Can't really remember much apart from the fact that we kept bugging Anom the guide as to how much time was left. His answer was invariably almost always the same. We never seemed to make any progress and the summit was almost always at the same position even after a few hours. Exasperated, Anom asked us to stop asking about the time left. It would only dishearten and make u slow was what he said. Daybreak occurred before most of us reached the summit. Anom, Ravi and Shyam were way ahead and i think shyam reached the summit just after dawn.
Gradually, i could see everything around me clearly. The last stretch was a steep incline lined with loose gravel and sand which meant that for every upward step taken, we slipped half a step down. I trudged along slowly up willing myself. By now most of us were pretty exhausted. Leo and Ila had come to a standstill some distance below me. I decided to just take a deep breath and move up by 6-7 steps and then catch my breath for sometime. This stop start motion somehow propelled me up ever so slowly towards the summit and when i reached the summit, Anom welcomed me with outsretched hands. I felt a great sense of accomplishment. Then i saw Ila and leo coming up and i thought they reached up pretty soon considering how far below they were.
The lake from up there looked beautiful. Stayed at the summit for about 40 minutes and then started the way down. Initially it was fun as we just kind of slid through the sand often falling down. After a couple of hours we reached our camp. Then after a quick lunch started on the way down. We then walked almost non stop for about 7 -8 hours and when we reached the town i think it was 10 or 11 pm. Thus ended our momentous rinjani trek. Hooray, i finally finished the post.(Patting myself on the back)
Phantom at the summit
The others with Anom
Segara Anak from the summit
The last stretch
The 'eye' at the centre of the lake
1 comment:
As always great writing mate, quite unassuming. I could definitely recount a few more incidents. The last post seems to be harder to do than the summit itself, but kudos.
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