I conquered Java - or at least I was successful in climbing to the top of it. Actually climbing to the top of an active volcano makes you realize how powerless you are as a human. Mt.
Semeru, near the East Javanese city of
Malang, tops the map at 3676 meters (12,060 ft.). Here's my story of climbing to its peak.
The trip began with a nearly two-hour ride standing up in the back of jeep with our gear piled on top.
We arrived at the village of
Ranu Pani, the highest village in Java. The temperature was already much cooler, and many of the locals used sarongs - which are usually worn around the waist and legs - as scarfs.
The hike began through some local vegetable fields.
It continue on through some jungle-like forested areas, tall grass on both sides of the trail.
We hiked for nearly 5 hours through fog and some misty rain before the clouds broke on this gorgeous lake.
We camped the night in tents at this lake called
Ranu Kumbolo.
I woke up shivering at 5:30 in the morning, got up the courage to climb out of my sleeping bag, unzipped my tent, and was greeted by this fabulous sunrise.
These two panorama shots were taken at the same time and same place, only with different exposures.
The sunrise was accentuated by the steam rising off the lake.
My friend Mike and I slept well in this two-person tent. Around 10am our group of 8 packed up and took off hiking again.
The climb out of our campsite was steep and breath-taking... literally.
The trail leveled out and cut across a dry lake-bed.
As we hiked through a sparely covered
forest area, we came across some of our first great views of Mt.
Semuru looming above us. It erupted irregularly - sometimes only a few minutes between eruptions, sometimes up to 45
minutes. Each eruption sent billowing smoke rising into the sky in the shape of a mushroom cloud, eventually being carried away by the wind.
After about 2 1/2 hours of hiking we arrived at our next campsite early in the afternoon. We replenished our water supply at a natural spring about 20 minutes away, and then settled in to rest. Clouds
obscured the mountain above most of the afternoon, breaking just before sunset to give us this amazing view.
We started hiking at 12:20am that night, leaving most of our gear behind and taking only the essentials. A little over an hour of steep, winding trails brought us to the tree-line. From there it was straight up. For four plus hours we drudged our way up through sand and gravel. Each step up was followed by half a step of sliding back down the 45 degree slope. As some consolation, we were able to enjoy some incredible views of the landscape below and the eruptions above in the moonlight. The picture above came about 5:00am, just a few minutes before we reached the peak.
Within a few minutes of our arrival at the top, the sun peak over the low-lying clouds.
Our group of 4 Americans and 4 Indonesian friends were among close to 30 people at the peak.
We landed on the moon! The rounded peak had the appearance of something from a NASA
photo book.
The crater lies an estimated 300-400 yards from the peak where we stood. Eruptions often begin with a big boom or sharp cracking sound, throwing ash, sand, gravel, and boulders up into the air. The mushroom cloud of ash rises 300-800 meters into the sky.
It's vital to climb to the peak when the winds are blowing the ash and poisonous gases away from you.
After about and hour and half on the peak, two larger eruptions in a span of 5 minutes sent us scurrying back down the mountain. Our guide, along with the mushroom cloud of ash towering straight over top of us (winds had changed a little), quickly convinced me it was time to get going.
The section of mountain that had taken 4 hours to get up took less than an hour to get back down. We more or less
skied down through the loose gravel and sand.
Our fearless guide Adi. Another volcano, Mt.
Bromo, smokes in the distant background.
After leaving the peak at 6:45am, we hiked down to our second campsite, packed up our gear and rested for an hour, and then hiked two hours down to our first night's campsite. There we rested an hour and half, with several friends taking a swim to wash off the volcanic dust and ash.
From there we took off again, hiking all afternoon and finally arriving at the base camp around 6pm in the evening as it was growing dark. The views,
obscured on the hike up by the fog, were amazing.
These two panorama shots were taken at the same time and same place, only with different exposures.
My friend Mike and I slept well in this two-person tent. Around 10am our group of 8 packed up and took off hiking again. 
After about and hour and half on the peak, two larger eruptions in a span of 5 minutes sent us scurrying back down the mountain. Our guide, along with the mushroom cloud of ash towering straight over top of us (winds had changed a little), quickly convinced me it was time to get going.
The section of mountain that had taken 4 hours to get up took less than an hour to get back down. We more or less skied down through the loose gravel and sand.
Our fearless guide Adi. Another volcano, Mt. Bromo, smokes in the distant background.
After leaving the peak at 6:45am, we hiked down to our second campsite, packed up our gear and rested for an hour, and then hiked two hours down to our first night's campsite. There we rested an hour and half, with several friends taking a swim to wash off the volcanic dust and ash.
From there we took off again, hiking all afternoon and finally arriving at the base camp around 6pm in the evening as it was growing dark. The views, obscured on the hike up by the fog, were amazing.
