Senaru - Gunung Rinjani (Tropical approach)

Access to the starting point:
The village Senaru is located at the northern part of Lombok island in Indonesia (east of Bali). The trail begins at the end of the road in Senaru village.

Path description:
The trail from Senaru is known as a tropical approach. The trekking adventure usually starts in the late morning hours at the Rinjani trek centre at the end of the road in Senaru village at approx. 600 m of elevation. After signing (and paying the fees) the trek can begin. The trail gradually heads up through the rain forest to POS I at 934 m (1 hour). Look out for an "organic" walking stick at this point! The beginning is the hottest part of the entire trek and only after additional 2 hours when the POS II at 1500 m is reached, it gradually gets colder. POS II is a usual stop for a rest and a meal. Be on a lookout for macaque monkeys! Epic battles for snacks were fought and lost here! … From here on, the forest begins to brighten up a little, but clouds begin to gather. In case of rain, do not touch too many tree trunks. I got a leech like this on another trek in Bali mountain Gunung Agung 85 kilometers away. But I guess the same can happen here. However, after 2 hours of walking up the forest suddenly ends with no gradual transition to pine trees or something. Instead the high grass and an occasional bush dominate the scenery for the next 5 minutes until the POS III at around 2000 m. The path continues gradually at first but it gets steeper and steeper the closer one gets to the crater rim near Pelawangan I. It takes 2 hours to get there and if it is not cloudy, the rim can be seen far above as a distant destination that persists to stay away for more than an hour. It is normally cloudy in the late afternoon / evening so the views down to the lake and Gunung Rinjani are not as clear as in the morning. But it is nevertheless rewarding to spend some minutes at the rim before returning a few 10 meters down the path to the camp where the night is usually spent. If you leave some food outside the tent for the night you may hear strange sounds just as our group did. We couldn't quite identify those sounds though, some bet on the dog, some on the monkey, some even on the deer, but nobody dared or bothered to take a look outside the tent. It was obviously quite cold during the night …no, it really was!

The next day usually starts at the crater rim awaiting the sunrise. After the sunrise it is the best time of the day for taking photos, since the air is clear. After breakfast and packing the path continues down inside the crater to the huge turquoise lake Segara Anak (Child of the sea in translation, the name given for its colors.) The crater itself is huge measuring from 6 to 8.5 kilometers in diameter and it is 600 meters deep, therefore it takes 2 hours to descent down the lake. The descent is steep and technically it may be graded as partly difficult to difficult. It requires some modest bouldering but the porters can do it gracefully while wearing 30 kilograms on only one (!) of their shoulders and with most basic beach footwear imaginable. On this side of the slope, the pine trees soon begin. Further down the grass is also taller. Being used to pristine alpine environment, we were somewhat annoyed because of all the garbage lying around by the lake. However, the cleaning was supposed to be under way. It takes additional 20 minutes to get to the lake campsite and additional 10 minutes to the hot springs (take a path left from the campsite). The hot springs manifest themselves in two parallel waterfalls and two natural pools of 45°C-hot-water. The fish live in the water and they nibble the dead skin off the feet but only if you keep them still for a while. It is quite a tingly sensation.

The ascent to the crater rim campsite at Pelawangan II begins by taking the right path from the campsite at the lake. The path is not steep for the first 1 hour or so but it has many variations. The best is to always keep just one path above the lowest one. This means that at first crossroads it is necessary to go right and then at the next back left and so one for two more iterations. The reason is the damaged and a bit more dangerous lower path. There are some river crossings along the way. The second part of the path wind up to the rocky and steep terrain that heads up to the crater rim. The path is well maintained here, nevertheless there is one steep section of about 2 meters that requires the use of hands. Pelawangan II is an area below the mountain summit at intersection of paths coming from the lake, summit and from the village Sembalun Lawang (i.e. Savannah approach). The campsite at Pelawangan II is around 2700 m above the sea level. This campsite is, anecdotically speaking, the most popular one among macaque monkeys, however they come to "camp" here only during the daytime.

After waking up at 2:30 to the cold night the final part of the path begins. It takes 3 hours to reach the summit, but the path is steep and full of scree so it might take a little more than that (it is so much fun to go down). A flash torch is a very useful item to have here, however I turned it off because everything was lit by the moonlight. In this kind of terrain it is necessary to make small steps (energy wise, it is better to make three small steps than one large). For many fellow travelers this was the most difficult part of the path, however the most difficult part for me was the hot and humid beginning at Senaru. The path to the summit is steep and full of scree for the first hour. The second hour of walk is less steep as you walk on the mountain ridge. The last hour is again steep and full of scree that constantly pushes you backwards. It can get windy on the ridge and on the summit, so wear gloves and a cap. The view from the summit is spectacular. Gili islands and Bali's volcano Mt. Agung dominate the west. It is possible to see the island Sumbawa to the east and all the way down to the Sembalun Lawang village.

The trek takes 7 hours from Senaru to the crater rim at Pelawangan I (Day 1). The descent to the lake takes additional 2 hours. The ascent from the lake to the crater rim at Pelawangan II campsite takes 3 hours (Day 2). The final ascent to the summit takes 3 hours (Day 3 with a descent to Sembalun Lawang). In total the trek to the summit takes 15 hours without stops and rests (one way).

The best time to visit the Rinjani mountain is during the dry season, which lasts from June to September.

The description and photos are based on conditions from the end of June 2016.

On the way: POS I (934m), POS II (1500m), POS III (2027m), Pelawangan I (2641m), Danau Segara Anak (2009m), Hot springs | vroči vrelci (1980m), Pelawangan II (2701m)

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