Mount Ciremai Indonesian volcano hike Day 2 (12/10/2013) After a short night sleep I tugged all my luggage to the meet-up place and arrived there at 05:00am sharp. All participants but one were already present and also the minibus had arrived. Shortly after 05:30am we set off for our destination. Although a mere 250km away, the main road linking West, Central and East Java is so busy travelled that it might take us six hours to complete the journey. And indeed numerous bottlenecks and junctions caused massive traffic jams, even early Saturday morning. That it became a long journey could be seen when participants started to position themselves in all kind of weird postures on their chairs hoping to find at least a bit of relaxation. According to the planning we were supposed to start hiking around noon but at that time we were still hanging in the minibus and nowhere near Cirebon. Our guides, expecting us to arrive before noon went back home shortly in the afternoon, so when we finally arrived it looked as if we came all the way only to attend a wedding - which was actually the next day. Nothing was indicating that this might be the starting place for the Ciremai trek. Along the way Jacky mentioned a few times that in good weather conditions the volcano can be seen here and there, but low hanging clouds completely spoiled the party. Moreover these clouds looked pretty much like rain clouds to me although, depending on the source it hadnt rained for the last one to three months. Was the rain man on his way again? Anyway, there in Kuningan we couldnt see anything of what we would have to digest the coming days. We sat down in the hall and had our lunch box while waiting for the guides to return. Eventually they did and unlike at Mount Rinjani these men are carrying big backpacks instead of baskets tied to a bamboo beam. Between 03:30pm and 04:00pm we were ready for take off. The hike to the first camp site would take us approximately four hours, which meant hiking for two hours in the dark and pitching tents in the darkness as well. I was truly hoping that the gloomy clouds above our heads would keep their contents to themselves. The huge electricity pylon at the trailhead was an ideal landmark. A slightly uphill trail brought us immediately in the right mood and because of the cloudy weather conditions hiking in a T-shirt was perfect. Then the track was pretty narrow, with high grass and low hanging creepers, then we followed a wide kind of old logging road through beautiful forests. One constant however remained: It was all the time uphill. At this late hour we didnt expect to see anybody else here anymore so I was more than surprised to see two men coming downhill in one of the narrow grassy sections. I felt uncomfortable the moment they stopped because they saw me and instinctively I stopped as well. My peers and one of the guides were not far behind me and while waiting for them to rejoin me, the men that I spotted in front of me decided to come down. Only by the time they almost reached us they must have realised that there were more of us and in a slight state of panic they left the track and tried to get away through the almost impenetrable area with shrubs and bushes below us. It was only then we saw the reason for their strange behaviour. They were poachers and had caught a huge deer which was hanging head down on the bamboo pole between their shoulders. While continuing our ascent Tamsin confirmed that we were taking the exact same track as the poachers as several blood drops could be spotted. The trek provided us with quite some variation and because of the relatively low difficulty level it was an ideal warming up for what was still to come. At a few places we waited to regroup and one of the funniest moments was when we did so at an almost 90 degree curve in the track. The first surprise was that the guide told us that we were hiking very fast. The second surprise was that he told us that from that spot it would take us another 30 minutes to the campsite - and we were hiking just 1 hour and 15 minutes.... The third surprise however was the best one: We reached the campsite within two minutes! That made it 1 hour and 20 minutes instead of the projected 4 hours... Happy? Of course. I love hiking, but if I can pitch a tent and settle in before darkness set in, I definitely opt for that. This was the first rest place of some dozen on the slope of this mountain. It has a signboard with its name, elevation and distance to the crater rim. So here we were at Condang Amis, 1250 meters above sea level and 6.8 kilometers to go to the crater rim. That meant an average gradient of more than 26% which is certainly pretty steep... The two 2-persons tents were really mini mini style and I wouldnt be surprised that some might feel a bit claustrophobic in there. The tent that I shared with Deddy was more spacious. Temperature outside was pleasant, but we expected it to drop a few degrees during the night. Lenny, one of the hikers, whose passion is cooking, made a nonviolent coup detat in the kitchen and from that moment on all, willingly and happily, followed her advice and instructions. Being a good cook in the house is one thing, but showing the same skills in an improvised environment with limited equipment and supplies is definitely another one. However Lenny didnt have any difficulties at all adapting to this new situation. Moreover she was utterly concerned about the vegetarian aspects on the menu. Throughout the hike I didnt had to remind her anymore about my diet requirement. On many occasions she took the initiative by saying you can take this but not that. Although not a vegetarian herself, the way she prepared the food was as if she herself would consume it... Sitting around the bonfire, plans were made for tomorrow and we would start with an early wake up call. We would gather at Batu Lingga for lunch and after that push to Pangasinan to pitch the tents. Before we headed for the sleeping bag we saw several other hikers passing our campsite looking for a higher spot on the slope to spend the night. Surprised to see them moving through the darkness I was told that despite the fact that Monday and Tuesday were both public holidays which would give hikers ample time to hike the mountain, Indonesians love the thrill of hiking during the night. Hmm... Anyway Ive spent more than enough unwanted than wanted hours in the jungle at night, so I was glad that I could say goodnight and head for the tent instead. Unrolling the sleeping mat gave me a pleasant surprise. It was certainly long enough as it even didnt fit into the tent. Neither do I. I have to place the mat slightly more diagonally and sleep with my head in a corner unless I should be satisfied being unable to stretch my legs during the entire night. Unrolling the sleeping bag however gave me a rather unpleasant surprise. I am aware that Indonesians are not the tallest people on Earth, but that sleeping bag was not even able to keep my nipples frost free. Frantically I looked for a secret compartment, a zipper that might be able to extend the bag that I was holding in my hand, but all in vain. All of a sudden there was no problem anymore that I wouldnt fit into the tent. In this sleeping bag I had to roll myself as in a cocoon and then I would even fit in a baby cot. I pulled a sweater out of my backpack and decided to use it as a comforter for my upper body, rather than wearing it which might be too warm if I made the descent into my cocoon during the night. Around 03:00am I noticed that I was still alone in the tent so Deddy must have decided to spend the night with the guides. A tent for myself and I was hardly using one square feet of it.... Thats surely exaggerated because Im absolutely not that flexible, even not when it comes to protecting myself from the cold. Even in that early morning hour I was asking myself how I would cope with a similar situation the coming night but then at an altitude of 2800 meters above sea level.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 08:30:30 +0000
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