Rinjani Senaru Crater Rim 11-14 Jul 2009

On 11 July 2009, 9 of us flew AirAsia to Denpasar, Bali and caught a connecting IAT flight to Lombok. As usual AA apologised for the late departure and thus the late arrival at Bali Ngurah Rai Airport. After passing through the H1NI flu checkpoint and collecting our baggage as well as a slight miscommunication and delay in meeting our agent to collect our flight tickets (to Lombok), we noted to our horror that we had less than 30 minutes to catch the connecting IAT flight to Lombok. With trailing baggage, we made a frantic dash or an amazing race to the adjacent domestic terminal to check in our baggage. Thank goodness, the agent had the presence of the mind to call IAT that we were on our way. At the IAT counter, the check-in personnel coolly greeted us and said that they had been waiting for us. Later we found out that our group constituted 56% of the passenger load of 16 pax. Anyway, we thanked IAT for holding the plane for us.

At the Lombok Selaparang Airport, we were met personally by sanguine Sunny, Director of PT. Lombok Trekking Travel Service (http://lomboktrekking.com/). The 3 hours journey to our lodge at Senaru was rather uneventful except for a colourful and noisy procession returning young kids home after a circumcision ceremony. Our lodge is basic with a great view of padi fields against the Rinjani & Sengkareang mountains in the background. We retired immediately after a dinner of rice, tempeh, vegetables and eggs as well as keropok to prepare ourselves for the following day trek.

After a simple breakfast of pancakes, we were transported 1 km away to Senaru Trek Centre to register ourselves. Besides, the entrance fee of IDR150,000 pax, Sunny paid an additional sum of IDR50,000 pax to cover for the service of a ranger and policeman stationed at the Senaru Crater Rim (Plawangan 1) to stop anyone trying to slip down to Anak Segera Lake which was close to hikers owing to Rinjani erupting unabatedly since May 09.

Our expedition group comprised 9 hikers, 2 guides and 8 porters. Starting at about 8 a.m. from an elevation of 600m, we trekked 7.4 km to arrive at Pos 3 at about 3 p.m. with many pit stops along the way for rest and lunch. We decided to set camp at Pos 3 (2000m asl) and continue our "assault" the following day. The Senaru trail appeared to be very popular for we often bumped into hikers from many different nations. Initially, the trail took us through orchards before entering the virgin jungle. As it was an arid season, the trail was dry and dusty. Except for some intermittent steep climbs, the gradient could be described as moderate. The thick canopy provided adequate shelter against the hot sun and made the trek a pleasant one.

We spent the following morning relaxing and enjoying the cool atmosphere. After lunch, we trooped up to Senaru Crater Rim (Plawangan 1) at 12.45 p.m. We took our time to trek and to enjoy the expansive view given that we had more than enough time to hit the Crater Rim before sunset. As expected, the vegetation became thinner and sparse with virtually grassland and rocks near the crater rim area. The afternoon sun was hot and we could only take refuge by covering up with long sleeve shirts and pants as well as applying SPF50 sun block and wearing large brimmed cap and sunglasses. Of course, the gradient became steeper by 50%.

At 3.15 p.m. we saw the puffing Gunung Anak Baru with a strip of darken hill slope sitting beautifully on turquoise blue lake against the majestic Gunung Rinjani. We quickly set out tripods at vantage points and thereafter wandered around the crater ridge area snapping away photos in whatever conceivable angles. The surrounding view was simply spectacular. Far away we saw the triangular shaped Gunung Agung peeping above a sea of white clouds.

As sunset approached, the golden egg yolk sank slowly into the cloudy horizon and cast a golden hue on the surrounding area. The hushed roaring of the volcano and the wind became stronger as darkness descended. Next the dark strip of lava begun to glow brighter. The whole experience was awesome!

We started back trekking Pos 3 at about 7 p.m. and reached our campsite at Pos 3 at 9 p.m. The downhill descent in the dark along the dry slippery slope could be described as perilous despite the assistance of 2 guides and 2 porters. A walking stick was certainly useful.

The following morning we started our descent as early as 6.20 a.m. The downhill trek was easy and took us about 3 hours to hit Senaru Trek Centre where we had our bath and late breakfast before being transferred to Sembalun Trek Centre to continue with our second leg of our Rinjani Trek (see http://happyotrekker.blogspot.com/2009/07/rinjani-sembalun-trail-14-15-july-09.html).

For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/6366.