Asterix survives Gunung Rinjani

[asterixsg]

Just got back late last night from an intense 4D3N hike up Gunung Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia.

Gunung Rinjani is an active volcano in Indonesia on the island of Lombok. It rises to 3726m above sea level. The 6km X 8.5 km oval shaped caldera is filled partially by a lake known as Segara Anak. The eruptions of 1994, 1995 and 1996 had formed a small cone in the center of the caldera and lava flows from these eruptions have entered the lake.

The 'baby' volcano inside the lake is Gunung Barujari. It woke up on 27 April 2009 and with a series of large explosions created a crater on the eastern face which to this day keeps smoking

Went with 3 other friends on this adventure. The trek to the summit is undoubtedly the most treacherous and difficult hikes of my life. I have climbed a few mountains in my life, but Rinjani is like no other. She will extract every ounce of your strength for even attempting to set foot on her.

When you pause to regain your breath from the difficult hike, the views all around will take your breath away.

Was blessed with good weather most of the time, except for the last night when we got clouded out.

I would like to thank my 3 friends, my guide and all the porters for their support that helped me overcome this beautiful volcano.

Gunung Rinjani, you are the most beautiful one. Thank you for allowing me to return alive.

I will chronicle my journey in the coming days, but for now I will leave you to enjoy the view from the summit. 5 photos stitched into a pano and cropped to 16X9 format.

1. View from the Summit

In the distance, Gunung Agung and Gunung Batur on the island of Bali are but minor blips...

 

[asterixsg]

Our trek covered 4 days, 3 nights. The idea was to enjoy the trek, rather than simply rushing from one place to another. Some people do it is 2 days (just go to summit from Sembalun and back), 3 days (go from either Sembalun or Senaru, but not stay at the lake). If you search the internet, you will get all the details.

We started the trek from Sembalun - a small village in the east of Lombok and ended in Senaru in the North. Sembalun is a good 3 hour drive from Mataram (where the airport is) or Senggigi beach. For an early start, we chose to stay at a homestay in Sembalun - very basic facilities with no hot water. Sembalun is at 1156m above sea level, so it can be quite cold, compared to Senggigi.

Day 1 : Sembalun to Plawangan 2, which is on the eastern section of the crater rim. The guidebooks say it takes 7.5 hours. We did in the same time, including almost 1.5 hours of break for lunch. Fresh legs
Day 2 : Plawangan 2 to the Summit, back. Get some rest and then descend to the lake. We were told, people take anywhere between 3-5 hrs to hike up to the summit. We took 4.5 hrs. To return, on average, people take 2-3 hours. We took 2.5 hrs. The average time to descend to the lake from Plawangan 2 is 3 hours. We took 3hrs 15mins. We were totally knackered by the end of Day 2.
Day 3 : Walk around the lake from east to north and then ascend to Plawangan 1, which is on the northern section of the crater rim. Average time to do this is around 3 hrs. We took 2.5 hrs.
Day 4 : Descend from Plawangan 1 to Senaru. Average time to descend is approx 7 hrs, we took just less than 5 hrs.

The idea of doing it this way was three-fold. First of all, do the hardest part of the trek in the first 2 days, when our legs are still fresh. Second, since we approach from the east, we would get front-lit views of Rinjani (than backlit, if we were descending coming the other way round). Finally, the drive from Senaru to Mataram is only 2 hours (compared to 3 hours from Sembalun) as two of us were returning by the evening flight (of Day 4). So, it gave us an extra buffer of 1 hour compared to descending to Sembalun. It turned out we were right on all three counts. Days 1 and 2 were killers. Day 3 was relaxed. By Day 4, we simply wanted to get it over and done with, so we could come home to the comfort of a hot water shower and sleep in our beds

 

[asterixsg]

I have used two maps from this site and linked the maps directly from their website. If you think this is still copyright infringement, please let me know and I will take these links down and maybe put up hand drawn maps instead.

Orientation
Lombok is an island located to the east of Bali. The north-east part of Lombok is dominated by Gunung Rinjani. If you want to combine it with a beach holiday, you could stay at Senggigi beach and if interested, can hop over to Gili islands (heard that they are heavily commercialized with discos and pubs and what not...)

You can see Mataram (thats where the International Airport currently is, with news that it will be relocated to another part of the island soon) in the West, Senaru in the North and Sembalun Lawang in the East.

How to get there ?
SilkAir flies direct to Lombok 4 times a week - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday in the afternoon from Singapore and returns at night.
We were 4 friends who went on this trek. All of us flew in on Thursday afternoon. Two of us returned on the following Monday evening, and two returned on Tuesday evening.

