Embarking on my first-ever mountain
trek, especially to scale the highest peak in Java and the third-highest in
Indonesia, was an extraordinary challenge. Yes, I was set to hike Mount Semeru.
Although it wasn't my initial idea, the enthusiasm of my girlfriend and her
friends to explore beyond Bali inspired the plan to hike Mount Semeru.
Eventually, my girlfriend invited me to join, and I agreed, thanks to the
flexibility of my online studies during the pandemic time. Before the trek, there were
numerous preparations and group discussions. From setting the trip schedule to
buying plane tickets from Bali to Surabaya, then train tickets to Malang, and
arranging the hiking tour with the Semeru Bromo Tengger National Park agent,
every detail was meticulously prepared. We also had to register for permission
to enter Mount Semeru. However, there was a slight issue during the
registration process, resulting in a delayed refund that hasn't been resolved
yet. The next day, we tried registering again, and it was successful.
On April 21, 2021, we set off for
the airport for an early morning flight to Surabaya. Interestingly, six of my
friends had online exams on the same day, so they took the exams at the
airport. Fortunately, they finished before boarding the plane. Upon arrival in
Surabaya, we headed to the train station for Malang. The train journey offered
stunning views of nature. During the trip, I managed to attend online classes
until we reached Malang. After that, we waited for transportation to the base
camp in Toempang to prepare all the hiking necessities there. The next morning, we got ready to
depart using an open jeep to Ranupani, the document verification point and the
starting point for the Semeru trek. The journey to Ranupani was very enjoyable
with the beautiful scenery of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. Upon arrival
at Ranupani, we went through document verification for the 3-day, 2-night trek.
Before starting, we met two hikers who were looking for a group to join, but
unfortunately, it didn't work out due to their shorter trek duration. After
verification, the nine of us received a safety and environmental preservation
briefing, crucial for Semeru's challenging trail. The trek began around 11 am,
starting with an easy path through local fields before entering narrower and
steeper trails. Initially, one of our friends, Jeje, struggled and almost
wanted to turn back after just 30 minutes of hiking. Despite that, we
encouraged Jeje to continue, walking at a relaxed pace and taking frequent
breaks.
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The trail from Ranupani to Ranu
Kumbolo had four checkpoint posts, each equipped with stalls selling various
snacks and fruits. Personally, I enjoyed watermelon and fried snacks along the
way. After reaching the third checkpoint, we took a long break as the trail to
the fourth checkpoint was quite steep and challenging. We arrived at the Ranu
Kumbolo base camp around 6 pm after about 7 hours of hiking. The view of Lake
Ranu Kumbolo from the fourth checkpoint was breathtaking. We set up tents, cooked
dinner, and cleaned up before resting. The next morning, we woke up early
to witness the stunning sunrise over Lake Ranu Kumbolo. The serene atmosphere,
coupled with the cool mountain air, made it one of the best moments of the
trip. We also began cooking and preparing to continue the trek. Around 10 am,
after tidying up everything, we resumed the journey through the "Bukit
Cinta" (Love Hill). The ascent was quite steep and required extra effort,
but the view was worth it. During the hike, one of our friends, Jeje, felt
exhausted and had to rest. We walked slowly, taking frequent breaks, to ensure
Jeje could continue. Upon reaching the summit of "Bukit Cinta," we
rested for a long time to admire the beauty of Lake Ranu Kumbolo and the vast
expanse of Edelweiss flowers ahead. After spending time at "Bukit
Cinta," we realized that we had forgotten something important back at Ranu
Kumbolo. Andre and I went back down to retrieve a water jug we had left behind
because it was crucial for our journey to Kalimati. Upon returning, we felt
drained and exhausted.
The next part of the trail was
downhill, call "Oro Oro Ombo" and traversing a vast field of
edelweiss flowers. We reached the Cemoro Kandang checkpoint, rested, and
continued to the next checkpoint, taking our time and replenishing our energy
with snacks purchased along the way. Two of our friends, Moko and Adnan,
hurried ahead to fetch water from the Kalimati spring, while the rest of us
proceeded at a leisurely pace. We reached the Kalimati checkpoint around 5 pm,
where we set up tents and prepared for the midnight ascent to the summit.
