Hiking Rinjani - A Bitter Sweet Experience.

(NB: images herewith screen grabs from video, so diminished resolution and clarity)

Seen from almost the summit, the crater lake, known as Segara Anak or Anak Laut (Child of the Sea), due to the color of its water, as blue as the sea (laut) This lake is approximately 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level and estimated to be about 200 metres (660 ft) deep

Mount Rinjani was tough.

One of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

It was the pace more than anything. Hiking with a group of 20 somethings. The eldest, an Egyptian was 31. Then there was me. 62.

The guide called me Papa.

The porters and guides are a story within a story.....

Our guide, Zal Gingsul, boy did he have patience with Papa. He nursed me back down the mountain.

For $18 a day they lead people up and carry hefty loads, most of them in flip flops or bare feet.

After hiking this volcano in state of the art mountaineering boots, struggling up the rocky, gnarly, muddy, jagged, slippery volcano, very difficult terrain, mostly almost vertical, I cannot comprehend how they manage to grip in slippery thongs with such hefty loads. It is beyond comprehension.

They climb up. Next day climb down. Sleep a night. Meet a new group, or pick up a fresh 35kg load. Repeat. Over and over again. How on earth any human can endure such physical stresses on a daily basis is a profound puzzle to me.

The young ones set the pace between rest points and the guide wanted to keep to a schedule.

So I’d roll into each stage point when they had already had a break and were ready to set off. I didn't get much time to recouperate.

This was the trend certainly on the back section.

Hence by the end I was at a point of complete exhaustion.

Starting at 9:00am, we hiked from Point 1 at 1000m above sea level to base camp, point 5, at 2700m, first day. 9 hours.

There were no flat bits. This is a volcano for goodness sake.  It was like climbing up a ladder all day. And very difficult terrain to navigate.

Exposed tree roots, worn smooth by a million hikers, were a feet and ankle breaker. Especially on the return section when your feet were dead, and every step had to be carefully planned. On the way down I cursed these sections that would go on for a 100 yards or more, down almost vertically. The rain on the second day for my decent made them even more treacherous.

Into base camp Point 5, at 6:30. I was baked. Not from the sun, but from weariness.

Fried noodles for dinner. Early to bed at 7. A few hours of terrible sleep in a cold tent on rocky ground.

Evening. End of day 1. From base camp, or position 5 at 2,600 m or 8,500 ft, the summit of Rinjani in the background looks deceptively close. Oh my, was I wrong in my projection.

We woke at 2:00am for the slog to the top.

Woken to walk. I look like a startled rabbit. Let the day begin. NOT.

Line of hikers behind me, probing the inky blackness towards the summit of Rinjani. At least another 8 hours of pain n sufferin lay ahead of us at this point.

Well before dawn, I passed this young man, down and out. He was snoring like a dead man. I blasted him with a beam from my 9000 lumens power torch and he didn't stir.

My doddery old legs and feet trying to get a grip in the volcanic sludge.

Salted peanuts for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My energy food. Actually I am joking. Zal and his team did an amazing job of feeding us. :-)

Zal our guide, telling me to hurry up and get my ass to the top :-)

The rest of my group passed me on their way back. I still had another hour to the summit.

Two great lads. Christian (left a Kiwi) lived within sight of Mount Cook, New Zealand. Shaun an Australian had arrived in Lombok from a three week in Nepal, over 3 x 5000 + m. They were both in tip-top shape.

At this stage I was so utterly exhausted, I was contemplating giving up.

My feet and legs were dead. And the last almost vertical 300m ridge to the top is soft black volcanic sand, a leg and feet killer.

They call it the Michael Jackson, because it’s one step forward, two steps back.

The views help eased the suffering. For they took the breath away.

Yes I felt like I might stop breathing at any time, so the visual stimulus was welcome. :- )

The ridge at right of frame is what you hike along. An almost sheer drop both sides. It wasn't a path for wobbly feet. And mine by this stage were very wobbly.

I finally made summit around 9:00am.  3726m. 12,224 feet. Three hours behind schedule.

Young Summit. A group of Indonesian hikers. This was most certainly the domain for youth with energy to burn.

Just 10 min at the top to take in the view and nurse my burning feet.

Then with my legs like jelly, I now had to get all the way back down to point 1.

A continuous hike, with very brief rest stops. I was holding up the group and their departure.

The return was the most taxing. Already totally exhausted, you have to rely on a completely different set of muscles for the decent and it's harder on the knees. There were 5 stages in all. 2, 3, 4, 5 (base camp) . By stage 2 on the way back I was pulp.

Some 13 hours after I had set of for summit I was still crawling down to the end. Literally on my hands and knees sometimes.

There were points where I sat down and refused to move. Getting back up on my feet was too herculean effort.

The guide let the others go ahead and he nursed me back down.

It took me 10 hours.

I arrived at least 4 hours after the youngsters.

Without doubt I took on way bigger challenge for someone who hasn’t hiked in any serous way for nearly 20 years.

In hindsight, it was a mistake.  A 62 yr old in a group of 20 somethings was crazy ! 

Would I do it again? Now that the pain is wearing off, I am planning on heading for Malaysia's highest peak. Kinabalu. :-)

Mountains have a way of changing you. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually.

Footnote:

I started this with title, 'Hiking Rinjani- A bitter sweet experience'.

Why the title?

Well for all of us this was a profound experience, and Rinjani and environs are stunningly beautiful.

A mountain that deserves respect. And this is where the bitter comes in.

I didn't see much respect.

From my observations, the exploitation of the mountain for money left me feeling bitter. There were simply too many climbers been led up there, all for monetary gains.

I counted at least 100 tents lined up at base camp.

There were over 250 people heading for the top that morning. The daily numbers are staggering.

The environmental impact a disaster.

The parks boards is making a lot of money from park fees been paid by companies and trekkers alike.

Yet the mess on the mountain was heartbreaking to see.

There were 'be green' signs up everywhere, and mostly they were been ignored. I felt most people were blind to the irony of the environmental degradation.

The only wildlife I saw were a few scraggly monkeys scratching around in human jetsam and flotsam.

I won't go into detail here but, human excrement and litter all the way up was hard to stomach.

The mountain should be a spiritual experience as well as a physical challenge.

From what I saw I could not help but feel a sense of shame. I was just another human trapesing up the mountain, adding to the mess.

This episode has ignited some ideas I have for a series of films that I feel could or should be undertaken.

Indonesia from the footage I have shot, could or will be the first in the series.

Indonesia is an example to my mind, where the government should be placing stricter control of the numbers of climbers.

The guides and porters should be getting paid way more! And there should be hefty fines for littering.

The saga will continue.

Watch this space.

RMD.

Lombok. 18 May. 2025.