To get from Mataram or Senggigi beach to Senaru takes 2 hrs and to Sembalun Lawang takes 3 hrs.

Trek operator and information
We chose to book our trek through Lombok Network. Very helpful staff and patiently answered all my countless queries.
We paid USD210 per head for the 5D4N package (the actual trek itself was 4D3N). It included airport pickup and drop off, trekking permit, insurance, one night accomodation in Senggigi beach (but I thought it was better to stay in Sembalun Lawang for an early start to our hike), all camping equipment, meals during the trek and a certificate at the end of our trek. We were allocated 1 guide and 4 support staff. We asked for 2 more of them to carry our backpacks and camerabags etc. Paid an extra USD15 per staff per day.

We chose to start our trek from Sembalun Lawang and finished at Senaru.

Trekking Map

If I had known how difficult the trek was gonna be and how beautiful the views would be, I would've stayed 2 additional nights - one extra night on Plawangan 2 and another night at the Lake at a different campsite.

The toughest part of the hike is the summit climb, which you start in darkness and ascend more than 1000m on volcanic scree. Not enough sleep, the cold temperatures, howling wind blowing dust into your eyes (this time I had taken shades with transparent glass as protection from the dust after the Gunung Merbabu experience), a 60 degree incline, and no grip - made it one of the toughest hikes of my life.

Trekking Options
4Days 3Nights
The most relaxed option is the 4D3N trek, starting from Sembalun Lawang and finishing at Senaru. In this, the toughest day is Day2. Details in Post #2 above.
People do it in the reverse direction too, i.e. start at Senaru and finish at Sembalun. In this case, the toughest day is Day 4.

3Days 2 Nights
Day 1 : Start from Sembalun Lawang, camp at Plawangan 2
Day 2 : Summit climb, descend and then descend further to lake
Day 3 : Early morning ascend to Plawangan 1 and then descend to Senaru

2Days 1 Night
Day 1 : Start from Sembalun Lawang and camp at Plawangan 2
Day 2 : Early morning summit climb, descend and return to Sembalun Lawang

Photo Opportunities
At the start from Sembalun Lawang, if you get good weather, you can have nice views of Rinjani as the mountain is lit by the morning sun.
If you make it to the summit before sunrise, you can capture the shadow of the mountain extending all the way into the sea
Panoramic views from the summit (of the lake, of Gunung Barujari)
Panoramic views from Plawangan 2 as you return from the summit climb
Panoramic views from the Campsite at the Lake
Waterfalls and hot water springs near the Campsite at the lake (best time to photograph is in the morning when the sun lights up the waterfall. In the evening, its backlit)
As you ascend to Plawangan 1, you can enjoy spectacular views of the lake and Gunung Barujari
From the campsite at Plawangan 1, you get wonderful views of the summit and of Gunung Agung and Batur all the way in Bali
Plawangan 1 is also a good place to photograph the sunset
If you have the energy after a long day's hike, you can shoot startrails as also the Milky Way. There is absolutely no light pollution, so its paradise for star gazers.

Weather
Weather on the mountain is unpredictable and can be extremely cold. At Plawangan 2, it was close to 10 degrees at night, with a very strong wind. At the summit, I guess, it was close to 4-5 degrees with howling winds threatening to blow us off the summit. At the lake, it was probably 14-15 degrees, quite pleasant with just a fleece jacket. At Plawangan 1, it was quite cold, but warmer than Plawangan 2.

Equipment
Certainly need layers to protect you from the cold temperatures. A waterproof rain jacket is a must. You only need thermals/long johns for the summit climb. The rest of the time, a windproof trousers is good enough.
Head torch for the summit climb is a must.
Good hiking boots (well broken in, don't climb any mountain for that matter with a new pair of hiking boots).

This is about all that I can think of for now. If anyone has any questions, lemme know and I will update this post.

 

[B-setting]

fantastic shot for No. 1.

is the top of the pic showing the actual earth curvature or is it just the effects of a super wide lens?

what UWA lens did you use?

:thumbsup:

 

[daredevil123]

Very nice bro. The hikes sound so siong!

 

[asterixsg]

fantastic shot for No. 1.

is the top of the pic showing the actual earth curvature or is it just the effects of a super wide lens?

what UWA lens did you use?

:thumbsup:

Thanks. The curvature in this photo its exaggerated during stitching. I used a 24-105mm lens on a 5DMkII, shot several frames handheld in portrait orientation and stitched 5 frames together.