Kalimati is the last base camp located at the foot of Mount Semeru, about 3 km
from the peak of Mahameru. We had to start the ascent at midnight to reach the
summit at sunrise. Typically, the journey from Kalimati to the peak takes about
5 hours, so we needed to start hikeing at 1 am to arrive by 5 or 6 am. However,
due to our relaxed pace, we began the hike at 11 pm.
Before the ascent, we had a light
meal to provide energy. We only brought food and drinks for the hike, leaving
the rest of our belongings in the Kalimati tent. Our group of eight, consisting
of three women (my girlfriend, Resti, Jeje) and five men (myself, Andre, Andri,
Adnan, and Yugo), with Yugo serving as our guide as he had hiked Semeru several
times before, started the hike. The first two hours of the ascent
were quite tense as we navigated through the dark forest and steep terrain,
testing our adrenaline. Unfortunately, Jeje felt nauseous and couldn't continue
to the summit. She decided to return to the Kalimati tent, accompanied by Yugo.
The remaining six of us continued to the summit, encountering increasingly
challenging terrain as we ascended into the rocky slopes and loose gravel after
vegetation border. After traversing half of the steep sandy terrain my
girlfriend soon experienced fatigue and stomach pain. We encouraged her to keep
going, but safety was our priority, and if she couldn't continue, I promised to
accompany her back down. She decided to stay behind, and we watched the sunrise
together from our high vantage point. Resti, Adnan, Andre, and Andri continued
the hike to the summit.
After about 30 minutes of solitude,
my girlfriend and I decided to descend because the cold air was making us
shiver, which wasn't good. We descended slowly back to the Kalimati checkpoint,
where Moko, Yugo, and Jeje were waiting. We reached Kalimati around 6 am, where
we enjoyed the beautiful morning scenery, took photos with Mount Semeru in the
background, cooked breakfast, and cleaned up before starting the descent to
Ranupani. As we waited until 11 a.m. for the other four friends who hadn't
arrived yet, even the last hiker who reached Kalimati didn't see them. We were
deeply concerned at that moment. On one side, we had to descend that day and
report back from the hike since our hiking permit was only for 3 days and 2
nights. We divided into groups where Moko and Yogo attempted to hike to the
vegetation limit to find our other four friends, while I was asked to accompany
two hikers from Malang named Lius and David to descend as quickly as possible
to reach Ranu Pani before 4 p.m., the deadline for our hiking permit. Since I
had to descend quickly, Utari and Jeje continued to wait for the others to
arrive at the Kalimati tent. I hastily grabbed my backpack and some supplies.
Around noon, I, along with David
and Lius, ran down from Kalimati without stopping until we reached Ranu Kumbolo
at 2 p.m. to rest for a moment and collect the garbage we had left the day
before. We then continued our journey back to Ranu Pani. Lius had been
consistently ahead of me and David during the descent. Between posts 3 and 2,
where Lius was resting with two other hikers, we caught up with them and rested
together. At that moment, Lius experienced a cramp in his leg and told me to
descend first and entrusted his hiking permit to me so that I could reach Ranu
Pani by exactly 4 p.m. to report our descent. I descended alone, carrying two hiking
permits from our group plus one from Lius's group. I ran as fast as possible
without stopping because the terrain was quite easy and downhill. After passing
post 1, the weather changed and it started raining. When I reached for the
raincoat, I found Utari's raincoat in my bag that had been left earlier, hoping
they wouldn't get soaked.
