Mount Rinjani and Gili Trawangan Indonesian volcano hike Day 3 (08/10/2013) What promised to be a quite and peaceful night got a total different dimension when the wind picked up and most of us woke up worried whether the tents, pitched in the mixture of volcanic ash and soil, would be able to resist the fierce gushes of wind. Would we end up lying on our sleeping bags watching the incredible Milky Way again? We all made it safely through the night, which was of course pretty short because of the planned summit attack. We were supposed to leave at 03:00am and I saw quite some of our hikers gathered among the tents before the assembly time, all dressed for a Mount Everest climb. However, when I left the tent at 03:00am sharp after nursing my knee, I found myself alone at the campsite. All had already started the journey to the foot of the steep climb which would bring us to crater rim. From there on the track leads further gradually uphill and eventually well reach the ultimate steep section that would lead to the 3726 meter high summit. With a lot of enthusiasm and passion, and my backpack, I myself headed for the first section uphill. A lot of black volcanic sand made the climb not really easy but certainly not too hard to digest. There were only a few stretches where the soil was dense enough to increase the climbing pace. Some trenches, typical for volcanoes, made it easier to work your way up because one is able to hold the walls of them. However on many occasions arms had to be used as well, as pulling ourselves up was part of the game. In the dark I passed several hikers but didnt recognise any of our hikers, except for Eddie who was the lonely ranger ahead of me. That made me think that I must have passed Cher. It was still pitch black when I finally reached the crater rim. I must have deviated slightly off course as the trail was littered with toilet paper. That I was not on the main track any longer became really clear when my track made a gentle turn to the right but I saw a few headlamps on my left. That made indeed more sense as seen from our campsite we would have to follow the crater rim to the left to reach the summit. Although there was also some loose gravel and rocks, the hike further up became slightly easier because of the gradual climb. Sure it turned out to be much steeper as seen from below, but it was certainly peanuts for what was awaiting us. Way ahead of schedule I reached the final stretch, the cruel climb to the summit. It can only be described as a treacherous torture which takes a lot of time because placing one step forward could result in gliding back two. In that way one ended up lower than where started... I still hadnt see any of our hikers and was pleasantly surprised to see that they were all doing extremely well during this taxing early morning event. Its certainly not my style to take a rest during a climb, but this time there was no escape. Two times I had to refuel the tank and let the engine cool down for a while. In this way I was playing cat and mouse with four French hikers. Then I was ahead of them, then they passed me again; then I overtook them again. I could only see two or three lights pretty far ahead of me and a ribbon of light dots below me. During the continuous climb some colours appeared in the sky on my left. The darkness was bound to be erased slowly by the first light of the day. Visibility became slightly better only contributing to a better assessment of what difficult terrain we were dealing with. The colours in the sky changed to a slightly brighter tone, but the fancy band appeared to be blocked by a part of Rinjanis slope. Indeed the very steep section of volcanic ash, sand and rocks abruptly ended in an 90 degree angle. I turned to the right and shortly after that I was able to see not only the unobstructed sky in which the first sun rays of the day would manifest itself, but the summit of Rinjani was now in immediate reach. To my surprise I didnt see our group of hikers as expected. Where were they? I couldnt recall passing anybody. Although I have summited numerous mountains and volcanoes, every time standing on top of the world does not only create an overwhelming sensation, but it also contributes intensely to the feelings of humbleness as well. And it certainly was not different this time. Waiting for the first warmth of the day, I was happy to share these moments with Subra and Eddie. While enjoying the spectacular view at the summit, I waited for our peers to arrive. Looking away from the crater, the sun started to paint the sky with deep orange colours. Looking inside the crater with its huge Segara Anak Lake, Rinjanis active volcano Baru Jari looked so tiny and it was hard to believe that it would be able to cause also much havoc. The sun eventually appeared in the sky while dozens of hikers were still working their way up along the crater rim. More KL Hikers set foot on the summit and well wishes of achievement were exchanged. The sun, which was still below us, projected its rays all around but the peak of Rinjani blocked the rays and an amazing pyramid shaped shade was projected in the sky in the west. Only during our trip to Mount Kerinci in Sumatra I had witnessed such spectacular view before, but that was during one of the most amazing sunsets ever. More hikers, one more gasping for breath than the other, reached their ultimate destination. Snapping pictures, sharing the joy, enjoying the fantastic view, looking out for who would summit next and keeping ourselves warm - temperature at the summit was 2.7 degrees Celsius - was all we did, was all we wanted to do. Some hikers had already started their way down to the campsite to have their well-deserved breakfast while I tried to postpone that moment as long as I could. Only nine hikers made it to the summit the moment I finally decided to return. As expected the descent would be faster because of the nature of the terrain. First I met Abex & Co who were proceeding well to the summit. They surely would make it. Much to my surprise we met Sujatha along the way as well. She was really struggling uphill in the gravel. Although still a long way to the summit and having breathing difficulties, she was however determined to make it to the peak. In the meantime the sun was shining it all its glory and the its warmth made me forget about the real temperature on these slopes. The blue around me turned into deep azure and the colour contrasts were amazing. This was a place never to be left. For a while we were hiking down in a smaller group with Eddie, Cher, Khoo and Linda but it didnt take long before I was left behind. While trying to reduce the impact to the knee to the strictest minimum, I was breathing in pure ecstasy being here with such an amazing backdrop. Luckily it had never ever crossed my mind to