Semeru (Mahameru)

Semeru Trip Report 9 people left Jakarta by air for Surabaya at 0700 and joined 3 more in Surabaya for the Java Lava trip to Mt Semeru. 3 Minibuses drove us to the rim of the huge crater surrounding Mt Bromo via Tumpang and Ngades on the western side of the range. We then squashed into 3 jeeps for the 7km ride into Ranupane at 2100m. Pak Tasrip at the homestay had our porters standing by and the lunch ready and by 2.30pm the last participants were walking down the 10km trail into Ranu Kumbolo Lake which was to be our campsite for the night. The trail was pretty flat with a net altitude gain of 300m. Those on the trip were: Rosita, Trevor, Phil, Ana, Diderik, Jan, Jorgen, Pieter, Russell, Suzanne, Don and Dave. The 16 porters were a fine bunch of villagers from Ranupani and had no trouble with the loads. We were carrying food and equipment for 2 nights and 3 days on the mountain. We all arrived at the lake in 3 to 3-1/2 hours which left plenty of time to set up camp and get the dinner cooking before dark. As we set up camp in Ranu Kumbolo a tussock fire swept over the ridge and along the sides of the hills surrounding the lake. We had no idea where the fire was going so most of us pitched our tents quite close to the water and hoped burning cinders would not hole the tents during g the night. The fire raged all night and by the morning had burnt within 150m of our location by the lake in several directions. The other folk staying at the lake didn't appear too concerned, even though a party of students was trying to beat the fire out 100m higher on the saddle to Kalimati but as soon as they stopped they flames restarted and they gave up soon after dark and returned to the campsite. Apparently the tussock burns every year at some stage. Still, it was eerie to watch the flames and listen to the crackle of the fire throughout the night. The night was cold. I think the coldest night I have ever spent in 25 years in Indonesia. I wore my balaclava to bed and zipped up my 4 season down sleeping bag. In the morning our tents were covered in frost along with any gear left outside. The lake (cold anyway) was steaming in the colder morning air and with the burnt areas surrounding us made it seem like we were in another time and place. The morning sun soon chased the mist and frost away and by 8 AM most of us were back in tee shirts once more. Our porters slept around a fire next to a couple of wrongs. Tough people. I don't know if the warungs are going to become a fixture at the lake or are just there for the school holidays but there was nothing there when we came through on a recce trip in June this year. Don't count on their being any facilities at Ranu Kumbolo. The only thing you can count on is that Ranu Kumbolo must be the coldest place in Java! After a leisurely breakfast we wandered up out of the lake to a small saddle en route to the high base camp from where we would attempt to climb Semeru the next morning. From the saddle lay a burnt out tussock plateau with the walking track snaking through it. The fire was out but we could see there were places still smoking. The fire had reduced the tussock to ashes but didn't appear to have done any damage to the larger trees. The path to Kalimati campsite is about 5km and takes a couple of hours max. Kalimati lies at about 2,700m in a windy east-west valley directly under the Semeru cone. Although only a net altitude gain of 300m from Ranu Kumbolo, the path traverses a saddle at about 2850 before descending into Kalimati. Views of semeru abound from the path on the descent into Kalimati. The idea was to arrive in Kalimati around 12 and have a lazy lunch before attacking the steep 1-1/2km climb to high base camp. The climbing starts from Kalimati and by camping at the tree line we would be that much closer to the summit. We loaded up all our spare water bottles in Kalimati from the spring 20 minutes down the track heading west. Spring water and tastes fine. There are several camp sites on the way up. The normal place to stay is Arcopodo but we kept going to the last camp sites called killik, about 15-20 minutes further on.(We were told it was named that because someone called Killik had died there) There was just enough room to pitch our 6 tents. We had some confusion with the porters at this stage as they had been told they were only going to Arcopodo. The promise of another 10,000 rups each soon had the packs on their backs and smiles back on their faces for the 20 minute climb on to Killik. According to the GPS Arcopodo was at 2950m and Killik at 3060m. Weather remained fine and the night temperature dropped to around 10'C, much warmer than last night at the lake. The moon rose at just after 9.00pm and looked almost full. During the night another party walked through en route to the summit. One had a transistor radio and another had a cow bell clanging away as he walked. What a racket at about 1.00AM. The plan was we would arise at around three and set off at 3.30 and have breakfast on our return. Some how the guide got it all wrong and at 10 to 2 was standing outside my tent informing me it was time to get up. "What for"' I said. "So you can have some breakfast!" was the reply. What the heck. I got up and put on the billy for a brew. It was nippy but not to bad. Slung my down jacket over my wool undershirt and was pretty snug. By three o’clock those that wanted to leave in the dark were heading on up the track to the summit. 