Mt.Slamet Should be On Your List
I never thought that Slamet would be that good…Particularly at the Summit.
Mount Slamet is the highest mountain in Central Java, rising 3428 meters above sea level, and is known as the “roof of Central Java.”
In my mind, If I had to rate Slamet, I’d give it a C. .Because, so far, it appears that Mount Sumbing and Mt.Sindoro (in the same province) are more popular climbing sites among the triple S.
Therefore, I was honestly not too excited when a friend invited me yesterday. Even when I arrived at the Bambangan base camp I still doubted my decision at that time because we arrived in the early morning, but the fog had come and made the morning feel so cold. I imagined if it was only at the base camp that it was so cold, then how it would feel when it was above.
One of the ways to start the hike to Mt.Slamet is from Bambangan base camp. On this mountain, you can start your trip from a number of different base camps.Bambangan base camp is only one of the options to start the hiking trail to Slamet. There are many base camp options to start the journey on this mountain.
Through this path there are 9 posts /stops that must be passed before the climbers start the Summit…
Since leaving base camp, we’ve had a lovely view of a local resident’s garden on the right and left. So, stunning!
Post 1 is the farthest away. We’ll have to climb up a steep hill right away to get to post 1. Not bad to make you out of breath. Plus, the roads are mostly dirt, so you have to be more careful, especially when it rains, which makes this trip even harder.
Along the path, we were surrounded on both sides by tall trees and dense vegetation. After a long, steep walk, we came to a shop owned by a local person. We were happy, so we decided to take a break. We didn’t find out until later that this was only shadow post 1 though. Even though we had different kinds of snacks, Walah :-D
The trail from Shadow Post to Post 1 is still steep and goes uphill, and it took us about 45 minutes to get to Post 1, which is called Pondok gembirung .. Here, there are also a lot of food and drink stands, including ones that sell watermelon. I don’t know why this fruit is so popular, but it is easy to find in many mountains and comes in different sizes and prices. Apparently, shadow posts are not only found in post 1, but also in post 2. Post 2 is actually called Pondok Walang, at an altitude of around 2256 meters above sea level.
On the way to post 3, we come across something interesting: langurs dangling between tree branches. However, photographing it directly is difficult due to the presence of trees. We can only listen to the sound of their voices mingling from a distance. There are many additional bird and bug sounds that add to the afternoon’s symphony. The hike to Post 3 continues to be hilly and hard. Post 3 (Pondok Cemara) is located in this area at an elevation of 2510 meters above sea level. Traveling from Post 2 to Post 3 can take up to 2 hours.
Post 3 is the first camp area that can be used by climbers to set up their tents for the night.
However, it is actually not very ideal because the area is narrow.
Then, the journey to Post 4 (Samaranthu) takes about 45 minutes with an altitude of 2688 meters above sea level. There is a mystical story in this place so it is not recommended to build a camp at this post. Tracking to Post 4 is still uphill and steep. On this track will pass through a dark and narrow alley-like road, still with closed vegetation in the form of shrubs and tall trees. This reminds me a little of some of the hiking trails on Mount Gede.
Post 5, also called Samyang Rangkah post, is the last stop for the day. It is located 2795 meters above sea level. Most hikers will spend the night at post 5 so that they don’t have to walk too far to get to the summit in the morning. Several things make this area a good place to build a camp. Aside from being a big area, the summit is also not too far away, and there are huts owned by local people around the camp area that serve food and drinks. But on our trip yesterday, we couldn’t get a spot at post 5 because we got there too late in the afternoon and it was hard to find a place to camp. Because of this, when we found a pretty big piece of land before post 5, we could build a tent. So let’s just say that we stayed at post 4 yesterday… Some people choose to stay at post 6 or post 7 even though it’s not the best place because it’s closer to the summit.
After putting up all the tents, we decided to rest and get ready for tomorrow’s trip to the summit. I already thought that tomorrow’s trip would be a long one, since we were only at post 5 and still had to pass 4 more posts to get to the top.
Fortunately, the journey to these posts was not as far as I had imagined. Unlike the previous posts, the distance between the posts to the summit is close to each other. But the bad news is that the path is more uphill..
Duh..it feels so early in the morning we have to take a steep and narrow climb. Sometimes I think, maybe this is why the Summit trip is done early in the morning when the sky is still dark so that we don’t know the journey ahead..so just live it..it’s different if we already know the terrain that will be passed in front of us is so heavy, maybe our mentality has dropped, our enthusiasm has faded.. That’s why we don’t need to know how the destiny ahead is waiting for us… Yes, we just live it while still making the best efforts.. Hey, I’m sorry to get off topic :-P
When we got to post 9, the trail went through open brush, so the wind was very strong and made us shiver even more in the cold… Here, the path turns into a steep climb, and the road is made of dirt. But everything we’ve been through since yesterday has been worth it because the universe is so beautiful. The sun has started to rise in the east, the clouds are scattered, and the color of the sky has changed to a golden hue. It’s a perfect morning, and I don’t know what else to say besides thank you and praise to God .
How beautiful! Alhamdulilah!
After post 9, the struggle to get to the top starts all over again… The track is again uphill, and the hiking trail to get there is full of loose rocks, pebbles, and sand that can fall. It’s actually harder, and in my opinion the trail is like a mix of the Mt.Rinjani and Mt.Ciremai summit trips.
In Rinjani, especially in letter E, the sand is more prominent, but the track is not as steep as in Slamet. While in Ciremai, both are steep, but there are more dominated by rocks.It was hard because we had to pay attention. If we stepped on the wrong rock, gravel and sand would fall, putting climbers below us in danger. I fell down twice and had to be helped down. Lucky for me, a friend still caught my hand, so I didn’t fall too far. How did it feel? I was scared, of course!
I decided not to look down because I was afraid…
Fortunately Slamet supports this since on the way to the top, we’ll be able to see a beautiful spread of clouds… The sea of clouds is moving in front of the eyes, and it looks so big that you want to lie down on it. Mt. Sumbing/Sindoro in the background makes the scene in front of the eyes even more beautiful. The view here is different from what we saw at post 9… People say that this sea of clouds is better than the other two.
Therefore, there’s no need to hurry to get to the top of Slamet. We can take a short break on the way to the highest point. Take your time, catch your breath, get the best picture, or just look at everything in front of you without doing anything..
At this moment, it’s hard to describe it in words…but for me personally, the experience of being able to be present in a place like this, with different views that are presented at each summit is the reason why I want to bother to come back and return to this trip.
At one point, on a difficult track…honestly, sometimes I like to curse myself and ask why I and everyone in this place would bother to climb, when it’s much more comfortable at home, right? Haha:-D
But the reason comes later, after we’ve had all the experiences, which will probably vary from person to person. Therefore, I suggest that once in a while, you go and get this experience yourself to the best peaks in the country.
It’s not about how high we’ve reached, but it’s a journey that breaks our fears, defeats our pride, humbles our ego, and kills our laziness. But on the other hand, this journey will also pamper our eyes, nourish our bodies, refresh our minds, delight our hearts and satisfy all our curiosity and selfishness!
So, start going, choose your own best trip and tell us all about it here.
