Climb Gunung Gede
On Tuesday, April 28, 1998 (an Indonesian holiday), we climbed the famous mountain Gunung Gede (Gunung means mountain in Indonesian). This was an arduous climb that began by departing Jakarta at 5:25 AM. After an uneventful 1 hour 45 minute drive we arrived at Pangrango National Park. We gathered out things, put on our hiking boots and started out on the trail at 7:25 AM.
The first 2.3 km was along a low grade which meandered along a small stream which was only occasionally visible until a fork in the trail was reached after about 45 minutes of hiking. The right fork was a 0.3 km trail to the Cibeureum waterfalls area and the left fork was the way to the top. As everyone was keen to get to the top it was decided to visit the waterfall on the return trip, time permitting. So off we went to the next high point on the trail, the hot springs. We looked hard along this portion of the trail for the monkeys that are frequently seen, however they were not to be found this day. The trail got a little steeper along this stretch and about 1-1/2 hours later we reached the hot springs area. The water here was more like a small waterfall where one walks along the base on stepping-stones. There was a poorly fixed rope with which one could use to steady as we walked along the stepping stones. When you missed a stone, your foot went into 75 degree C (167 F) water! There was a lot of steam coming from the waterfalls and it felt good to walk through the warm mist. The trail was about 50 meters (165 ft.) along the hot springs waterfall at which point it turned into a normal walking trail once again.
Our next milestone was another uneventful one-hour walk along gradually steeping trail to another fork in the trail. The right fork led to the top of Gunung Pangrango and the left fork was our intended direction, the summit of Gunung Gede. We walked 1-1/4 hours up this ever steeping trail to another highpoint, a very steep lava rock approximately 60 degrees in pitch. One had to use the fixed ropes, hoses, and cables along with strategically placed footholds to climb this steep rock face. This incline was about 50 meters long and was a good test of our climbing abilities. The next half-hour we continued the climb to the top of the volcano's crater. This portion did not have the slick rock face and was not as steep as the climb up the lava rock, none-the-less it was not your average trail, as we had to use numerous handholds to continue the climb.
Finally the summit was found! It was hard to believe the temperature could be this cool in Indonesia, but the elevation, wind coming over the crater's edge, and the clouds obstructing the sun's penetration combined to create the need for jackets and long pants which of course we didn't bring. However so long as we stayed out of the wind it was tolerable. The clouds obstructed much of the view, however we could easily see into the volcano's crater. This volcano occasionally has some minor activity, however on this day all that could be found was some steam coming out of a vent with clear view of the yellow sulfur deposit by the vent. Of course the rotten egg, sulfur smell was ever present. We continued along the crater's edge to the high point of the crater (2958 M, 9700 ft.) where we stopped to eat lunch and take a long deserved rest. Five hiking hours from start to top covered 10 km (6.2 miles) and an elevation change of 1700 meters (5580 feet).
Now that we were half way on this hike, we needed to depart to return to the cars before dark. So left the top at 1:20 PM for the return trip down the same trail we came on. We again negotiated the steep lava rock, this time in the reverse direction and continued to the hot springs area where we took a short break. Then the expected, but dreaded, happened -it started raining hard! We continued the next 2-1/2 hours down the trail only to have the trail turn into a river with ankle deep water. This was not fun. We did however, take the detour to view the waterfalls, which was definitely worth the diversion even with the rain and our soaking clothes. There were three waterfalls, one with a large volume of water but only 30 meters (100 ft.) high, another impressive on about 80 meters (260 ft) high, and another deeper into a canyon that was also beautiful to see. We were able to get up close to the falls and feel the spray from the water's impact at the base (or was it rain?).
After viewing the falls we again struck out on the return trail going through some arched forest that cut visibility to near dark due to the thick canopy. Finally we reached our ultimate goal, our car just before 6:00 PM! After 4/1/2 hours on the return trip we changed into dry shirts to make our return trip more comfortable.
Now all we had to do was return to Jakarta. This being a holiday, the road from Puncak to the toll road was very crowded and so was the toll road. The return journey took 2-1/2 hours but sure seemed a lot longer! Thus ended our one-day adventure to climb the famous Gunung Gede!