give this hike a pass because of my injury. After reaching the campsite I found out that Kim had even dared not to start making an attempt to the summit. She decided to have some extra hours of sleep instead. Lucky for her I was unaware of that prior to the hike – and I guess she knew that... All other hikers managed to reach at least the second stage of the crater rim. Some decided to maintain some reserves for the second part of the day and didnt push it all the way. Others found the wall of volcanic ash a bit too much and decided to return once they reached that steep section of the track. After clearing the tent, allowing the porters to start dismantling, I had a quick bite which was almost taken away by a very aggressive alpha male ape. Once those who were at the campsite finished their breakfast and packed their belongings, they set off to the lake inside the crater. I decided to wait for the last hikers to return from their journey to the peak in order to be sure that all returned safely from the summit. I gave my knee some extra rest while the last porters cleaned up the camp site. If Mount Rinjani has indeed obtained the World Legacy Award from Conservation International and Traveller (2004), and was a finalist for Tourism for Tomorrow Awards (2005 and 2008) from the World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC), then I wonder whether either one of these organisations has ever sent one of their staffs to set foot on Rinjani. As it is usual the case with Indonesian National Parks they are littered with piles of rubbish, but Rinjani definitely tops the list. There is simply refuse everywhere. And it continues. Time after time I saw porters throwing garbage like empty bottles, cans and paraffin paper into the crater. And this is trash which cant even be seen from the track... Time went by, but the reward was sweet as all returned sound and safe. After some banana pancake, Abex decided she needed some more time at the campsite. Sujatha and myself were accompanied by guide Ismail. Despite the relatively early morning hour we could already clearly see how the weather was changing. Huge, white, angry clouds appeared in the azure blue sky. The hike to the lake is pretty short so the elevation loss of more than 600 meters would mean that we would be served a very steep trail. We enjoyed a healthy pace and had a few stops to ensure that hikers coming from the opposite direction had an unobstructed climb to the crater rim. Misty clouds surrounded us more and more, resulting in a yo-yo raincoat game. Then it started drizzling and the raincoat was taken out of the backpack, next a few warm sun rays made it disappear in the bag again. This went on for a while and the few raindrops on the rocks on the trail made that part of the journey more difficult. On many occasions we could hardly see where we were heading for and only when we reached the more flatter section of the track a cloud below us suddenly burst open and we could see the western shoreline of the lake. What a jewel... By the time we arrived at the campsite we were reunited with our peers again. It must have been around 01:00pm and all were hanging around or in their tent. When working my way to the area where the porters were sitting, some snoring sounds escaped from a few tents. To my surprise I found out that lunch hadnt been served yet. Some hikers had taken the initiative to look for the hot spring. At least we knew what to expect after lunch. That meal was served on the big canvas in the middle of the campsite and we were lucky that the weather remained on our side. In smaller groups we headed for the river for a well deserved hot bath. During the more wet season, when the water level of the lake is higher, the water flow is much more substantial. The result is that more water flows over the hot spots and the cold water eventually wins the battle for superiority. I think this time conditions were just perfect. We found two smaller waterfalls from which the cold water was gushing down. The two pools at the bottom of the falls however were deep and warm. Not too hot, so it wouldnt cause dizziness if one was submerged for quite some time. Subra was with us and the Kerinci incident still in mind, we kept an anxious eye on him... ;) The water which came down from the falls, an overflow from the Segara Anak Lake, was crystal clear while inside the hot spring pools a greenish colour could be maintained. Air bubbles were constantly looking for an escape route and on their way to the surface they created a pleasant tickling sensation on our skins. One pool was slightly warmer than the other and when the first batch of hikers decided to return to the campsite, we shifted our attention to the second pool. In the meantime someone was very ardently taking swimming lessons in the bigger pool. There was hardly any noticeable smell coming from the water and the promised dying properties of the sulfur in the water appeared to be false as I was unable to give my dirty white T-shirt a new look. We had loads of fun and watched some kamikaze heroes jumping from the top of the fall into the pool before we decided to make our way back to the tents as well. Everybody enjoyed their leisure time in the way they deemed best. Some were wandering, others snapping pictures, gazing at the smoke and gases escaping from the fumaroles of Baru Jari in the middle of the lake, napping, chatting, swimming or bathing in the lake or plain simple waiting for dinner to be served. Just before everybody sat down for the last meal of the day, there was a bit of commotion going on and I heard that the Kota Kinabalu group had made plans to skip the last night in the tents. Their plan for tomorrow was to head straight for Senaru village instead and spend the night in a homestay/hotel over there. Our guide was frantically telling them that everything was fully booked and that they most probably wont be able to find any lodging. They decided to give it a shot anyway and if all would go according to plan they would leave the next morning about an hour before the group from KL would leave the campsite by the lake. The sunset at the lake level was surely not as impressive as the one we witnessed the day earlier at the crater rim, but the location by itself was already so special that we didnt need any other ingredients to be overwhelmed by natures beauty. The crescent in the dark sky was slightly bigger than yesterday, so the moon spoiled a bit of the Milky Way fun. More moonlight in the sky and being about 600 meters lower than yesterday resulted in a galaxy belt which appeared to be less dense. By 08:00pm all found their way to the sleeping bags and were hoping for a good night rest.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 11:30:57 +0000
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