Indonesian Volcanos: Mount Rinjani Summit in a Day, Without a Guide.

 

Mt Rinjani in a day: 2600m altitude gain, 34km round trip, 16hr hike.

We left the homestay at midnight without a moon to help us. We were at the rim camp by 4am and could see the long chain of headlamps ascending the ridge as tired campers were trying to get to the summit before sunrise. By 9am we were standing on the summit.  Most of the 2 day climbers having already descended, we had the top (mostly) to ourselves. The sky was stark blue and the wind began to abate and loose its chill as the sun climbed into the day. We rested, spun a few pirouettes on the pinnacle and made a rapid decent. Beers were cracked and guzzled back on the front porch of our homestay by 4pm. It’s a long day, and only for the confidant and competent. It might be illegal, it might blow out your knees, but if you are looking for information on how to do it, read on.

 

 

Isn’t Climbing Mt. Rinjani without a guide illegal or something?

Short answer: maybe.

I have read mixed reports that climbing Mt. Rinjani without a guide is illegal, or that it is legal but you have to get special permission.  Either way a local friend of mine (also a guide) told me the guides don’t like it when people go up without them. That said, we were never harassed by anyone, and in fact the guides and porters were very nice to us and smiled and said hello, in the Indonesian way, as we passed.  And when we went into the ranger office to buy our permits, we told them we were climbing Rinjani in one day without a guide, and they didn’t protest or try to stop us.  I am not condoning or commenting on whether you should or shouldn’t hire local guides, this is just information for people that want it. The guide-required situation on Rinjani and elsewhere is a complex issue and perhaps deserves attention and consideration, at some other time.

 

Is this a technical climb? Don’t I need special gear?

 

This climb is a walk up and not technically difficult, but, if you want to do it in a day you should be experienced with mountaineering and have some volcano trips under your belt. You should also be fit and able to hike grade for 12hr or more. If this is your first mountain, and you don’t know what I mean by technical climb, or don’t know what to bring for food or what clothes to wear, don’t do this hike in a day.  Get a guide and a porter.

 

 

 

Get to Sembalun  – Stay somewhere within walking distance to the trailhead– Pay the park office

 

We arrived in Sembalun the day before we intended to hike Rinjani.  We got there via public transit (bemo + vegetable truck in Aikmal) in the early afternoon and got a room at the homestay next to the park office. The park office is on the corner of the main road and the road leading to the trailhead. I was told there are two ways to get to the trail, the road next to the park office (the one we used) and a second trail down the main road 5km. I don’t know anything about the second one, but I was told it’s a little faster. There are several sleeping options on the road to the Rinjani trailhead and we stayed at the first one on the right (across from a big new restaurant).

 

As soon as we put our bags in the room, we walked over to the park office and, as I said, told them we would like to get a day pass to the park. They asked us if we had a guide and we said no, we just wanted to walk in the park for a day. They looked slightly concerned, made a phone call, and then asked us to sign the book and pay 300IDR each. Apparently this is the new (as of July 2017) price for a ticket to the park, although we received two 1 day tickets stapled together, each marked 150IDR. I was told later by a guide friend that this is standard and that everyone, no matter how long they stay in the park pays 300IDR.

 

The park office also asked us to leave our passports. I always carry a laminated color photocopy of mine and they were happy with that. This is also apparently standard practice for anyone wanting to go into the park without a guide. The idea is that if you do not return they can know to look for you, or if you do something other than what you say you are going to, they can track you down.

 

What we packed

 

If you are attempting to climb Rinjani in a day, you should have a pretty good idea what to bring, but I’ll list what we brought just for fun.

Food:

We more or less always bring the same food on long epics like this: protein dense and salty (much better than sweet). While in Mataram we visited one of the big malls and went to one of the western style grocery stores and so we were able to get the items on the list below.

Food for 2 ppl:

• 3 full sized peanut butter sandwiches

• Large bag of beef jerky

• 2 apples

• 1 can of tuna

• Packet of cream crackers (150mm x 150mm x 75mm)

• Block of cheese(-like substance)

• 2 coffee/caffeine drinks (not needed, but enjoyed)

 

We brought some cookies but didn’t really eat them. This was enough food for us and I wouldn’t want to lug much if any more. We ate the peanut butter sandwiches on the way up, along with the coffee drinks and apples. We ate the cheese and tuna with the crackers half way down for lunch, and the jerkey sustained us all day (it was a big bag).

