Gunung Rinjani

What an adventure! The Rinjani volcano is the second highest in Indonesia. It blew up a long time ago (maybe one million years ago?) and created a huge crater with a lake at the bottom and another volcano ("baby volcano" as Brennan lovingly calls it). Baby volcano erupted as recently as 2004, when people went trekking to see it!

It was a long 3 day trek to the crater rim, the summit, the lake, the crater rim, and to the village. We awoke the first morning at 5 am to the mosque prayer songs, blasting from the speakers in the village nearby. We met our guide, Ishmael, 5 ft 3in, known to the locals as the "Mountain Devil." Our ride to the beginning of the trek was an adventure in itself - we picked up children on their way to school, stalled 6 times down a road filled with potholes, allowed a guy to ride on top and then jump off the roof 45 min later, and stopped at a grocery store to pick up a case of Bintang beer - great service, huh?

We were nervous at the start of the trek - Rinjani looked so far away - the summit is over 12,300 feet and we started at about 1,800 feet. We made it up to the crater rim in good time (by 4pm), climbing over rivers of hardened magma, hiking above the clouds, and doing the stair master up dirt for the last 2 hours. We set up camp and fought off the monkeys for our dinner. We watched a stunning sunset and set by a fire and saw the most beautiful sky, including the southern cross and the milky way.

At 2:30 am, we awoke to a bunch of Bahrainian sissy boys complaining about their breakfast before the summit hike. If I had ever known the hike would be so tough, I wouldn't have done it. We quickly passed the Bahrainians, and kept trekking towards the summit before sunrise. The first 1 1/2 was a steep ascent in brown dirt with sheer drops on either end - good thing it was dark and we could only see one step at a time because it was really dangerous!

The last hour was pure hell - hiking up at a 60 degree angle on lose gravel. Each step forward required about five steps - and endless stairmaster on the highest level. After the first 15 minutes of this with the cold wind blowing us and seeing the drop off to the lake below, I wanted to quit. But then Brennan started cussing "Rinjani you mf'er!" and I cheered him on. It was scary, cold, and challenging - a total test of one's mental perseverance. I came up with a rhythm of taking 12 steps and then taking 4 breathes and step by step, we made it to the summit an hour later, just as dawn was breaking.

The sunrise was amazing - we were cold and shivering on the summit's edge, with only a few other people that actually made it up (10 people out of 50 attempting). We could see 360 degrees around Lombok, and could see Java, Bali, Samboa, Komodo, and the Gili Islands. The descent down was pretty fun running on the loose gravel - it felt as if we were skiing down, and it didn't hurt when you fell - the soft sand that we cursed going up did us a favor on the way down.

That day, we hiked down to the crater lake and the hot springs for some much needed rejuvenation. Even these simple hikes were tough - steep descents along rocks. When we had to climb back up the crater rim to camp for the next night, I felt defeated - it had been a long day - at least 10 hours of hiking. But the sunset at the crater rim, with the view of baby volcano, was worth it.

We hiked back to the village with mountain devil running down the mountain. The porters who carried our gear and food in flip flops are amazing and sprinted down as well. By the last day, all we could think of was our upcoming spa resort - we were so stoked for hot showers!

It was an amazing experience. Despite it being so strenuous, we are so happy we did it - the view of the stars and the sunrise at the top will always be with me along with the confidence that we accomplished this difficult goal.