respond. “Perfect, well I’m going home then” I say … and before a response was given I started right back down the volcano. Really I wasn’t going home, I was just going to head down 10 meters were I seen a ledge that I could use to protect myself from the freezing cold wind, until sunrise at approx 6:15. It was funny to say, and I wonder what those people ended up thinking.

The sunrise at the top was the best I had ever seen. However, I can’t say that it was worth climbing in the middle of the night for. I would have rather gotten up at 6:00, casually walked to the top, and just enjoyed it for the views, no sunrise needed. But all in all, it was done. We headed back down the volcano, ate some breakfast back at camp, you guessed it dry pancake. I really can’t complain as the lunches and suppers were always very good, and filling.

The walk back down the volcano from camp two was excruciating. It was long and dusty, (not the same way as we had came). Our guide said it would be way shorter than it was, and we didn’t make it back to the next village until 3:00pm, making it more than 12 hours since we had gotten up. Ben joked as we headed into the ending village … there should be a cheering squad … clapping and bringing us beers here for beating the volcano.

I must say, Ben (English), Patrick (French), his wife Midory (Japanese), and Maria (Slovakian), helped me push through, and gave me motivation, just by moving on themselves. We all did it together. And as far as those rugby guy go, it was hard, but they were being a little over dramatic.

Good experience.

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Photos

Ben and I
Posing for the motorbike guys.

Channel over the valley
You can see the cave we later walked through in the distance.

What to bring?
Here is all my stuff laid out ... no mitts no tuke! The only two things I should have brought!

Food
This is what we eat for the next three days.

Day one completed
This is where we camped day one.

View from the Rim
2nd morning, its become alot more worth while.

Wow
From the bottom of the crater.

Hotsprings
I didn't take any other pictures of it.

View from Tent 2nd Night
Above the clouds.

Sunrise at 3700 meters
6:13am ... wow. Now to climb down.

Top of the Volcano
Ya, its a little colder than I had thought it would be. Next time I'll head the warnings for gloves and tuke.

Comments

[Liz]

Congrats!
Been there, done that! And it was awesome! Good to read some other stories! ;)

[Mike]

Nice work!
Another interesting post Trent. Hadn't thought about doing this climb until I read your post...hmmmm now you've got me thinking!