Around 4:15 p.m., the Semeru
security post had closed, but thankfully, they still accepted our mountain
descent report for our group and asked about the whereabouts of the group
members and the other two groups, wondering why I only had the hiking permits
from their group. I could only deny that they were still on their way down,
suggesting that the presence of a woman was slowing them down. Thankfully, they
accepted that reason and checked for garbage and ID returns. It was a crazy
thing I did, needing 2 days to hike from Ranu Pani to Kalimati, but I didn't
expect to descend from Kalimati to Ranu Pani in just 4 hours by running without
stopping. After returning to the Ranu Pani village post, I cleaned up and
waited at the post hall for my friends and David and Lius. At that moment,
there was a great worry about the condition of my friends whom I hadn't heard
from yet because there was no communication connection in the forest, so we
couldn't send each other any news.
As darkness fell, they hadn't
arrived yet, and without any news, but the rain continued to pour, making me
even more worried. Around 7 p.m., the driver who brought us there was anxious
and waiting for the others. Around 8 p.m., I received a message from Jeje,
whose phone still had battery, informing me that they were all on their way
down and split into two groups. The three people who had reached the summit,
Resti, Adnan, and Andri, rested at Ranu Kumbolo because they were very tired.
The other group, Utari, Jeje, Moko, and two hikers from Lius’s group, rested at
post 2, where there was a bit of signal. Andre and Yugo continued to descend
despite the darkness and rain. Upon receiving that news, I felt calmer, but I
hadn't received any news from David and Lius yet. While waiting for them, I
planned to stay overnight at the Ranu Pani village post hall with two other hikers.
Around 10 p.m., while we were
having coffee, David came to get me and asked for Lius's hiking permit from
their group and his ID. He also said that Lius was evacuated by the rescue team
because he sprained his foot. David asked me to go to the Ranu Pani security
post to provide a statement. When I arrived at the post, I saw Lius sitting
with a sprained foot being treated. David and I provided the statement of our
descent. We spent quite a long time at the security post chatting and having
tea with the officers until midnight, then the officers suggested that we rest
at the nearby hiking post. We then carried Lius with the help of the officers
to rest at the post.
The next morning, I saw Andre and
Yugo resting at the post hall. The three of us were still waiting for the
arrival of the other friends. Fortunately, the driver who picked us up was very
kind and patient. Around 10 a.m., Utari's group, Jeje, Moko, and Lius's two
friends arrived. At that moment, I felt relieved. A few moments later, Resti's
group, Adnan, and Andri also arrived at Ranu Pani. We all gathered again,
cleaned up, showered, and tidied up our equipment to return to Tumpang.
Meanwhile, I had an online class that morning. We returned to Tumpang to return
the rented items and pack all our belongings to go to Yugo's house in Malang.
After arriving at Yugo's house in the evening, we were all exhausted, but we
were warmly welcomed by Yugo's family. We were asked to rest and stay there for
the night. We ate together, shared stories, and talked about our hiking
experience, where there were many unforgettable moments. After spending a long
time together, we started to rest because the next morning, Utari and I had to
go to the train station, where we had to return to Bali earlier because I had
exams for several courses.
The next morning, after showering,
eating, and packing, we were taken to the train station by the other friends.
During the train journey to Surabaya, it turned out that Utari forgot to bring
her wallet, which was left at Yugo's house. The wallet contained an ID for the
flight tickets from Surabaya to Bali. We contacted our other friends to bring
back the wallet to Bali. During the train journey, we kept hoping that Utari
could still board the plane. Thankfully, upon arriving at Juanda Airport in
Surabaya and showing her ID photo, she was able to board the flight back to
Bali. We arrived in Bali in the evening, very tired after the long 6-day
adventure, but the adventure would be an extraordinary and unforgettable
experience.
In conclusion, my journey to Mount
Semeru was filled with challenges, camaraderie, and moments of both joy and
worry. From meticulous planning to facing unexpected hurdles during the hike,
every moment was a learning experience. Despite not reaching the summit, the
bonds forged with my friends and the memories created will forever remain
cherished. It was an adventure of a lifetime, one that taught me the importance
of perseverance, teamwork, and cherishing every moment of the journey.
Semeru April 2021
