Mount Sumbing, Highest Mountain in Central Java

by Andika Candra Wijaya (Indonesia)

A leap into the unknown Indonesia

Starting from my beloved city, Solo City, my friend and I planned to go to Mount Sumbing with 4 members on 11 and 12 April 2017. But 2 of my friends turned out to have other matters. So, we both departed from Solo City from 09.00 am GMT + 7 and arrived at Temanggung City at 11.45 am GMT + 7. We entered Base Camp at 12:15 pm GMT + 7. At 13.00 pm GMT + 7 we finished registering on the Mount Sumbing Base Camp East Route in Banaran Village. Before leaving Base Camp we never forget to pray to be given salvation and nice view. The trip from Base Camp to Post 0 (Brangkalan) takes about ± 1 hour 30 minutes if it runs, and it only takes 10 minutes if you take a motorcycle taxi, isn't that amazing? We ourselves arrived at Post 0 and it took 1 hour and 10 minutes to keep going and only took a short break because our physical condition was already above average. We continued to walk side by side with a little talk about life problems. Not feel we have reached the Post 1 Seklenteng around 15:40 pm GMT+7. We rested for a long time about ± 20 minutes to drink and a little snack. Starting climbing at 16.05 pm GMT + 7, Ghazy and I reminded each other that it's better to stop. But who would have thought, no one is slow or ask to stop. We continued to walk towards Post 2 hand in hand and relaxed. It only took a little while we arrived at Post 2, which was not far enough but the road continued uphill. At 16:30 pm GMT + 7 we arrived at Post 2 Siwel - Iwel. Here there is a large tree on the left. We do not plan to rest here because it was getting dark at that time, just taking a breath and continuing towards Post 3 Puntuk Barah. Along the way we decided to keep not turning on the flashlight first, remembering that there were only 2 flashlights we brought while the goal was to set up our own tent at Post 4 Watu Ondo. At exactly 17:45 pm GMT + 7 we finally arrived at Post 3 to pray and rest enough to prepare to continue Post 4 where ONLY WE were climbing at that time. Walking for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, we also saw Watu Ondo, a large rock that must be passed using a rope that has been attached. At the same time the rain started to fall, we immediately used a coat to keep it from getting wet. Finally we arrived at Post 4 Watu Ondo to set up a tent which was raining at that time. An undesirable thing happened, namely that our tent was flooded because we were not aware of the dome we had borrowed at the top. Our unfortunate fate was experienced at that time who was forced to sleep in a cross-legged sitting position and was only able to sleep at 02.00 am GMT + 7, the Sleeping Bag that we brought was of no use because it was wet first. At 05.30 am GMT + 7 we got up and got ready for Summit Attack. Don't forget to capture a few moments. We continued our journey. Our trip takes about 1 hour 30 minutes which is according to estimation. Knowing that we have arrived at Segoro Banjaran, we will be welcomed by a large rock which rises upward and savanna is narrowed. Don't try to capture the rare moment here, ok? We made it to Rajawali Peak at 09.00 am GMT + 7. But how does the feeling of fatigue paid off already, we were a little lingering at the peak to relieve fatigue during the trip and prepare the intention to return to Base Camp. After walking for about 6 hours from the Peak, we arrived at Sumbing Base Camp East Route ± at 16:15 pm GMT + 7. Until Solo we returned safely and the time showed 20.30 pm GMT + 7.