 

 

Water:

We brought 5.5L (2ppl), and it was not quite enough. We thought we had too much so drank liberally through the night and up to the summit. It wasn’t really until midday when the sun was high and hot that we were needing water and feeling we didn’t have enough. 5.5L would be enough if we had thought to conserve it for the decent when the sun was hottest. During the night it is cool and not much water is needed, we drank it mostly to get rid of the weight and space the water evenly though the trip. If I did it again I would bring a similar amount of water but stash a 1.5 liter bottle around Palwangan II (again, half quantities for 1 person). There is a water source at the bridge near PII but during the end of the dry season when we were there is looked pretty nasty, and I was glad I left my pump at home.

 

Clothes:

It’s 5C at the top and 30C with no shade at midday on the return hike. So bring gear accordingly. This is what I took, lots of other combinations will work, but realize it’s cold and windy on this and most mountains of this height. You need to protect against the sun on the way down, and protect against the wind and cold on the way up.

 

• Hiking shoes

• Light button down shirt

• Shorts

• Heavy weight smart wool under layer, both long sleeved shirt and pants

• Mid weight down jacket

• Ultra light one layer shell, top and bottom

• Warm hat

• Sun hat (baseball cap works)

• Gloves (optional, I didn’t have them but I could have used them)

• Sunglasses

 

Some local folks do this hike in flip flops. I brought good, light, well worn-in hiking shoes and recommend you do the same. Also, just a heads up your shoes are going to take a hit with all the scree, lots of rocks in your socks.  My partner wore running shoes, and while they were fine for the hike, she was a little bummed about how much dust got in through the mesh.

 

We saw alot of people with their mouths and nose covered for the dust (it’s an incredibly dusty trip at the end of the dry season when we did it).  We did not bring anything, but you might want to consider a bandana or a Buff.

 

I hike in a light button down shirt, short or long sleeved, to protect against the sun and because it can be either warm or cool depending on how many buttons you use. Flip up the collar to keep the sun off your neck.

 

We did a mid hike costume change at the rim. I wore my shorts and button down on the approach and switched to the smart wool layer, top and bottom, down jacket and shell pants when we took a break at the rim. I put on the hat and shell top half way up the second section when the wind picked up. The shell pants are not required, you could do the whole thing in light pants, but having the shell + wool pants combo was a good lightweight option for me, let me use shorts on the hot bit, and pants on the cold bit.

 

 

Timing

 

We did this hike basically off the couch. We’re fit and experienced but have been mostly doing water sports for the last half year so had no altitude or legs. So assess your fitness and adjust times appropriately. I’ve seen people say it’s a 12hr hike, but also consider we passed some people on the way to the summit that had started at the rim at 2am., which means that, for them, the top bit was a 7hr hike one way.

 

This hike took us 16hr with about 13hr of actual walking, with 30min at the rim, 30min at the top, 30min lost to photo ops, 30min for lunch and 1hr of 10min breaks.

 

We started at 12am from the hotel. We reached the gate at around 1am and were at the rim by 4am. We could see the giant line of headlamps heading up the summit ahead of us, and were glad not to be in it. We saw the sunrise part way up the steep dusty track leaving the camp and were on the summit at 9am. I figure you could do the second section in 3hr if you were fresh, but after sleeping a scant 3hr (I recommend making sure there aren’t any late night concerts happening in Sembalun the night you’re leaving.  Sleeping more than 3hr is preferable) and hiking for 4hr you’re not going to be your fastest. The second section took us 5hr up.

 

 

Going Down:

Learn to screesade, it will make your life good. It’s like glissading but you’re not sitting, you’re standing. There is really nothing to it, just big deep steps, lean back, don’t fall forward and try to get as much slide out of each step as possible.

 

The whole top section can more or less be done this way, it took us somewhere short of an hour to get down to the rim camp (that’s 5hrs up, 1hr down), this was the easiest part of the whole thing. I saw some folks struggling, not willing to commit to the scree.

 

From the rim, the climb down was a little rough, the knees get tired. From the rim to PII is the hardest, the next day’s crowd will be coming up with porters and guides so there is a bit of passing and waiting. The sun will be hot as well so save some water.

 

Conclusion:

If you climb for the suffering, if you climb for the top, if you climb for the bottom, than consider climbing Mt. Rinjani is a day. If you come for the view, hire a porter.