Very nice bro. The hikes sound so siong!

Thanks. Yeah, I have abused my body enough this year, taking a break for some time now :bsmilie:

 

[jiahao1986]

That's what I call clear sky man! The weather god finally smiled at you.

The view is really EXTENSIVE, exactly my type. Will climb it in coming years and do a night time lapse on the summit if possible~

 

[asterixsg]

That's what I call clear sky man! The weather god finally smiled at you.

The view is really EXTENSIVE, exactly my type. Will climb it in coming years and do a night time lapse on the summit if possible~

I told my friends about my weather karma, that wherever I went this year, the weather Gods were unhappy with me. One of my friends told me "See bro, we are 4 of us going, we take 3 days, you take 1". And, lo and behold, it came true. Three days of perfect weather, last day got clouded out. ha ha ha.

I would love to see a time lapse done on the summit, but see if you can hold still for even half a minute. The trade winds will be howling at you :bsmilie:

To really enjoy Rinjani, you need to spend at least 7 days on the mountain and at the lake.

 

[asterixsg]

2. Blue skies, Green fields...

... Fresh air, stillness all around. What a perfect day. Can one ask for anything more in life ? Yes, a hot water bath. ha ha ha.

3. Walking into the clouds

4. Hills and valleys

This looks good in a pano crop too, but posting the original...

 

[asterixsg]

5. Porters and hikers

There were other hikers and porters behind us...

6. Hercules

I am not going to post too many photos of porters. I even hate to use the word "porter". They are our saviours. Each of them carries 30kgs and more on their shoulder, and they sprint up and down in flipflops, putting all us hikers to shame. They arrive before we reach our campsite, setup tents and start cooking. They wake up before we do and offer us tea/coffee the moment we wake up. They sleep after we sleep, they offer us a hand whenever we struggle. The packup after we leave the campsite, yet arrive before us at the next campsite !!! And they do it for a pittance and that too with a smile. Day in and day out. Next time, you complain about anything in life, spare a moment for these Herculean characters. AMAZING people.

 

[asterixsg]

7. It just goes on and on...

There are three "rest stops" along the way to Plawangan 2, called Pos 1, Pos 2 and Pos 3.

The trail from Sembalun village to Pos 1 is a gentle one, undulating at times, but nice walk.
From Pos 1 to Pos 2, it starts to get a bit steep. From Pos 2 to Pos 3, steeper. And from Pos 3 to Plawangan 2, you would be cursing and swearing. Its steep and slippery :bsmilie:

8. Campsite !!!

The sight of the campsite at Plawangan 2 is such a massive relief. The saviours quickly get to work, pitch tents, and serve us hot ginger tea. God bless them

9. Summit

We were to wake up at 1:30 AM the following morning and undergo "x" number of hours of torture to ascend 1000m and reach the summit. Even the thought of walking along that ridge was enough to make me want to give up.

 

[asterixsg]

10. Sunset

I was so exhausted by the end of Day 1. I simply squatted on the ground, setup my tripod and shot a few frames for memory sake. The mind was as numb as the body. All I wanted to do was sleep and not wake up...

8 frames stitched and cropped into a 16 X 7 pano.

In 2 days time, we would be on the ridge on the opposite side where the sun was setting...

 

[binbeto]

Srini, so this is what you have been up to.

Nice pictures and narration. Really bring me to the place. I enjoyed the other series too.

 

[asterixsg]

Srini, so this is what you have been up to.

Nice pictures and narration. Really bring me to the place. I enjoyed the other series too.

Thanks Bryan. Yeah, have been climbing mountains this year :bsmilie:

 

[asterixsg]

11. Gunung Agung in distant Bali, peeps through the clouds as the sun goes down for the day...

12. Dusk

The silhouette of the trees on the opposite side of the crater rim caught my eye.

 

[Zichar]

There's quite a few magical moments you got there
Also a very able stoy-teller, goes well with the photos, thanks for sharing these!

 

[mimik07]

#1, #3, #11 and #12 for me :thumbsup:

Your efforts definitely paid off handsomely! Thank you for sharing these wonderful shots!

 

[leonardt8]

Good set, good naration, good memories...this one will definitely last us a lifetime!

Thanks for sharing your photography tips and toys...now i have to start saving $$$

 

[weegk]

such a nice place . . . nice shots. love them all.

But i don't think i have the stamina to go there . . . :cry:

 

[ahbian]

#10, #11, #12 are sweet.

Maybe a pano crop for #11?

Love the mist in #7 and #8 too. How many people do they put in a tent?