MEMBERS OF THE JOURNEY
8 friends from Malaysia
Guide : Pak Rapani
3 Porters : Baron, Ifan and a quite guy whose name we asked but still, it slipped my mind.
Total : 12 pax
TREK : POST 1 TO SHELTER 2
Among adventure junkies, mountaineers and hikers, Indonesia is known for its tough mountain trails and Kerinci is no different. Here, I will try to describe the trails by checkpoints. There are 8 main checkpoints namely Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, Shelter 1, Shelter 2, Shelter 3, Batu Gantung and Yudha's Monument.
According to Pak Rapani, the mountain is just like Gunung Tahan in Malaysia in which it is covered by thick rainforest. There is a tiny possibility of facing with tigers that are still actively roaming the forest. Uh oh! But worry not, he said. The tigers in Kerinci just roam around. They intend no harm if we mean no harm.
The trail is flat only in the beginning and it is getting harder and harder from Post 1 up until the end. I was beginning to struggle to keep up with Pak Rapani when we were on our way to Post 3 so I was left behind at the end. I used my knees quite often to cross (I'm not sure which word to use here) big trunks as I'm only 1.5m tall. My steps were shorter than the others'. I literally had to crawl to climb up some steep paths since I was SO exhausted and dispirited. In my mind, it felt like we're not trekking anymore, we were actually climbing. Upon seeing how tired I was, Pak Rapani offered to lift one of my mineral bottles since most of the loads I carried came from water even though he first, laughed at me. (Thank you so much).
From then on, I felt energetic and it was like there was nothing to carry on my back. It was like I was strolling across the thick forest happily. I wasn't being left behind again and I could keep up with Baron who was quite fast. Among the three porters, I noticed that our quite porter was the fastest.
The path got steeper and steeper from Post 3 to Shelter 2 and we had to stop every few steps to catch a breath and our pace got slower. Hands up, there is no mountain as tough as Kerinci.
Then rain started to fall, though it's only a light shower but rain means no good sign for hikers. The temperature started to drop and we could see steams coming off of our bodies when we stopped at Kem Bayangan. Rather than continue our way to Shelter 3 as planned, we decided to spend the night at Shelter 2 since there were a lot of trees to protect us from strong wind at night.
TREK : SHELTER 2 TO 3
From Shelter 2, not only the paths are steeper than ever, we basically had to glide along gullies. The pathways are narrow and slippery. At this time, wearing a pair of gloves and a headlamp is no longer an option.
It is all rainforest until Shelter 3.
TREK : SHELTER 3 TO BATU GANTUNG
I asked Pak Rapani if there was any attempt to discover and open new route. He said there were other routes but it would take longer to arrive.
At this point the forest is now behind us. The path is sandy and rocky. As there is no tree to protect us from heavy wind, every step was like a struggle as we were actually struggling to keep ourselves balanced.
In the middle of the journey as it seemed that the rain was not going to stop any time soon, one of us asked Pak Rapani if we could actually reach the top. Pak Rapani seemed reluctant to give a positive answer but he pointed out a few times that the wind would be stronger at the higher stages.
At the end, some of us decided not to continue the journey as the weather was so bad and unbearable. Pak Rapani and a few others continued the journey and promised the rest of the members that they would not continue any further if they couldn't make it to the top by 8am.
Baron led the group that decided to descend back to the campsite.
Yes, I didn't make it to the top. And Kerinci was my first mountain in Indonesia.
*Realising that Kerinci was the first mountain in Indonesia that I dared to give it a try, I felt such a strong emotion swallowing the fact that this was the first time I failed to summit.
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It is all rainforest until Shelter 3.
TREK : SHELTER 3 TO BATU GANTUNG
I asked Pak Rapani if there was any attempt to discover and open new route. He said there were other routes but it would take longer to arrive.
At this point the forest is now behind us. The path is sandy and rocky. As there is no tree to protect us from heavy wind, every step was like a struggle as we were actually struggling to keep ourselves balanced.
In the middle of the journey as it seemed that the rain was not going to stop any time soon, one of us asked Pak Rapani if we could actually reach the top. Pak Rapani seemed reluctant to give a positive answer but he pointed out a few times that the wind would be stronger at the higher stages.
At the end, some of us decided not to continue the journey as the weather was so bad and unbearable. Pak Rapani and a few others continued the journey and promised the rest of the members that they would not continue any further if they couldn't make it to the top by 8am.
Baron led the group that decided to descend back to the campsite.
Yes, I didn't make it to the top. And Kerinci was my first mountain in Indonesia.
That's me! This photo was taken at some point after Shelter 3
*Realising that Kerinci was the first mountain in Indonesia that I dared to give it a try, I felt such a strong emotion swallowing the fact that this was the first time I failed to summit.
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