4 were staying back intending to leave at 4.30AM. The trail from the campsite passed through some scrub for about 200m then we up on the cone. The trail went straight up on loose scoria. 3 steps up and 2 back unless you take your time and make your steps slowly and carefully using the hard rock at every opportunity. Sometimes nothing works except hands, feet and scramble. It is pretty exhausting and tiring and I think we were lucky not to be able to see how far it was still to go. There is no let up until you reach the top, but no false peaks or anything. What you see is what you have ahead of you. There was enough light from the moon to walk with but I kept the headlight on anyway, until the sun began rise around 5.00AM. It took the group between 2-1/2 to 3 hours to all get to the top. The wind was chilling and you soon began to get cold if you stopped for long so we just kept at it. I had expected to get too hot in the down jacket but it seemed just right so I kept it on the whole way. It was also quite chilly at the top (3672m) so I kept it on there also. The summit is a rather large area of grey rock the size of three or four football fields. It overlooks the erupting volcano a few hundred meters to the south and approachable along a sand ridge. It would be possible to walk over to the rim and peer inside but with the rumbling every 30 minutes or so and the huge amounts of ash and dust billowing upwards it didn't seem like a good idea. We were close enough. The guide said the dust cloud is not dangerous but there are poisonous fumes emitted from time to time which are. I don't know. The clouds of ash certainly looked solid enough to asphyxiate anything caught inside it. The wind was blowing from the west so there was no smell of volcanic activity from the summit. From the summit we could see Mts. Argopuro and Raung to the East and Arjuna, Willis and Lawu to the West. The Indian ocean was visible to the south but hard to make out the Java sea to Bromo was not visible but the emissions from it were. Every 20 minutes or so our attention was diverted by the rumblings of the eruption taking place just a few hundred Around 7AM the 2nd group arrived at the summit and those of the first group began their descent to the camp site. What took 3 hours to ascend took about 30 minutes lope down in the scoria. A brew, pack up camp, down to Kalimati for some more water then back to Ranu Kumbolo for lunch. By 1pm the last of us were lunched and en route to Ranu Pane. Ranu Kumbolo once again lived up to its reputation as the coldest place in Java and was shrouded in mist and had a wickedly chilly wind whistling through it the whole time. Hardly the place to stop. After getting up at 2AM and walking since 3AM the final 10km from Ranu Kumbolo to Ranu Pane was a bit of a slog. It was pretty even going so just a matter of one foot after the other and curse the tree falls that are too high to step over and too low to easily pass under. Oh for my chain saw.... 4PM saw everybody back at the losman in Ranupane and relaxing over a few beers. A wash and a change of clothes and everybody was feeling much better. Dinner was served and bloody good it was. The chili sambal served was to hot, as the mandi water was to cold. Talk about extremes! Yes it did burn in the morning as well!!! Thanks to Rosita for the wine and I hope the Ranu Pane chilies I saw her stuffing into her bag taste just as hot in Jakarta. After dinner several members began studying the Semeru map on the wall and it was decided that we didn't climb Mt Semeru at all! We climbed Mahameru, the highest point on Java. Semeru is the name given to the erupting volcano cone several hundred meters South of Mahameru! If it keeps exploding and building height I suppose in a hundred years or so it may well be the highest peak. Then again it may blow itself to pieces one day.... It was good to sleep in a bed again even if only after 2 days in the tent and we all slept well. Breakfast, (easy on the chilies) of fried rice and hot fried bananas (Yummy!) and load up the jeeps for the trip through the sand sea to Bromo. A brief to stop to climb Bromo then back in the jeeps and up the side of the crater wall to Penanjakan, a lookout at 2775m. Semeru was still visible which was quite amazing. 4 clear days in a row. By this time everyone was getting hungry again so back in the jeeps and down to Tosari village where we met our minibuses and had lunch before driving back to Surabaya airport for the trip back to Jakarta.