Journey to the highest point of Java: The Magnificent Mahameru
One can dream to conquer the mighty Mt.Semeru, while for some others, the peak of this mountain might not the hardest to be tackled. Whichever, Summit of Mt.Semeru (Mahameru) is a journey one should take once in their life. I begin the journey last October. While others celebrating the Eid al-Adha in most part of Indonesia, me and 6 others friends ride a 17 hours economy-train to Malang, East Java. We arrive on Tuesday, October 16th, and make our way directly to the Ranupani village (where we start our hike), by a rented jeep from Tumpang market. First thing first, on top of everything else, you have to prepare a doctor's note confirming your health (get it easily in the nearest hospitals/doctors) and few administration stuff such as the copy of your ID and stamp (Materai) to be handed over in the Semeru Post in Ranupani village. Ranupani Village Here is where everything begins. From Malang train station, we chartered an Angkot (or public transportation) to reach our rented Jeep in Pasar Tumpang (Tumpang market). From there, we are heading to Bentengan point and continue our pre-hiking-journey using ojek-foot-ojek to Ranupani village. We spent around IDR 25k/person for the ojek to Ranupani. Worth the price.
In Ranupani village, we register ourselves with all the administrative documents we have prepared earlier. For those looking for local porters, there are plenty porters to find in this area. A porter from Ranupani to Kalimati (one of the highest/final basecamp) cost IDR 150k/day, with extra 100k if you wish for them to guide you to the summit of Mahameru. The best time to hike from Ranupani village to the first base camp in Ranukumbolo is around noon, it takes around 4-5 hours hike (note: this calculation based on our fitness, which is not really fit anyway). There are 4 checkpoints from the village to Ranukumbolo, and the hike is really easy and are not steep (mostly). Pretty nice, yet long, hike. You can see the beauty of Ranukumbolo on the last checkpoint.
The beauty of this base camp is well known, especially since the premier of 5cm movie which depicts the gracefulness of the place. We spend the night here, before continuing our journey to Kalimati basecamp the next morning. Although it is forbidden to lit bonfire in the place, it seems that many lit it up anyway.
This place could reach single degree at night, pretty cold and damp, it is wise to have a proper apparel for sleeping, double socks should be worn. Kalimati One of the highest base camp before the summit is Arcopodo base camp, which is higher and nearer to the summit, but Kalimati is the last point where we could find water. This place is pretty windy, and colder than Ranukumbolo, but it has a drier air. it took around 3-4 hours walk from Ranukumbolo to reach Kalimati. During the walk, we are passing a vast savanna named Oro-oro Ombo (literally means big savanna). Pretty beautiful, pity that we come at the wrong time, for if we do the hike in the high season (during march-august), there would be purple flowers blossoming on this area. I could imagine how beautiful it may be.
walk to Kalimati is pretty laid back, too. not steep, but a long walk. gotta hike, but right after Cemoro Kandang (pine forest after oro-oro ombo), at Jambangan, we could see the peak of Semeru from a far, and it just rejuvenate our stamina to finish our walk for Kalimati.
It takes around 30 minutes from Kalimati to reach water spring called Sumbermani, it is the only spring in the area.
Arcopodo We are leaving the tent for summit attack from 11 pm, pretty early but we don't want to rush. Before reaching the last point to the summit, we have to hike the last vegetation forest to Arcopodo. Headlamps or light is compulsory if not a must, pretty steep path and many roots on the ground.
The path to Arcopodo quite exhausting for me, mainly because my lungs haven't had a full acclimatization, and it was forced a hike to the top. The hike got more challenging after we passed Arcopodo. Cemoro Tunggal - Mahameru When we reached Cemoro Tunggal (the very boundary from the last vegetation to the summit), it got steeper. We had to climbed a sandy/rocky path, more than 70 degrees steep, to the summit. I almost gave up. It was a very exhausting journey, since every 5 steps ahead, you surely would have to take 2 step back, the path forced you to. I had to catch my breath every 5-10 minutes because of it. Therefore, it took me awhile to step my feet at the top. practically 4 hours from Cemoro Lawang. T.T advise: do bring some sweet snack and big bottle of water for summit attack journey. you will need it a lot. In the end, we I finally reached the summit, it was all worth the effort, 3676 mdpl, dang!
The blue sky above the clouds, while at the same time that freezing wind in the morning on a top of the mountain, I thought how could I ever think to climb such mountain (a bit dramatic here, but hey, spare me :p) instead having myself a journey to some white sandy beach. Although the journey back seemed excruciating for my feet, the journey has not yet stopped. It took me another 3.5 hours back to our tent in Kalimati.
Spent almost 11 hours hiking and walking..yet we had only 3 hours of rest before continuing our journey back to Ranukumbolo. Planned to spent the last night there. all in all, a fun adventure it was! :)