Mt. Sumbing
3.371m
15./16. May 2014
Mt. Sumbing and Mt. Sindoro, the socalled twin volcanos of Jawa, are located in central Jawa Island.
Both are active volcanos with gas streaming out of the top and can be hiked from Kledung village.
It was a rush going there, started early in Jakarta and took the plane to Semarang. I ate Soto for
breakfast and took a rental car including driver to Kledung. After registration at the base camp I directly
started the hike, it was already getting cloudy.
The trail starts at the southern end of Kledung village and leads first through vegetable fields and then
into the jungle forest. The way is always straight up to the mountain, hard to miss it. Also it doesn’t
require any special technique, just healthy feet, good condition and a challenging spirit.
It became dark on the way and from about 2.900 meters it was really hard for me to continue. To heavy
was my bag, besides the normal hiking stuff I brought camera equipment and 5 liters water. In total,
slightly above 20kg which made me stop several times on the last part of the way. It became dark, the
full moon was shining bright when I reached the rim of the crater.
I found a small flat area just big enough to set up my tent, then made tea and dinner.
The night was chilly, thanks to my warm clothes and tiredness I slept well and woke up refreshed before
sunrise.
Soon several other hikers reached the top and together we watched the stunning view to Mt. Merapi
and Mt. Merbabu. On the other site, next to us Mt. Sindoro.
After sunrise I tried to walk half around the crater on the rim. It is very steep and rocky. There is no way
or path, therefor in my opinion not recommended to go to the other rocks of the crater rim.
After about an hour walking around there, I packed and started my way back down. And that was really
long. When I reached the farmers lands at the food of the mountain slope, my feet have been very tired.
It was a hot day and beautiful hike.
Kledung village: 1.510m 1:25 pm
Mt. Sumbing ridge: 3.340m 7:20 pm
Mt. Sumbing: 3.340m 8:10 am
Kledung village: 1.410m 11:30 am
