Mount Rinjani
The Second Highest Volcano In Indonesia At 3,726 Metres, Holding The Crescent Crater Lake Of Segara Anak With A Live Cone Growing Inside It; Sacred To Both The Sasak And Balinese Hindus · Senaru, West Nusa Tenggara
Rinjani is THE SECOND HIGHEST VOLCANO IN INDONESIA at three thousand seven hundred and twenty-six metres, and the reason people climb it is not the summit. It is SEGARA ANAK - a crescent-shaped crater lake six kilometres across sitting two thousand metres up, with GUNUNG BARU, A LIVE CONE, GROWING OUT OF IT, and hot springs on its shore where trekkers soak. Getting there is a TWO TO FOUR DAY TREK with a night camped on the crater rim, and it is genuinely hard: long, steep, hot at the bottom, freezing at the top, and finishing with a pre-dawn summit push up loose volcanic scree where you slide back with every step. THE MOUNTAIN IS SACRED to the Sasak of Lombok and to Balinese Hindus, who both make offerings at the lake. It CLOSES EVERY RAINY SEASON, and the 2018 Lombok earthquakes killed trekkers on it and shut it for months. Check the status before you book flights, because a closed Rinjani is a closed Rinjani and there is no appealing it.
Rinjani National Park, Lombok, Senaru, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
RINJANI CLOSES EVERY YEAR, ROUGHLY JANUARY TO MARCH, for the rainy season and for the mountain to recover - this is not a suggestion, the gates are shut. PERMITS ARE BOOKED THROUGH THE ERINJANI ONLINE SYSTEM and quotas apply on the popular routes; most trekkers go through an operator who handles it. THE TWO MAIN TRAILHEADS ARE SENARU AND SEMBALUN, and the usual itinerary runs up one and down the other over two to four days. GUIDES AND PORTERS ARE MANDATORY. THE SUMMIT PUSH STARTS AROUND 2 AM from the rim camp. THE MOUNTAIN ALSO CLOSES AT SHORT NOTICE for volcanic activity, fire risk and after earthquakes - the 2018 Lombok quakes killed trekkers and shut it for months. Confirm the current status before booking flights.